Ross Douthat received widespread acclaim for his recent appearance as a correspondent on '60 Minutes,' interviewing President Donald Trump. The broadcast aired on Sunday and generated significant praise for Douthat's questioning style. However, the strong critical reception did not translate into a strong performance in the ratings, which saw a notable decrease compared to the previous week and the same episode from the prior year.
The decline in viewership is partly attributed to the absence of an NFL game preceding the show. Both the previous week's episode and the episode from a year earlier benefited from these football lead-ins. Despite this, the Sunday broadcast achieved the highest ratings for the season among episodes that did not follow an NFL telecast. This offers some positive context for the network as it navigates a season where it frequently faces challenges in attracting audiences without the aid of a preceding sports event.
During the interview, Douthat asked President Trump about the recent midterm election losses suffered by Republicans. He also posed personal and philosophical questions, inquiring whether the president believed he would go to heaven or hell. Additionally, Douthat asked if Trump could hold back from taunting or insulting his opponents if doing so would benefit the nation.
Media commentators took notice of Douthat's performance. Brit Hume, a Fox News commentator, and Brian Stelter, a CNN media analyst, both praised the new correspondent for his approach. Their endorsements highlighted the quality of the dialogue, even as the raw audience numbers fell.
The specific audience figures for the eighth episode of the season showed a total of 7.8 million viewers. The demographic most valued by advertisers, adults between the ages of 25 and 54, numbered 918,000. This overall total represented a 26 percent drop from the previous week, when an NFL game brought in 11 million viewers. The demo audience saw a steeper decline of 69 percent compared to the same time last year, when the show attracted nearly 2 million viewers in that age bracket.
Comparisons to the previous week also reveal a significant gap. That earlier telecast drew an average of nearly 10.5 million total viewers and 2.23 million in the key demo. Sunday's figures marked declines of 30 percent and 59 percent, respectively, in those categories. Both the week-earlier and season-earlier episodes were boosted by NFL games airing immediately before the start of the '60 Minutes' stopwatch.
CBS News is under pressure to show stability at '60 Minutes' following a haphazard overhaul at the end of the last season. The show did see a 9 percent increase in overall viewership during that period, but the recent changes have been turbulent. Bari Weiss, the editor in chief of CBS News, replaced executive producer Tanya Simon with Nick Bilton. Bilton is a journalist and screenwriter with less formal television experience than his predecessor.
Several long-time correspondents were also pushed out during the reorganization. Scott Pelley, Cecilia Vega, and Sharyn Alfonsi left the program, while Anderson Cooper departed of his own volition after his contract ended. The new lineup includes Douthat, as well as contributors Ariel Levy and Sebastian Junger. These individuals possess distinguished backgrounds, though they have limited experience working on a weekly television program focused on long-form enterprise journalism.
The Sunday broadcast featured another new face in Trevor Phillips, who was recently appointed as a senior global affairs correspondent for CBS News. He conducted an interview with Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally party, while protests were taking place among French citizens.
