’60 Minutes’ Ratings Drop to an ‘Alarming’ Low in 6th Episode of New Season

60 Minutes continues to struggle without a strong NFL lead-in, with its most recent episode falling below 6 million total viewers and under 600,000 in the coveted Adults 25-54 demographic.

According to Variety, citing Nielsen data, the long-running CBS News magazine program drew 5.64 million total viewers and 558,000 demo viewers for its sixth episode, which aired Sunday, October 25. The outlet noted this is one of the show’s smallest audiences in years.

Since 2000, a sixth episode of 60 Minutes hasn’t fallen below 7 million viewers, per Variety. This also continues a trend of Season 59 episodes being down compared to the same period last year. Sunday’s telecast was down 60 percent in total viewers and 81 percent in the demo compared to last year’s sixth episode, which had a strong football lead-in.

CBS News has not commented on the numbers or released the data publicly as of writing. However, Variety claims four people familiar with the information confirmed the Nielsen ratings. The report also noted that 60 Minutes was the second-most-watched non-sports program on broadcast TV, behind CBS dramas Tracker and Marshals.

This week’s episode, which was up against a late football game on Fox, featured a report on the Trump administration’s efforts to deport people to countries where they have no ties, plus interviews with Colorado Governor Jared Polis and top election official Tina Peters.

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'60 Minutes': Lesley Stahl Delivers Scathing Trump Report After Clash With Bari Weiss

60 Minutes has been embroiled in behind-the-scenes turmoil since Bari Weiss took over as CBS News editor-in-chief last October. Over the past year, Weiss fired 60 Minutes producers Tanya Simon and Draggan Mihailovich and correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi.

Longtime correspondent Scott Pelley was also fired after he spoke out against the changes and Weiss’ handling of CBS News.

More recently, reports emerged of a clash between Weiss and veteran reporter Lesley Stahl, who, along with Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim, was one of three longtime correspondents who stuck with the show. The pair were said to be in dispute over a segment about extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

According to Oliver Darcy’s Status newsletter, Stahl even “privately floated” the idea of quitting 60 Minutes. However, a CBS spokesperson denied the report, saying, “This is a ludicrous, twisted narrative. All 60 Minutes pieces go through a famously rigorous editorial process – which includes edits from editors. This piece received far fewer edits than most.”