60 Minutes\u2019 blockbuster interview with Patrick Clancy, the ex-husband of Lindsay Clancy, failed to provide a major ratings boost for the Sunday show, according to audience figures released Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Sunday night\u2019s episode of the newsmagazine show drew an average of 6.77m total viewers, the third-smallest audience in the past 25 years for the second episode of a season, adding to a disappointing debut for Bari Weiss, who, as CBS editor-in-chief, rewired the show, firing several<\/a> high-profile correspondents<\/a> in the run-up to the new season.<\/p>\n The 59th season debuted on 13 September with an audience down sharply from the 58th season debut, drawing 7.94 million viewers compared with 10 million for last season\u2019s first episode.<\/p>\n That episode was the show\u2019s lowest-rated season debut in the 21st century, though CBS<\/a> News touted it as the most-watched non-sports program of the week and released a statement expressing satisfaction with the content of the program. \u201cWe are so proud of the exceptional journalism on display in our season premiere and we can\u2019t wait to bring our audience another amazing show this coming Sunday,\u201d the network said last week.<\/p>\n The 20 September episode of the show barely edged last season\u2019s second episode (6.45 million viewers), and it was likely hurt by not having NFL football as a lead-in program in all markets. But it featured what should have been an audience-boosting interview<\/a>, with new correspondent Ross Douthat sitting down with Patrick Clancy, who described the killings of his children and the aftermath. Clancy\u2019s new wife, fertility doctor Rachel Danis, also gave a brief interview.<\/p>\n In a nod to the interview\u2019s cultural significance and importance for the show, Weiss was in attendance for the conversation, sources said. The show also featured a timely segment on pushback against datacenters reported by correspondent Norah O\u2019Donnell, along with a whodunnit piece from longtime sports-focused correspondent Jon Wertheim about Shergar, an Irish racehorse kidnapped in the 1980s.<\/p>\n