Limited Commercials, Single Sponsor On Sunday’s 60 Minutes

“60 Minutes will have closer to a full 60 minutes worth of content this Sunday night,” Broadcasting & Cable says. On Tuesday night’s Colbert Report, CBS correspondent Lesley Stahl said the program “would be a single-sponsor broadcast — Philips — with limited commercial breaks (about half the normal number).”

“Stahl asked viewers to weigh in on whether they liked the result.”

> The press release is out: “For the first time in its 37-year history, 60 MINUTES will feature an exclusive advertiser, Philips, which will give back half of the program’s commercial time to allow the news magazine’s stories to run longer.”

> EP Jeff Fager says: “Selfishly speaking, this is a dream come true because we’re getting more time to tell the stories that have made 60 MINUTES the most watched newsmagazine on television. It’s also a bonus for the viewers, who will get to see longer stories with fewer interruptions. We’re very pleased to be participating in this unique arrangement, and we look forward to other opportunities like it.”