60 Minutes is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation. It pioneered many of the most important investigative journalism procedures and techniques, including re-editing interviews, hidden cameras, and visits to the home or office of an investigative subject. 60 Minutes reported on cluster bombs, the South Vietnamese Army, draft dodgers, Nigeria, the Middle East, and Northern Ireland.
About 60 Minutes in brief
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation. The program employed a magazine format similar to that of the Canadian program W5, which had premiered two years earlier. It pioneered many of the most important investigative journalism procedures and techniques, including re-editing interviews, hidden cameras, and visits to the home or office of an investigative subject. In 2002, 60 Minutes was ranked number six on TV Guide’s list of the \”50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time\”, and in 2013, it was ranked No. 24 on the magazine’s list of the \”60 Best Series of All time\”. The New York Times has called it \”one of themost esteemed news magazines on American television\”. 60 Minutes aired as a bi-weekly show hosted by Harry Reasoner and Mike Wallace, debuting on September 24, 1968, and alternating weeks with other CBS News productions on Tuesday evenings at 10: 00 p. m. Eastern Time. The trademark stopwatch, however, did not appear on the inaugural broadcast; it would not debut until several episodes later. Alpo dog food was the sole sponsor of the first program. 60 Minutes reported on cluster bombs, the South Vietnamese Army, draft dodgers, Nigeria, the Middle East, and Northern Ireland during the 1970–71 season alone.
In 1971, the Federal Communications Commission introduced the Prime Time Access Rule, which freed local network affiliates in the top 50 markets to take a half-hour of prime time from the networks on Mondays through Saturdays and one full hour on Sundays. This led to the demise of 60 Minutes in January 1972, however in order to accommodate the late afternoon telecasts of National Football League games. This took place because football games were protected from interruptions in the wake of the infamous “Deflategate” scandal. After a six-month hiatus in 1971, CBS found a late-night slot for 60 Minutes that displaced 6: 00:00 to 7:00:00 p.m. Eastern Time on January 1972. This proved somewhat less than satisfactory, however because in order for CBS’ telecasts to accommodate this slot, the show had to be broadcast in the early hours of the morning on Sunday morning. The first edition, described by Reasoner in the opening as a \”kind of a magazine for television,\” featured the following segments: The first \”magazine-cover\” chroma key was a photo of two helmeted policemen. Wallace and Reasoner sat in chairs on opposite sides of the set, which has a cream-colored backdrop; the more famous black backdrop ) did not appeared until the following year. The logo was in Helvetica type with the word ‘Minutes’ spelled in all lower-case letters; the logo most associated with the show did not appearance until about 1974.
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