60 Minutes

The CBS News magazine, 60 Minutes, falls under the genre, television news and is one of the most highly respected and admired programs on the air today. Don Hewitt created 60 Minutes in 1968 and is now the executive producer. Even though he was uncertain where this idea would go, he had strong faith that it was make an impact on television viewers. He was right and it became successful because of the reporters, which include: Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, Andy Rooney (who has a regular on-air segment, “A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney” that he began in 1978), Ed Bradley, Steve Kroft and Leslie Stahl. Other reporters have included Harry Reasoner, Dan Rather, Diane Sawyer and Meredith Vieira.

60 Minutes began on September 24, 1968 and launched its 34^th season last September. At first it had “pages” and “chapters” lasting one to twenty minutes and spanning breaking news, commentary, satire and other diverse ideas. 60 Minutes II got underway in the middle of the 1998-99 season and in the 2000-01 season, it finished second behind it’s original as the second-highest rated news magazine. Hewitt stated that, “60 Minutes destroyed television by equating news with the profit motive; news organizations sought money in magazine and entertainment news programs, reducing their long-standing and expensive commitments to breaking news.” They say that when a segment is over it is not significant what the audience has been told – only what they remember of what the reporters tell them. An average of about 16 million viewers watch the program every Sunday night. The correspondents focus on “mini-dramas” and have

Walker 2

confronted companies such as Illinois Power Company, Audi Motors, the Worldwide Church of God, tobacco companies, Allied Chemical Corporation, the U.S. Army, adoption agencies and land development corporations. It is said that the consequences and repercussions of appearing on the program can be severe. And although risks taken by the series have the potential to harm the image and credibility of CBS as well as that of the program, it is still a compelling television show. Research has shown that viewers take the information provided by 60 Minutes very seriously. For example, when they reported that moderate consumption of red wine could prevent heart disease, sales of red wine dramatically increased and over a 2-year period, stocks rose on an average of 14% for companies negatively profiled on 60 Minutes.

Entering its fourth decade, 60 Minutes is still changing, yet keeping constant the producers belief in validating its journalistic integrity through its popularity on American television. This news program is the most successful broadcast in television history and finished on the Neilson Top 10 highest-rated program list for 22 consecutive seasons, from 1977-78 through 1998-99. Also, it was number one in the seasons: ’79-’80, ’82-’83, ’91-’92, ’92-’93, ’93-’94. It has aired 1,412 network broadcasts in prime time and won numerous awards including 68 Emmys.

Works Cited

Brown, Les. Encyclopedia of television: Les Brown’s encyclopedia of television.

Detroit: Gale Research, c1992 v3.