"60 Minutes" will begin its 50th season on Sunday, September 24, 2017. CBS thought it would be a good idea for Oprah Winfrey to make her debut as a special contributor to kick off the season. It was announced back in January that the media mogul would give special reports from time to time. Her first story will be about America's political divisions. The 63-year-old television personality says she wants to report on something that will make an impact on viewers.

Program honored

Other than Winfrey being a special guest on the season's premiere, the popular television program will be honored by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences at its Emmy Award ceremony on October 5 in New York City.

Then in November, "60 minutes" will air an hour-long broadcast to celebrate 50 years of being in living rooms in America for half a century.

Many things have changed in the media over the years, but "60 Minutes" maintains its award-winning mixture of investigations, interviews, and reporting that have stood the test of time.

Jeff Fager became the executive producer in 2004. He followed Don Hewitt who held the position from 1968 to 2004. The 62-year-old producer just completed a book about the show to mark the 50th season. It has a very long title, "Fifty Years of 60 Minutes: The Inside Story of Television’s Most Influential News Broadcast." The book will be released on October 24, 2017. Fager gives inside information about how the clock has continued to tick for so many years.

Statistics over the years

The program that first aired on September 24, 1968, is called "60 Minutes" even though the program is only 42-minutes long. Commercials make up the other 18 minutes. It is different from other news programs because of its creator, Don Hewitt, who chose for it to be a unique style of investigation and reporting.

When the program first aired, it was a bi-weekly show instead of a weekly one. It was hosted by Harry Reasoner and Mike Wallace. Over the years, there have been nine former hosts. Currently, there are five hosts and five special correspondents, including Oprah who just came on board

Over the previous 49 seasons, the newsmagazine averaged 12.42 million viewers.

It made the Nielsen’s Top 10 weekly list close to two dozen times. Oprah has been appearing on television for 34 years. Watch the premiere of the 50th season of "60 Minutes" on September 24 at 7:30 p.m. to see how her new role compares to the many other occasions she has been on your television screen.
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