{"id":394,"date":"2026-06-04T23:12:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T23:12:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coasttocoastmoverss.com\/?p=394"},"modified":"2026-06-04T23:12:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T23:12:59","slug":"just-how-popular-is-60-minutes-its-beaten-network-tvs-biggest-shows-for-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coasttocoastmoverss.com\/?p=394","title":{"rendered":"Just How Popular Is \u201860 Minutes\u2019? It\u2019s Beaten Network TV\u2019s Biggest Shows For Decades."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Timeline<\/h2>\n
\n
\n

1960s<\/span>The first episode of “60 Minutes,\u201d hosted by Mike Wallace and Harry Reasoner, aired on Sept. 24, 1968 and included journalist Andy Rooney in one of his earliest television appearances, an interview with then-Attorney General Ramsey Clark discussing the topic of police brutality, and an abbreviated version of the Oscar-winning short film “Why Man Creates.” <\/p>\n

Read more Almost 60 Sickened From Raw Milk In Idaho As Campylobacteriosis Outbreak Being Investigated<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

1970s<\/span>In the 1979-80 TV season, Nielsen named “60 Minutes” the No. 1 highest-rated television show for the first time, estimating nearly a third of American households tuned in each Sunday and it topped legendary programs like “Dallas,” “Three’s Company” and “M*A*S*H.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

1980s<\/span>The show was only named No. 1 for one season in the 1980s but was ranked among Nielsen’s top 10 every year for the entire decade\u2014regularly beating out shows like “Dallas,” “Magnum P.I.” and “Dynasty”\u2014building what would become the longest top-10 streak in television history. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

1990s<\/span>“60 Minutes” was the No. 1-ranked show for three consecutive seasons starting in 1991 and was more watched than “Roseanne” and “Cheers” at the height of their popularity. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

2000s<\/span>The cable news revolution delivered a blow to most broadcast news programs in the 2000s and while “60 Minutes” didn’t take the No. 1 title in any season that decade, its 2008 interview with then-President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle drew 25.1 million viewers to make it the most watched “60 Minutes” episode since Niselen data started to include viewership figures per episode.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

2010s<\/span>\u201c60 Minutes\u201d celebrated its 50th season in 2017\u2014an achievement matched only by \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d on NBC\u2014and, by the time it reached the milestone, had won 20 Peabody awards, 12 du Pont awards and a record 138 Emmys. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Correspondent Anderson Cooper interviewed Stormy Daniels about her alleged affair with President Donald Trump and the broadcast drew 22.1 million viewers to be the most-watched \u201c60 Minutes\u201d episode since Obama’s and one of the largest news-program audiences of the decade.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

2020s<\/span>The 2025-26 season of \u201c60 Minutes\u201d reached an average weekly audience of 9.1 million viewers, a 9% increase year-over-year, and more than one-third of Americans were reached at least once during the 2025-26 season across linear television and streaming platforms. <\/p>\n

Read more Tickets For \u2018The Odyssey\u2019 Reach $1,000 On eBay After Ticket Sale Disruptions Hit AMC, Fandango<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201c60 Minutes\u201d surpassed 2.5 billion digital views across social media platforms in the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Big Number<\/h2>\n

52. That\u2019s how many consecutive years \u201c60 Minutes\u201d has been the top-rated news program in America. <\/p>\n

News Peg<\/h2>\n

Weiss fired \u201c60 Minutes\u201d executive producer Tanya Simon, executive editor Draggan Mihailovich, senior producer Matthew Polevoy, producer Guy Campanile and Vega and Alfonsi last month with a purported goal of \u201cbuilding a show that thrives in the 21st century.\u201d On Monday, a staff meeting with new executive producer Nick Bilton reportedly turned explosive when longtime correspondent Scott Pelley railed against Weiss, claiming, “She was brought in to kill (CBS News), and she\u2019s been doing exactly that.\u201d Pelley was fired the next day and a public back-and-forth with Weiss ensued, in which Pelley alleged she\u2019d told him to \u201cinject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Crucial Quote<\/h2>\n

\u201cShe has no qualifications for her job; you have slender qualifications for this job,\u201d Pelley reportedly said to Bilton. \u201cThe changes that she\u2019s made at the \u2018Evening News\u2019 have been catastrophic, so why should we expect that any of this is going to be any better?\u201d<\/p>\n

Key Background<\/h2>\n

Before she was installed at CBS News, Weiss ran right-leaning media company The Free Press. She was given the job at CBS last year after David Ellison, son of billionaire Trump supporter Larry Ellison, purchased the network’s parent, Paramount, through his company Skydance Media. He bought The Free Press for $150 million shortly after. To get the Skydance merger approved, Paramount made several moves to placate the Trump administration including killing all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs and hiring a bias ombudsman for CBS News. The Ellisons have said they want to rebuild trust in news by emphasizing reporting that is “balanced and fact-based,\u201d but critics have pointed to Weiss’ lack of experience and an editorial bent focused on critiquing the political left, attacking “wokeness” and promoting a pro-Israel agenda. Weiss has made several headline-grabbing news since taking the help, including hosting a bizarre town hall with Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk\u2019s widow, and installing Tony Dokoupil as the sole anchor of \u201cCBS Evening News.\u201d <\/p>\n

Tangent<\/h2>\n

“60 Minutes” has produced some of television\u2019s most powerful investigative pieces of journalism. President Bill Clinton used the show to effectively admit to adultery; a young black man named Lenell Geter was released from prison in the 1980s after “60 Minutes” proved he was innocent; and the show broke the story of prisoner abuse at the Iraqi prison of Abu Ghraib Prison in 2004, which became one of the defining journalism moments of the Iraq War. The show has broadcast interviews with Clint Hill, the Secret Service agent who was guarding President John F. Kennedy when he was assassinated; former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; Vladimir Putin; President Richard Nixon post Watergate; then-Price Charles and Boris Yeltsin, who was still a rising Soviet politician when he sat down with “60 Minutes.” <\/p>\n

Read more Ordinary People Can Invest In SpaceX IPO: Here\u2019s How\u2014And Why It\u2019s Risky<\/a><\/p>\n

Further Reading<\/h2>\n

Forbes<\/span>CBS News\u2019 Scott Pelley Accuses Boss Bari Weiss Of \u2018Murdering\u2019 \u201860 Minutes\u2019<\/span>By Mary Whitfill Roeloffs<\/span><\/small><\/span><\/span>Forbes<\/span>Scott Pelley Calls Bari Weiss \u2018Disingenuous\u2019 After She Defended Firing \u201860 Minutes\u2019 Journalist<\/span>By Siladitya Ray<\/span><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The firing of several longtime \u201c60 Minutes\u201d staffers\u2014including Scott Pelley\u2014has put the leadership of CBS News head Bari Weiss under fresh scrutiny. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\nJust How Popular Is \u201860 Minutes\u2019? 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