60 Minutes Cashes in on Stormy Daniels Controversy

Mark Angelo, CEO, Yorkville Advisors

There’s a cliché going around that people “don’t watch the news anymore.” Well, that’s certainly not the case when Stormy Daniels is on 60 Minutes. The CBS news magazine enjoyed its highest ratings in a decade when Daniels sat down with Anderson Cooper recently. More than 22 million people tuned in, which is double the typical viewership for the program.

It was a perfect storm of opportunity for the program and the network. There remains an incredible about of interest in both Donald Trump and in Stormy Daniels, and the network also enjoyed a hugely popular NCAA basketball game as the lead-in. That audience was consistently hit with promos for the “Stormy” 60 Minutes episode following the game, so ratings watchers believe a lot of those folks stuck around, at least for a few minutes of the interview.

For a point of comparison, the last time the program has such a high viewership, the Obamas were being featured just after the 2008 election. But perhaps the biggest win for 60 Minutes and for CBS was in the youth viewing demographic. Younger categories, especially younger adult categories, are what advertisers love, and this episode earned 60 Minutes the highest ratings in that cohort in two years. And, overall, the episode looks like it will finish in the number one spot in viewership… ahead of the overachieving first episode of the revived Roseanne, which topped 18 million.

Based on the reaction after the interview, it’s pretty clear Stormy Daniels is looking to cash in as well. People seemed to be riveted by the account of her alleged affair with the President. While right-wing media downplayed the account, called Daniels’ account into question or said it was ‘old news,’ many millions didn’t seem to agree. They couldn’t seem to look away or to stop talking about it.

Daniels’ name was the number one trending topic on Twitter, and it stayed on top for hours even after the show had aired. Daniels was also a hot topic on Facebook and other social media as well.

Part of the interest in the alleged affair which, if it even happened, was more than a decade ago, has to do with a second allegation made by Daniels: that she was paid “hush money” by an attorney working for Trump. Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, spent the days before, during and after the program telling anyone who would listen the meat of this story is about “the cover up.” Avenatti also kept the story going, promising to “reveal a lot more” in the coming days and telling the riveted audience, “We’re just getting started.”

Whatever comes next, if anything at all, both Daniels and CBS have enjoyed renewed popularity thanks to this conversation.