Future of 60 Minutes is being questioned, sources reveal
Lacklustre ratings, no competition, budget cuts and an inability to travel due to coronavirus has reportedly forced Nine executives to re-consider whether the 60 Minutes program is worth airing.
Confidential
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The future of Nine’s 60 Minutes is said to be in question. A lack of competition, enormous budget cuts, outrageous promos, an increase in tabloid stories and a change in the news cycle has resulted in industry experts claiming 60 Minutes is no longer the powerhouse it once was.
Days after Seven axed The Daily Edition, it is understood Nine executives are questioning whether there’s a place for their once-must-watch 60 Minutes program which features reporters such as Tara Brown.
Nine quashed the rumours on Saturday, with a spokesperson saying, “no changes from what I can establish and 60 is a trusted part of our schedule”, adding that their contract with brand owner CBS has no end date so “we have the rights for as long as we make the show”.
However, other industry sources see things differently.
“With Sunday Night not being there, they have no competition, so know they can dish up whatever they want to viewers,” one insider said.
“There’s been cost cutting in the millions and it is really expensive to do that sort of quality program well. They have slashed their travel budget and are doing more local stories which means they are encroaching on A Current Affair (ACA) territory and even sometimes news territory. Their promos have become ridiculous, outrageous and over the top.”
Insiders say Nine executives are considering dumping the once enormously popular program and instead relying on ACA to be the go-to place for its news, current affairs and investigations.
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Sources say producers have reportedly aired more tabloid-style stories on talent including Pete Evans and Kyle Sandilands in recent weeks to see whether they could lure their highbrow audience to ACA.
This has resulted in a fluctuation of ratings of between 639,000 and 716,000 in recent weeks.
Last weekend’s lauded joint investigation between The Age and 60 Minutes on Adem Somyurek lured 827,000 viewers.
Those stories take time and money.
“The expose on branch stacking in the Victorian government was solid journalism and has ricocheted throughout the Labor Party,” TV Tonight journalist David Knox said.
“That’s where 60 Minutes would find itself in Walkley Award territory. But it was also 12 months in the making, which is expensive for Nine.
“60 Minutes has always had celebrity interviews as part of its mix but they are usually the icing on the cake — not the cake itself.”
ACA has a news-breaking tradition of its own, forged over years of blockbuster political interviews and hard-yards reporting, but it would be a bold exec who dumps the 60 Minutes brand and all the heft it brings to a big story.