'60 Minutes' Audience Sinks to Surprising Low Without Football

Key Points:

• The fifth episode of CBS's "60 Minutes" drew only 5.64 million viewers, marking one of the program's lowest audiences in years, with just 558,000 viewers in the key 25-54 demographic highly valued by advertisers.
• This episode's ratings fell sharply compared to the previous year, dropping 60% in overall viewership and 81% among the 25-54 age group, largely due to the absence of a strong NFL lead-in and competition from a late Fox football game.
• CBS News recently overhauled "60 Minutes," replacing longtime producers and correspondents with journalists who have strong backgrounds but limited experience in weekly long-form TV journalism, adding pressure to stabilize the program's performance.
• Despite the ratings slump, "60 Minutes" remained the second-most-watched non-sports broadcast program on the night, behind CBS dramas "Tracker" and "Marshals," though it typically leads in that category.
• The episode's content included an investigation into the Trump administration's deportation policies and interviews with Colorado Governor Jared Polis and election official Tina Peters, highlighting ongoing political and social issues.