60 Minutes Draws 5.64 Million Viewers Without a Football Lead-In
CBS's 60 Minutes drew 5.64 million viewers for its fifth episode of the season, according to Nielsen, the company that counts US TV audiences. The Sunday broadcast, on 25 October, aired without a strong NFL lead-in, meaning the football game that usually airs just before it.
The drop is steep. Variety reported that overall viewing fell 60% from the year-earlier Sunday telecast, which had a stronger football lead-in. Among viewers aged 25 to 54, the age group advertisers track closely, the decline was 81%, leaving the episode with 558,000 viewers in that group.
Before this episode, the programme had never fallen below seven million overall viewers or one million in the 25-to-54 group since 2000, Variety noted. This week's numbers sit well under both marks.
The show still did well for its time slot. For the night, it was the second-most-watched non-sports programme on broadcast television, behind CBS dramas Tracker and Marshals. It also faced competition from a late football game on Fox.
The episode itself covered a probe into the Trump administration's efforts to deport people to countries where they have no ties. It included interviews with Colorado Governor Jared Polis and Tina Peters.
The season has been a difficult one for the show's numbers. In September, the New York Post reported the programme was averaging 7.6 million total viewers so far in 2026, on track for its lowest-rated year of the 21st century. A mid-October episode featuring a Lesley Stahl report also fell 41% without an NFL lead-in, according to NewscastStudio.
What stands out is how much the Sunday schedule seems to matter. The same comparisons that show the drop also show that the episodes with a football lead-in drew far bigger crowds. Viewers who watch the show after a game tend to be a different crowd from those who tune in on its own. Each new week's Nielsen figures will show what happens next.
