60 Minutes

Lore & Background

The program began in 1968 as a bi-weekly television show hosted by Mike Wallace and Harry Reasoner. The two sat on opposite sides of the cream-colored set, though the set's color was later changed to black, the color still in use. The show used a large stopwatch during transition periods and highlighted its topics through chroma key—a technique that is no longer a regular feature. In 1972, the program began airing from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, although this time was sometimes disrupted by broadcasting of NFL games on Sundays. Since then, the show has generally kept the Sunday evening format, although the start time has occasionally been shifted.

The program employed a magazine format similar to that of the Canadian program W5, which had premiered two years earlier. It used many investigative journalism procedures and techniques, including re-editing interviews, hidden cameras, and 'gotcha journalism' visits to the home or office of an investigative subject—techniques that had been pioneered earlier by other programs. The first edition, described by Reasoner in the opening as a 'kind of a magazine for television,' featured segments on presidential candidates, commentary by European writers, a piece on police brutality, and a short film.

When Reasoner left CBS to co-anchor ABC's evening newscast, Morley Safer joined the team in 1970. By 1971, the FCC introduced the Prime Time Access Rule, and after a six-month hiatus in late 1971, CBS found a prime place for 60 Minutes.

Reader's Guide

60 Minutes has been a significant force in American television journalism since its debut in 1968. Its creator, Don Hewitt, sought out Mike Wallace as a stylistic contrast to Harry Reasoner, and the program pioneered investigative journalism techniques such as re-editing interviews, hidden cameras, and 'gotcha journalism.' The show's format, with correspondents who do not share screen time with each other, and its use of a stopwatch and chroma key, became iconic. The program's move to a permanent Sunday evening timeslot in December 1975, combined with the addition of Dan Rather, made it a strong ratings hit and a cultural phenomenon. It has been recognized by TV Guide and Variety as one of the greatest TV shows of all time. The program's legacy includes influencing similar news magazines in Australia and Canada, and it remains one of the longest-running prime time programs in US television history, broadcasting at the same time period each week for decades.

Did You Know?

• The first edition of 60 Minutes featured an interview with then-Attorney General Ramsey Clark about police brutality.
• The trademark stopwatch did not appear on the inaugural broadcast; it debuted several episodes later.
• Alpo dog food was the sole sponsor of the first program.
• The program's logo most associated with the show, rendered in Eurostile type with 'Minutes' in uppercase, did not appear until about 1974.

The Correspondent Roster

The 58th season of 60 Minutes, which premiered on September 28, 2025, carried forward the same seven-correspondent lineup established the previous year. Sharyn Alfonsi, Anderson Cooper, Scott Pelley, Lesley Stahl, Cecilia Vega, Jon Wertheim, and Bill Whitaker all returned, anchoring the program's familiar ensemble. Rather than locking in a fixed rotation, the show shuffled the order in which its reporters appeared across the season, keeping the broadcast structure fluid. Beyond the core team, the season also drew on a rotating cast of additional reporters. Margaret Brennan contributed to the third episode, while Norah O'Donnell appeared four times across episodes five, six, twenty-five, and twenty-seven. Holly Williams filled in for episodes fifteen and twenty-three, and Major Garrett stepped in for episode twenty-nine. This layered approach to staffing allowed the program to maintain its signature depth of reporting while introducing variety in who was on screen.

A Season-Defining Broadcast

The sixth episode of the 58th season, which aired on November 2, 2025, emerged as the most-watched installment of the entire run. That single broadcast marked a particularly notable milestone: it represented the highest-rated episode the program had produced since January 10, 2021, during what was then the 53rd season. In other words, nearly four and a half years had passed before 60 Minutes again captured an audience large enough to top a full season's ratings. The episode also benefited from the presence of additional correspondent Norah O'Donnell, who contributed reporting to that broadcast. The fact that the peak came relatively early in the season—just the sixth of what would be thirty-one episodes—gave the remainder of the run a benchmark against which all subsequent broadcasts were measured.

Competitive Standing and Viewership

By the time Nielsen published its data as of April 12, 2026, the 2025-26 season of 60 Minutes sat at the 27th position in its ratings ranking, drawing an average audience of 9.7 million viewers. The program found itself level with the series Wayward at that rank, sharing the same viewership figure. However, an important caveat surrounded those numbers: the ranking period had concluded before the season actually wrapped up. The final five episodes of the 58th season were not factored into the published data, meaning the full picture of the season's audience engagement remained incomplete in the official tallies. For a long-running news magazine that had been a fixture of American television for decades, a 27th-place finish with nearly ten million viewers reflected both the enduring pull of the format and the crowded competitive landscape in which it now operated.

Beyond the Final Episode

The 58th season of 60 Minutes did not simply end with its thirty-first episode. One week after that final regular broadcast, the program returned with an additional installment that blended new material with familiar content. This post-season episode featured one freshly produced segment alongside a new edition of The Last Minute, the program's signature closing feature. To round out the broadcast, two segments that had already aired earlier in the season were repeated, giving viewers who had missed them a second chance to watch. This short wrap-up format—mixing original reporting with a fresh Last Minute piece and recycled segments—served as a brief coda to the season, offering a final touch of the show's signature blend of investigative journalism and concise, punchy storytelling before the production cycle moved on.

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