While “American Idol” took the top 2 spots on television during the 2010-2011 season, “60 Minutes” can claim the highest cumulative audience over all other primetime (non-sports) programs with a reach of 120,901,000 viewers. The cume, as it’s called, measures unduplicated individuals or households reached by a program, which means almost 121 million people watched at least six minutes (but probably more, at least through an entire story which runs about 12 minutes) of a “60 Minutes” episode during the last TV season.
Half of “60 Minutes'” telecasts landed on Nielsen’s weekly top 10, but the show finished #15 for the season (the top 10 after the jump). The show was up — 1% in total viewers — compared to last season. 2010-’11 was the program’s 43rd season.
- 2009-2010 – 13.282M
- 2010-2011 – 13.361M
American Idol Performance Show: 25.864 million
American Idol Results Show: 23.798 million
Dancing with the Stars Performance Show: 21.927 million
NBC Sunday Night Football: 21.025 million
NCIS: 19.377 million
Dancing with the Stars Results Show: 18.612 million
NCIS: Los Angeles: 16.467 million
The Mentalist: 15.328 million
Criminal Minds: 14.026 million
CSI: 13.626 million