’60 Minutes’ Ratings Plummet Amid Lesley Stahl’s Clash With Bari Weiss

Sunday’s (October 11) episode of 60 Minutes marked the lowest-rated of the season so far, losing a massive 4 million viewers from the previous week’s season high.

According to Mediaite, citing Nielsen ratings data, Sunday’s episode averaged 6.061 million total viewers and 767,000 viewers in the coveted Adults 25-54 demographic. That was down 41 percent in total viewers and 62 percent in the demo from last week’s episode, which benefited from an NFL lead-in.

The show, which featured Lesley Stahl‘s segment on Israeli settlers on the West Bank, also fell short of last year’s fourth episode, dropping 12 percent in total viewers (down from 946,000 a year earlier) and 19 percent in the key demo.

Stahl’s segment made headlines earlier this week when Oliver Darcy’s Status newsletter reported on behind-the-scenes turmoil. According to the report, CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and her deputy Charles Forelle became “very, very hands-on” during the editing process.

While it wasn’t reported what exactly Weiss’ objections were, Darcy noted they were “not confined to a particular factual assertion or isolated element of the report. Rather, her concerns were much broader, setting the stage for what spiraled into a highly contentious editorial process.”

Related

Bari Weiss Could Be Gone From CBS News After Merger: Report

The whole process left Stahl so frustrated that she “privately floated” the idea of quitting 60 Minutes, per Status’ report, although CBS News slammed the story as ‘ludicrous,’ according to The Wrap. Stahl has worked for the show since 1991 and, alongside Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim, was one of three longtime correspondents to stick with the show amid months of off-camera drama.

Status released a follow-up report on Tuesday (October 13), stating that a tense meeting took place that day, with CBS News foreign editor, Shayndi Raice, allegedly addressing staff following reports about the network’s contentious coverage of Israel and Gaza.

In audio from the virtual meeting, Raice threatened to fire staff who didn’t fall in line. “This is not your publishing platform,” she said. “This is a company that we all work for, and there’s a hierarchy in place. And at the end of the day, you have to answer to that hierarchy. If you can’t answer to that hierarchy, and you don’t listen to what we say, that is called insubordination, and it’s legal grounds for firing.”