Scott Pelley’s report from Paris on the terrorist attacks, his interview with new Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Steve Kroft’s look at the state of concussion safety and science in football helped 60 Minutes draw 18.1 million viewers–it biggest audience in a year. The New England Patriots dramatic, last-second win over the New York Giants provided the perfect lead-in, and it’s probably safe to assume some football fans stuck around for the segment on NFL safety.
60 Minutes was the nation’s most-watched non-sports program for the week and No. 2 overall, behind only NBC’s Sunday Night Football. It was the the program’s most-watched show since November 30, 2014. The CBS news magazine tied for fourth among all broadcast shows in the key A25-54 demo.