On September 24, 1968, 60 Minutes premiered on the CBS Television Network. Created by producer Don Hewitt and introduced by journalists Harry Reasoner and Mike Wallace, the program helped establish the television newsmagazine as a major form of broadcast journalism. Its first broadcast aired on a Tuesday night as a biweekly program and presented several reported segments rather than a single hourlong documentary.
The format proved highly influential. By combining investigative reporting, interviews with major newsmakers, and deeply reported profiles, 60 Minutes brought magazine-style storytelling to prime-time television. Wallace’s probing interviews became especially associated with the program’s tough, accountability-focused reputation, while Reasoner supplied a more measured on-air presence.
Over the decades, 60 Minutes became the longest-running continuously running prime-time program in U.S. network television and one of the most successful broadcasts in the medium’s history. CBS says the program has earned 26 Peabody Awards and more Emmy Awards than any other primetime broadcast.
Its 1968 debut remains an important media-history milestone: it demonstrated that sustained, serious reporting could attract a broad prime-time audience and helped establish the template for generations of television newsmagazines.
Image: Mike Wallace and Harry Reasoner in a promotional photograph for 60 Minutes.
