Nielsen counts 7.8 million viewers, the second-smallest audience for a Trump episode since 2015, while clips drew 195 million social video views
Trump's first post-midterms "60 Minutes" interview drew 7.8 million viewers, the second-smallest audience for a Trump episode since 2015, while clips logged 195 million social video views. In Korea, President Lee Jae-myung began a regular YouTube show on Nov. 5 that bypasses broadcasters.
President Donald Trump's interview on CBS's "60 Minutes" drew 7.8 million viewers. The Nov. 8 episode was Trump's first sit-down interview since Democrats retook both the House and the Senate in the 2026 midterms. It was conducted by Ross Douthat, one of the program's new correspondents.
Under Nielsen's Big Data + Panel measurement, that was the second-smallest audience for a "60 Minutes" episode featuring Trump since 2015, TheWrap reported Nov. 10. The broadcast drew 918,000 adults ages 25–54. Viewership fell 44% from Trump's November 2025 interview, which drew nearly 14 million, and was down 26% from the Nov. 1 episode's 10.5 million. It was up 5% from his April 2026 appearance, which drew 7.4 million.
The numbers outside television looked different. The interview reached 195 million video views across the program's social platforms. A CBS spokesperson told Axios it generated the highest social media viewership in the days after an episode in the show's history. CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss and "60 Minutes" executive producer Nick Bilton have said they are prioritizing growth beyond linear TV.
Scheduling explains part of the decline. Trump's November 2025 interview followed an NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills; this one had no NFL lead-in. But the slide is not limited to Trump episodes. In an analysis of Nielsen Live+7 ratings for the first eight episodes of the season, Axios found "60 Minutes" viewership down 17% year over year. In Korea, meanwhile, the president has started his own YouTube show instead of sitting for broadcast interviews.
7.8 million in November, 7.4 million in April, 14 million a year earlier
Trump has appeared on "60 Minutes" three times in a year. In the Nov. 8 interview, recorded in the Roosevelt Room, he acknowledged missteps in his immigration crackdown and economic messaging, defended the war in Iran and refused to forgive his political enemies. Douthat repeatedly pressed him on his role in the Republican defeats and his growing personal wealth, and asked what he believes happens after death.
Earlier, on April 26, Norah O'Donnell interviewed Trump at the White House, a day after a gunman charged toward the White House Correspondents' Dinner. When O'Donnell read from the suspect's alleged manifesto, Trump said, "You shouldn't be reading that on 60 Minutes. You're a disgrace," the Washington Examiner reported. That NFL-offseason episode drew 7.4 million viewers.
His first appearance, on Nov. 2, 2025, was his first "60 Minutes" interview in five years. It came after Paramount paid $16 million to settle Trump's lawsuit over the program's 2024 interview with Kamala Harris. O'Donnell's Mar-a-Lago interview aired after an NFL game and drew about 14 million viewers. Reported figures for that episode vary by measurement: Axios cited a preliminary, panel-only 13.2 million at the time and 14.9 million in its Nov. 10 report.
First eight episodes down 17%; only two episodes beat last year
Axios reported on Nov. 10 that Nielsen Live+7 viewership for the season's first eight episodes was down 17% from a year earlier. A season averages about 32 episodes, so roughly a quarter has aired. The comparison is uneven: five episodes in the same stretch last season followed NFL games, against four this season. Last season's Trump interview aired in the sixth episode; this season's in the eighth.
Only two episodes have topped last year's numbers: one with the first television interview of Patrick Clancy, and one with the first network interview of San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama after his team lost the NBA Finals to the New York Knicks.
Episode by episode, the Nov. 1 broadcast drew 10.5 million, more than the Trump episode. The Oct. 4 episode drew 10.2 million, Mediaite reported. The September season premiere drew 7.94 million, down 21% overall and 33% among adults 25–54, the smallest premiere audience of the century, TV Insider reported. With the Trump episode, "60 Minutes" ranked as the No. 1 non-sports primetime program in viewers and adults 18 and older for the sixth time this season, a usual placement given its post-NFL time slot.
A year under Weiss: a new executive producer and correspondent departures
Weiss told The Information's Jessica Lessin in October that she is focused not on ratings but on "transforming the business." Longtime correspondent Lesley Stahl, by contrast, urged viewers who stopped watching to return, saying at a Women in Media lunch hosted by The Daily Beast last week that many loyal viewers "tuned us out, we presume, in protest."
The program overhauled its lineup before the season. Weiss hired Douthat, Trevor Phillips, Gianna Toboni, Sebastian Junger and Ariel Levy. In June, CBS News fired correspondent Scott Pelley after he publicly questioned Bilton's qualifications; Pelley had said the 58th season ended with a 9% jump in viewers. In May, Weiss named Bilton to replace executive producer Tanya Simon.
Weiss was appointed editor in chief after David Ellison's Skydance took over Paramount in 2025. In August, the media newsletter Status reported that Paramount executives would be closely comparing ratings under the new leadership with the program's past performance.
195 million social views; Fox News logged 1.5 billion YouTube views in Q1
The interview's 195 million social video views are 25 times its 7.8 million TV viewers, but the two figures measure different things and cannot be compared directly. Nielsen reports average viewers of the broadcast; social views add up plays of clips across platforms. Other data point in the same direction: news brands' reach is extending beyond the TV schedule.
Fox News said it was the No. 1 news brand on YouTube in the first quarter of 2026 with 1.5 billion video views, according to Emplifi data, double CNN's 707 million and more than ABC, NBC and CBS News combined. "60 Minutes" airs Sundays on CBS and streams on Paramount+. On Nov. 11, three days after the broadcast, the program posted the full episode, including the Trump interview and a report on protests in France, to its YouTube channel as "Donald Trump; France on Fire | 60 Minutes Full Broadcast."
Axios said the data do not point to a mass audience exodus but show a program struggling to find its footing under new leadership. Early-season year-over-year comparisons are imperfect, it noted, but a double-digit decline means the show would need big numbers in later episodes to close the gap.
Korea's president launches "The President's Y," a regular show outside broadcasters
In Korea, the president has chosen his own channel over broadcast interviews. The first episode of President Lee Jae-myung's regular YouTube show, "The President's Y" (대통령의 Y), premiered at 9 p.m. on Nov. 5 on his channel, "이재명tv," and on "KTV 이매진," the YouTube channel of the government broadcaster KTV. It was recorded the previous day at Sangchunjae in the Cheong Wa Dae compound. Senior secretary for public relations Seong Gi-hong (성기홍) said in a Nov. 4 briefing that roughly 30-minute episodes would follow every two to three weeks, barring travel.
The "Y" stands for both YouTube and "why," reflecting the aim of explaining the reasoning behind the president's decisions. Former MBC announcer Son Jeong-eun (손정은), CEO of Soulbridge ENT, hosts and asks questions on behalf of citizens. Unlike in speeches or meetings, the president will speak "in a relaxed atmosphere, in the people's language, as candidly as possible," and will answer comments left on his social media. Cheong Wa Dae said he has held 23 press conferences with the presidential press corps so far.
The first episode had about 216,786 views, 44,882 likes and 10,943 comments the day after release, the weekly Jugan Kyunghyang (주간경향) found using a social analytics site; the channel has about 1.9 million subscribers. Claims of view manipulation, raised because likes briefly exceeded views, were rated false: the magazine noted that YouTube verifies the two metrics through separate systems. Lee also used YouTube earlier in the year. His Jan. 21 New Year's press conference ran a record 170 minutes and included questions from YouTubers.
YouTube ad exposure at 86.1%, TV at 67.5%: where Korean broadcasters fit in presidential interviews
In the U.S., the president still sits for a network's flagship newsmagazine, and the network recuts the interview into clips for social platforms. In Korea, a program planned by the presidential office goes straight to the president's channel and the government channel. On "The President's Y," a host introduced in the Cheong Wa Dae briefing asks questions on citizens' behalf; on "60 Minutes," Douthat repeatedly pressed Trump on the Republican losses and his personal wealth.
Viewing habits are shifting in the same direction. In the Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation's (코바코) 2026 media usage survey, 86.1% said they had encountered YouTube ads in the past month, the highest of any medium, against 67.5% for TV ads. YouTube rose 3.5 points from a year earlier while TV fell 10.9 points. Of Korea's roughly 17.27 trillion won in total ad spending in 2025, online took about 60%, while broadcast advertising fell about 13%.
What Korean broadcasters can offer in a presidential interview is scrutiny. The scenes of Douthat's pushback were played far more on social platforms than on TV. If Korean broadcasters distributed their current-affairs interviews as clips and reported broadcast ratings alongside digital views, they could show advertisers and viewers their full reach. In the U.S., Nielsen reports figures combining big data and panel measurement, and CBS publicized its social viewing record alongside them.
Outlook: with three-quarters of the season left, metrics beyond TV will shape the verdict
About a quarter of the "60 Minutes" season has aired. Axios said it is too early to say the program is flailing under new leadership, but if the trends continue, it will become harder for CBS to argue the numbers are just noise. NFL lead-ins and big-name interviews in the remaining episodes will drive TV audiences.
CBS is already pointing to its social viewing record. For the "transforming the business" Weiss describes to be judged a success, CBS will need evidence that digital reach and revenue are offsetting the decline in TV viewers. In Korea, "The President's Y" will continue every two to three weeks. As more of the president's messages bypass broadcasters, Korean broadcasters' presidential interviews and current-affairs shows are likely to be judged on the quality of their questions and the performance of their clips.