From The Hollywood Reporter · Rick Porter · · 1m 20s
'60 Minutes' premiere drops 21% after a shakeup
The first '60 Minutes' of the Bari Weiss era pulled 7.94 million viewers, well off last year's opener, but social video tripled.
In brief
The first '60 Minutes' of the Bari Weiss era pulled 7.94 million viewers, well off last year's opener, but social video tripled. The premiere lost a fifth of its broadcast audience, though a weaker NFL lead-in explains much of the drop and social video went the other way. Originally reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
A scrutinized premiere
The 59th season opener of '60 Minutes' drew heavy attention but a thinner audience. The Sept. 13 episode pulled 7.94 million on-air viewers, per Nielsen.
“heavily scrutinized, but not as heavily watched as last year's debut”
Down 21 percent
Last year's premiere on Sept. 28, 2025 hit 10.03 million viewers. This one landed about a fifth lower.
First show after the overhaul
CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss had just remade the newsmagazine, cutting veteran correspondents and producers and installing Nick Bilton as executive producer.
New faces barely appeared
Of the new on-air hires, only former New York Times columnist Ross Douthat got meaningful screen time on Sunday.
Social video tripled
CBS News says '60 Minutes' social platforms outside YouTube logged 116.7 million video views, three times last year's premiere. YouTube watch time more than doubled.
The football handoff shrank
CBS' late game drew 18.6 million, down 22 percent from the 23.77 million that fed last year's premiere. The NFL ran opening doubleheaders on both CBS and Fox, splitting the audience for the first time since 2023.
What to remember
The premiere lost a fifth of its broadcast audience, though a weaker NFL lead-in explains much of the drop and social video went the other way.
