’60 Minutes’ Sees Audience Dip Without NFL Lead-In

An average of 6.06 million people tuned in to watch an episode of “60 Minutes” that became the spark of an intense debate between longtime correspondent Lesley Stahl and CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss, who wrangled with one another over the content of Stahl’s segment centered on Israeli settlers seeking to drive out Palestinians on the West Bank, according to a person familiar with the matter. The dispute over the report, which tackled an issue close to Weiss, forced CBS News to delay promotion of the episode and angered Stahl, who felt compelled to defend her reporting at a late stage of production. The Status media newsletter previously reported details of the struggle between Weiss and Stahl.

The 6.06 million figure represents a 12% decline in viewership from the last season’s fourth episode of the show, according to Nielsen, and a nearly 41% dip from last week’s audience, which was boosted by a record-setting NFL game that aired before the Sunday newsmagazine. The new episode of “60 Minutes” also faced competition from an NFL game airing on Fox and NBC’s NFL pre-game show, which began in the middle of the episode.

The telecast also saw declines among people between the ages of 25 and 54, the demographic most coveted by advertisers in news programming. Sunday’s episode wooed an average of 767,000, compared with 946,000 a year earlier, and 2.02 million last week. The demo ratings declined nearly 19% from last season and 62% from last week’s telecast, according to data from Nielsen.

CBS News remains under intense pressure to demonstrate stability at the program, which was overhauled in chaotic fashion at the end of last season, despite mustering a notable 9% uptick in overall viewership. Weiss ousted Tanya Simon, an executive producer with years of history working at the show, in favor of Nick Bilton, a journalist and screenwriter with less formal TV experience. Also pushed out were correspondents Scott Pelley, Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi. Anderson Cooper left of his own volition following the end of his contract. Their replacements, which include Ross Douthat and contributors like Ariel Levy and Sebastian Junger, have top-shelf backgrounds, but also little experience working on a weekly TV program that emphasizes long-form enterprise journalism.

CBS can take some solace from the fact that Sunday’s “60 Minutes” telecast gained viewers throughout the episode, according to Nielsen data.

In addition to Stahl’s report from the West Bank, Sunday’s episode also featured a report an interview by Norah O’Donnell of Sean Curran and Matt Quinn, director and deputy director of the U.S. Secret Service, The show’s third segment focused on Bill Whitaker’s profile of musician Jon Batiste.