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'60 Minutes,' the longest-running primetime program, starts its 45th season

by jmaloni
Thu, Sep 27th 2012 05:10 pm

Topics include Afghanistan and the first interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger about his marital troubles; America's No. 1 news broadcast debuts its iPhone App, adds 100 classics to the archive

Television's longest-running primetime program, "60 Minutes," launches its record 45th season with a hard-hitting report on the situation in Afghanistan and the first interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger since the revelations of a secret out-of-wedlock child with his housekeeper. The 45th season premiere of "60 Minutes" will be broadcast Sunday, Sept. 30 (7 p.m.), on CBS.

Lara Logan goes to Afghanistan to speak to its president, Hamid Karzai, its top U.S. military officer, Gen. John Allen, and a Taliban commander, in frank interviews about what is, and what is not, working in the war. Then, Lesley Stahl gets personal with a man who has achieved monumental success in everything he has undertaken, except his marriage. She finds the truth the former governor of California has been hiding for years.

The "60 Minutes" app for the iPad has been one of the most popular paid news apps since its launch and is currently the No. 1 paid news app. Now, for the first time, America's No. 1 news program can be also watched on the iPhone. The new app is available as a universal download for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, so users can watch "60 Minutes" on their mobile devices for the price of $4.99.

The "60 Minutes" app delivers high-quality video and text, including weekly previews, segments, Web extras and clips. It also features weekly original content produced for 60MinutesOvertime.com, where users can experience a behind-the-scenes look at the production of "60 Minutes" stories and view archival segments.

With the launch, 100 more classic "60 Minutes" stories have been added to the app's archive, bringing the total to more than 300 segments. The added classics cover the span of the broadcast's 44 seasons and include Mike Wallace's 1968 Christmas interview with the family of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; Morley Safer's 1974 profile of Helen Gurley Brown; Ed Bradley's 1983 story about a 1923 massacre of blacks by whites in Rosewood, Fla.; Harry Reasoner's "Patient Zero," the 1987 story about the beginnings of the AIDS epidemic; Steve Kroft's haunting return to radioactive Chernobyl in 1996; and Lesley Stahl's 2005 profile of Google and its founders. The app also contains the following new features:

•New decade filter when browsing previous segments by correspondent or category

•Expanded presentation of overtime segments includes videos, text and photos.

•Mark a segment as a favorite and easily browse a list of all your favorite segments

Last season, "60 Minutes" drew an average of more than 13 million viewers each Sunday and was the most-watched news program on television, regularly making Nielsen's Top 10 list. The broadcast was named the 2012 winner of the Outstanding Achievement in News and Information award given by the Television Critics Association. Highlights of the 2011-12 season include the first interview of Ruth Madoff, viewed by 18.6 million; an investigation of Congress exposing insider trading; the rise of homeless children in Florida; and the first interview with superstar singer Adele after her throat surgery.

Online, "60 Minutes'" hashtag, #60Minutes, is regularly a trending topic on Twitter and its website continues to draw more users

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