Endangered Series Putting Another News Magazine Opposite ‘60 Minutes’ Could Damage An American Institution
I know it’s a business. I know that networks can’t be expected simply to concede time periods to the competition (except, apparently, Thursday nights at 10).
Nevertheless, it would be a damned shame if NBC decides to go head-to-head against CBS’ “60 Minutes” with its own news magazine, a plan under consideration.
The move wouldn’t kill “60 Minutes,” but it would hurt. There’s a finite audience for news magazines in a given time period; NBC’s viewers inevitably would come at CBS’ expense. “60 Minutes”’ unprecedented 18-year run as a top-10 show surely would end and, with it, an era.
Am I being sentimental? Yeah, a little. I like to think of myself as open to change, but it’s just plain reassuring, even comforting, to hear the ticking of that stopwatch and then the sound of Mike Wallace’s incredible voice identifying itself at 7 o’clock on Sundays.
That’s the heart talking, obviously, but there’s cold logic behind the mush.
The TV business being what it is, lower ratings for “60 Minutes” might erroneously be interpreted as viewer rejection of its personalities; its simple, direct approach to telling stories, and its avoidance (most of the time) of sensationalism.
NBC would welcome such an interpretation. Asked during a news conference last month what the difference was between “60 Minutes” and other news magazines, NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer cracked, “The other shows have hosts that are alive.”
Ohlmeyer later softened a bit, calling the program “an American institution” that deserves “tremendous respect.” But his point was made.
Wallace is 77. Andy Rooney turns 77 next month. Morley Safer is 64. Ed Bradley is 54, and Leslie Stahl will match him on Saturday. Steve Kroft is the punk of the group at 50.
What Ohlmeyer and others avoid mentioning is that these people, recent bickering notwithstanding, are the best communicators in prime time, and they’re backed by what remains the sharpest and most experienced stable of producers in television news.
There are first-rate journalists at the other networks, of course, but no other news magazine even comes close to the mass of talent behind “60 Minutes” and the overall quality of their work.
That quality, cultivated in Sunday night’s safe harbor, has allowed “60 Minutes” to maintain its focus on storytelling and to be selective.
“60 Minutes” took a complete pass, for example, on the O.J. Simpson story, which consumed every other news magazine. And it has steered clear of the flashy graphics, pretentious music and gimmicky features that turn other programs, NBC’s “Dateline” especially, into circuses.
Who cares if time-slot competition pushes “60 Minutes” from its position of grace? I do, because TV news and viewers along with it - could suffer if it falls.