The Lewinsky industry: Zippergate tour will make her millions

FIRST THE scandal, now the pay dirt. In so far as anyone can be said to have gained from having their sexual peccadilloes paraded before the world, Monica Lewinsky is emerging as the clearest beneficiary of Zippergate.

To the pounds 1m which the British publisher Michael O'Mara paid her for the worldwide book rights to her story, she can now add pounds 750,000, earned from Channel 4's sale of tonight's Dispatches programme to more than 30 countries.

Channel 4 has not done badly out of it, either. "Monica: The Interview" has so far earned the network more than pounds 700,000. The author Andrew Morton, already a millionaire from his biography of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, was handed a reported advance of pounds 600,000 for his authorised biography. And spying the potential of the slot (remember that blue dress?), the stain-remover soap Vanish has booked a slot in one of the ad breaks.

For those choosing to sling their baggage aboard Ms Lewinsky's wagon during the next few weeks, it promises to be a lucrative ride - starting with Jon Snow's interview tonight, continuing tomorrow with the British launch of Mr Morton's Monica's Story and carrying on over the next fortnight as Ms Lewinsky and her entourage embark on a booksigning tour of Britain.

Although Channel 4 paid pounds 400,000 to Ms Lewinsky, tonight's programme works out to be good value indeed. Channel 4 gets 25 per cent of the money made from selling the programme internationally -some pounds 350,000. Ms Lewinsky's final share will be some pounds 1m.

The channel is also charging a premium for ads during the interview - around pounds 20,000 for a 30-second slot, double the normal rate - which should bring in another pounds 350,000. Of course, the figure pales beside the $800,000 demanded by ABC for a single 30-second slot during last night's US broadcast of the Barbara Walters interview.

Michael O'Mara paid Ms Lewinsky pounds 1m for the worldwide book rights, secured last November amid a marked reluctance on the part of American publishing houses to touch the story. The pounds 16.99 book will have a print run of 100,000 in the UK (a normal hardback print run is around 5,000, while only 50,000 copies of Diana: Her True Story were produced initially); 450,000 copies of Monica's Story will be run off for a now apparently receptive US market.

Mr O'Mara will break into profit with worldwide translation rights, which so far run to 10 countries. He sold the US rights to St Martin's Press for $600,000.

Another likely beneficiary of Ms Lewinsky's notoriety is the UK version of the women's magazine, Marie Claire. It will feature the former White House intern on the cover, photographed by Patrick Demarchelier, who created the famous Diana front cover for Vogue in 1991. The magazine did not pay a penny to secure Ms Lewinsky's involvement.