60 Minutes steadies in week two with 6.77 million viewers

60 Minutes drew nearly 6.77 million viewers for its second episode of Season 59, up 5% on the same week last year.

The figure, from Nielsen data cited by Variety, compares with nearly 6.46 million for the second-week telecast last season. Growth was stronger in the 25-54 age group, the audience advertisers watch most closely. The show drew 1.08 million viewers in that demographic, up 18% from 917,000 a year earlier.

That is a year-on-year gain. It is still a week-on-week fall. Linear viewing — people watching live or on the day on broadcast TV — was down from the season premiere on 13 September, when CBS had a national NFL game as a lead-in, meaning the programme that airs directly before it.

The premiere drew about 7.94 million viewers overall, down 21% from nearly 10.02 million for last year's opener. In ages 25-54 it drew about 1.58 million, down 33% from 2.36 million. CBS's NFL telecast leading into this year's premiere also drew a smaller audience than the lead-in did last year.

Last season provides wider context. 60 Minutes averaged 8.16 million viewers overall across the season and 1.32 million in ages 25-54, according to Nielsen.

Online, the picture was different. The second Season 59 episode totalled 179.2 million social views, up from 116.7 million the prior week. That is a new record for the show.

What makes this stand out is the split. Broadcast numbers slipped without the football boost. Social numbers climbed.

Season 59 began under change. Nick Bilton is the new boss of the programme, and Ross Douthat, Sebastian Junger and Gianna Toboni were set to join, following the departures of correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. The premiere was scheduled for Sunday, 13 September at 7:30 PM ET/PT, according to CBS News, and set to stream on Paramount+.