New Web Show, "60 Minutes Overtime," To Debut
For the first time, "60 Minutes" will have its own Web site programmed entirely with originally produced content. The new site, "60 Minutes Overtime" (60MinutesOvertime.com), will launch on Sept. 26, 2010, the same evening as the 43rd season premiere of "60 Minutes."
Each week, "60 Minutes" will produce three original stories derived from the broadcast's weekly television segments and from its enormous archive. Story elements will be shot and produced exclusively for the online audience, who will be taken behind the scenes where they see the process of producing stories and get the perspective of "60 Minutes" correspondents and staffers.
One of the online segments will be promoted with an announcement during the Sunday telecast that directs viewers to 60MinutesOvertime.com. The site will also have enhanced feedback and social media sharing capabilities, which will contribute to a growing "60 Minutes" fan base on Facebook.
"60 Minutes" Executive Editor Bill Owens will oversee the programming of the site, working with the broadcast's Executive Producer Jeff Fager and staff members to produce extra multimedia content each week.
"So much goes into the reporting of a '60 Minutes' story and often there's more original material that doesn't make the broadcast, or interesting back stories we don't get to share with the viewer. Now we have a place to do that," said Fager. "This is an exciting new platform for '60 Minutes' and a terrific opportunity to expand our content online."
"'60 Minutes Overtime' is going to be the only place where people can see a different side of '60 Minutes,'" said Mark Larkin, vice president, CBSNews.com. "The correspondents telling stories about their stories is the kind of thing that people are looking for on the Web."
Additionally, through a new app, "60 Minutes" content soon will be available for the first time on the Apple iPad.
"60 Minutes" is the most successful television program in history and television's #1 news program, drawing an average of 13.282 million viewers per week, more than double the audience of its nearest newsmagazine competitor. The program has won more Emmy Awards than any other primetime broadcast, plus 18 Peabody awards for excellence in television broadcasting. Additionally, "60 Minutes" has won every major broadcast journalism award several times, including 12 DuPont-Columbia University batons.
CBS Interactive, a division of CBS Corporation, is the best online content network for information and entertainment. With more than 200 million people visiting its properties each month, it is the eighth-largest Web property globally and the fifth-largest Web property in the U.S. in terms of unique video viewers. Its portfolio of leading brands, which include CNET, CBS.com, CBSNews.com, CBSSports.com, GameSpot, TV.com, BNET and Last.fm, span popular categories such as technology, entertainment, sports, news and business.