If the intention of CBS News leadership and editor-in-chief Bari Weiss was to bury the controversially delayed “Inside CECOT” story by airing it with no promotion on a little-watched night for 60 Minutes, they got their wish this week.
Weeks after Weiss controversially spiked the 60 Minutes report about Venezuelan migrants deported by the Trump administration to the violent El Salvador prison complex CECOT, she finally gave it the greenlight this past weekend. The story, reported by correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, largely remained unchanged – but was bookended with new recorded remarks by Alfonsi noting Trump administration officials wouldn’t sit down for an interview.
Meanwhile, it just so happened that this past Sunday’s broadcast found 60 Minutes going head-to-head with the highly anticipated NFL divisional playoff matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears. The newsmagazine, which is generally one of the top-rated programs on network television, also did not have its own NFL lead-in this past Sunday.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the telecast pulled in just 4.911 million total viewers and 442,000 in the key advertising demographic of adults aged 25-54. In comparison, the previous new airing of 60 Minutes, which was January 4, averaged 8.339 million viewers overall and 1.566 million in the demo.
In comparison to the fourth quarter of 2025, Sunday night’s broadcast was down 45 percent in total viewership and 72 percent in the 25-54 demographic. For the 2025 season, the storied news program has averaged 7.944 million total viewers and 1.273 million in the key demo, representing a double-digit slide in both categories for Sunday’s broadcast.
Additionally, prior to Weiss abruptly pulling the “Inside CECOT” segment because she claimed it was “not ready” due to lack of on-the-record input from the Trump administration, the report was scheduled to air in the December 21 broadcast of 60 Minutes. That program, which immediately followed CBS airing a dramatic NFL matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions that drew over 28 million viewers, captured an audience of 10.35 million.
Considering the program wouldn’t have its typical NFL lead-in and was also going up against a late Sunday playoff slot that has drawn over 40 million viewers the past two years, CBS decided to also label the program as a special, giving it the title 60 Minutes Presents. This re-coding trick, which other networks have also used for their programming, means that Sunday’s ratings won’t weigh down the season average of 60 Minutes.
Still, compared to the other two instances in the past year that CBS has labeled a telecast 60 Minutes Presents, Sunday’s airing didn’t compare favorably. Those past two broadcasts averaged 6.248 million total viewers and 837,000 in the key demographic.
In fact, according to Nielsen, this was just the second time that a 60 Minutes broadcast, whether called Presents or otherwise, has drawn fewer than 5 million viewers.
Even before the ratings came in this week, media observers and critics had pointed out that the network seemed to be trying to “bury” a story that had created tons of bad press for Weiss and CBS News.
“CBS saw an opportunity to bury the piece and took it,” Awful Announcing’s Drew Lerner noted. “And there’s few more apt opportunities to completely torpedo a story than against an NFL game that, in all likelihood, will be a top-5 television audience of 2026.”
Hours before the “Inside CECOT” report finally ran, Weiss called several journalists to help shape coverage of the controversy surrounding the segment now that it was finally seeing the light of day. It was during these private briefings – conducted on background with the condition that reporters wouldn’t directly attribute the information to Weiss – that she took the opportunity to criticize Alfonsi.
“Status has learned that during these conversations with reporters, Weiss expressed significant frustration with Alfonsi, who had declined to make changes to her piece at Weiss’ behest,” Status News’ Oliver Darcy reported.
The criticism of Alfonsi in background calls with reporters – The Independent did not take part in those discussions with Weiss – comes after the “anti-woke” founder of The Free Press has been on the receiving end of withering media coverage and internal anger over her leadership of the CBS News newsroom.
The blowback against Weiss reached a crescendo last month when she decided to pull the “Inside CECOT” report at the last minute, even though the story had been screened internally five times and cleared by network attorneys and the standards and practices team.
Weiss – who has been accused of pushing the network in a “MAGA-friendly” direction as owner David Ellison seemingly tries to curry favor with the White House – repeatedly defended her decision to spike the story, insisting that it needed additional input from the Trump administration to be “comprehensive and fair.” Alfonsi, in a memo to her 60 Minutes colleagues, suggested that Weiss' yanking of the story was politically motivated.
“In my view, pulling it now – after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one,” Alfonsi wrote.
The controversy created a firestorm within the network, with CBS employees and insiders expecting a “revolt” among 60 Minutes staff amid plummeting morale on the show.
In the end, Weiss allowed the segment to air largely unchanged – but on a night when 60 Minutes pulled in roughly half its typical audience.
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