From its initial broadcast in 1968, 60 Minutes pioneered the "magazine format" of television (see entry under 1940s—TV and Radio in volume 3) journalism, which allowed it to run a mixture of hard news, investigative reports, personality profiles, and light feature pieces. Its prominence allowed the show to feature candid stories on the most powerful world leaders, distinguished artists, and crafty criminals of the last thirty years. After several years during which it struggled to find an audience, by the mid-1970s it became the most prestigious, most watched, and most imitated news program on television.

Don Hewitt (1922–), a producer at CBS, created 60 Minutes as the TV equivalent of such periodicals as Time (see entry under 1920s—Print Culture in volume 2) and Newsweek. Each week, his chief correspondents would present several stories on a wide variety of topics. In 1978, writer Andy Rooney (1919–) joined the program to present his own brand...