Even with one of the most high-profile guests that they could have gotten for the second episode of this season’s 60 Minutes, CBS still couldn’t compete with an objectively lousy NFL game and the ratings reflect it.
The 60 Minutes interview with Patrick Clancy, the ex-husband of accused killer Lindsay Clancy and one of the most-sought interview guests in America right now, pulled in an estimated 6.5 million viewers for the episode. It was an 18-percent dip from last week’s season premier of 7.9 million viewers.
CBS’ lack of a nationally televised game in the late-afternoon window on Sunday might have hurt 60 Minutes by offering no lead-in for the show.
Meanwhile, FOX’s national broadcast of the Cowboys-Commanders game, which saw the Cowboys take a commanding 17-point lead into the fourth quarter as the show was starting, will likely wind up slaughtering the show once the Nielsen Ratings for the game are released.
“Lousy”
For longtime sports media analyst Richard Deitsch, the numbers aren’t looking good for 60 Minutes. Deitsch pointed out that the direct link between NFL lead-in games and 60 Minutes viewership could continue to be an issue throughout the season as older, longtime viewers of the show disappear.
“That’s an objectively lousy viewership number,” Deitsch wrote. “The comp for CBS was Cowboys-Commanders, which finished with a 17-point spread. And 60 got a lot of attention prior to the show with the Patrick Clancy interview. I’ll keep using my late Mom as the test. A devoted, passionate fan of CBS News and all its programs for decades who they would have lost over the last year. CBS does have the late doubleheader on Oct. 3 including Broncos-Niners (national) and Chiefs-Raiders. Number should be higher then.”
There were some positives though. The New York Post noted that CBS saw a 20-percent rise in viewers year-over-year from the coveted 25-54 age bracket.
But that same age bracket fell 30-percent from last week’s episode. And the overall ratings were around the same from last year’s mark of 6.454 million viewers of episode two.
Meanwhile, FOX and CBS both saw larger numbers from the 25-54 age group for their TV shows Best Medicine and Big Brother respectively.
