60 Minutes slips to 6.06 million without NFL cushion
60 Minutes fell to 6.06 million viewers for an episode centred on Lesley Stahl's report from the West Bank, losing the lift of a big American football audience.
The figure, measured by Nielsen, was down nearly 41% on the previous week's audience and 12% below the fourth episode of last season, Variety reported. That is a sharp swing. It still put the CBS newsmagazine in front of a large Sunday night crowd.
The reason is scheduling. The previous week's edition followed a record-setting NFL game that aired directly before it, in the lead-in slot that largely decides how many people are already watching. This time there was no CBS football lead-in. The programme instead faced an NFL game on Fox and NBC's football pre-game show, which started midway through the 60 Minutes hour.
The broadcast also arrived after a public editorial clash. Stahl and CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss disputed the content of the West Bank segment before transmission, a disagreement that forced CBS News to delay promotion for the episode. Stahl's report examined Israeli settlers seeking to drive Palestinians from the West Bank.
Younger viewing fell harder. The episode averaged 767,000 viewers aged 25-54, the demographic — meaning the age group advertisers track most closely — compared with 946,000 a year earlier and 2.02 million the week before, according to Nielsen. That is a decline of nearly 19% year on year and 62% week on week. Nielsen data showed the telecast gained viewers as the hour went on.
The Stahl piece was not the whole hour. The episode also included Norah O'Donnell interviewing US Secret Service Director Sean Curran and Deputy Director Matt Quinn, and Bill Whitaker profiling musician Jon Batiste.
The dip comes during an organised overhaul of the broadcast. Weiss has replaced executive producer Tanya Simon with Nick Bilton. Correspondents Scott Pelley, Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi have been pushed out, while Anderson Cooper departed after his contract ended. Pelley later accused Weiss of "murdering" the programme, a claim reported by Deadline in June.
For regular viewers, this pattern will look familiar. Audiences for 60 Minutes rise and fall with football. An episode following a Kansas City Chiefs-Las Vegas Raiders game drew more than 10 million viewers earlier this month, according to The Wrap. The Season 59 premiere delivered 7.94 million on-air viewers, about 21% down on the prior year's opener, after its football lead-in fell from 23.7 million to 18.4 million viewers. Last season the show averaged 9.1 million viewers, up 9%, Deadline reported.
What makes this stand out is not one number. It is the mix: no football cushion, tough rival sport, a delayed publicity push, and a newsroom in transition.
