Overview
- The Season 59 premiere on Sunday, Sept. 13 averaged about 7.9 million viewers, a drop of roughly 21 percent from last year and the smallest season opener for 60 Minutes since at least 2000.
- Nielsen data show the program fell about 33 percent among adults 25 to 54, finishing with under 2 million viewers in that key demo compared with about 2.36 million for last year’s premiere.
- Granular quarter-hour Nielsen figures reveal the audience declined through the hour, from roughly 9.4 million in the first 15 minutes to about 6.7 million in the final 15 minutes.
- Executives and observers point to several possible causes: a weaker NFL lead-in that drew about 18.4 million viewers versus roughly 23.7–23.8 million a year earlier and recent changes to Nielsen’s measurement that the NFL is still assessing.
- CBS stressed that 60 Minutes remained the week’s top non-sports primetime program and posted much stronger social and digital engagement while the episode is also the first broadcast after a contentious summer shakeup led by editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and new executive producer Nick Bilton.