The Stormy Daniels Interview Gave 60 Minutes its Biggest Audience in a Decade

Stormy Daniels. Photo: CBS Photo Archive/CBS via Getty Images

Stormy Daniels’ much-anticipated 60 Minutes interview delivered stellar ratings for 60 Minutes Sunday. Anderson Cooper’s report, in which the adult entertainer spoke at length about her mid-2000s relationship with President Trump, boosted the CBS newsmagazine to what appears to be its biggest audience in a decade. According to CBS News projections of Nielsen data, upward of 22 million viewers tuned in to hear Daniels defy a nondisclosure agreement and tell her story. Exact numbers won’t be out until Tuesday, but if they hold up, Sunday’s episode will surpass the 20.6 million viewers the show attracted in January 2016, when Sean Penn talked about his relationship with the Mexican drug lord “El Chapo.†That broadcast was boosted by a big NFL playoff game, and Sunday’s 60 Minutes also got a significant lift from a sports lead-in— the overtime conclusion of the NCAA men’s college basketball midwest championship. Trump’s last 60 Minutes appearance— a postelection interview in November 2016— averaged 20 million viewers, without the benefit of any sports overrun.

Stormy Daniels Gives 60 Minutes Biggest Audience in a Decade