CBS News’ “60 Minutes” drew 10.2 million viewers for its final episode Sunday, according to final Nielsen ratings, edging out last season’s comparable show and marking the show’s largest audience of the new season.
The newsmagazine narrowly surpassed the 10.15 million viewers who watched the comparable episode a year ago, according to Nielsen data.
The latest numbers represent a rebound from the first two episodes of the season.
The Sept. 13 premiere attracted 7.935 million viewers according to the Nielsen Big Data + Panel final ratings, a 21% decline from the 10.03 million who watched last year’s season opener.
The second episode attracted nearly 6.8 million viewers, slightly ahead of the 6.45 million audience for last season’s comparable episode.
That show, which featured a heavily promoted interview with Patrick Clancy, also improved year-on-year with the key 25-54 demographic, attracting 1.1 million viewers compared to 917,000 a year earlier.
The final 60 Minutes episode, which aired to 10.2 million viewers, is the highest-rated episode so far this season, according to Nielsen figures.
Ratings are closely watched in the first full season under CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, who hired Nick Bilton as the program’s executive producer in May as the network laid off veteran staff.
The ratings rebound comes as Weiss’ future at CBS News remains uncertain.
The Post reported last week that Skydance CEO David Ellison was considering possible changes to his role following the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger. Discovery.
Those changes could include a focus by Weiss on editorial matters rather than the broader management responsibilities she was given when she became editor-in-chief last year, sources familiar with the matter told the Post.
The Post also reported that Weiss’ tenure was marked by friction over management and personnel decisions, including his overhaul of “60 Minutes.”
Still, sources said Ellison and his father — Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who dipped into his own coffers to seal the mega-merger — continue to view Weiss as a talented editor with strong judgment in information and valuable relationships.
However, nothing regarding Weiss’ role has been finalized and sources told the Post that a decision is not expected before the merger closes on Tuesday.
Weiss had at one point been earmarked for a broader role that could have included CNN, The Post previously reported, but that path became less clear in the final stretch of the merger.
CNN chief Mark Thompson will remain president and editor-in-chief of the channel and report directly to David Ellison.
The Post reported that Weiss would remain in his current position at CBS News for now, while sources said the company could eventually consider putting CNN and CBS News under a single leader.
The Post has requested comment from CBS News.
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