60 Minutes Ticks

CBS News’ 60 Minutes delivered its largest audience in almost two years Nov. 30, and its highest 25-54 number in almost three years, in a program that featured ex-New York Giant giant Lawrence Taylor telling how he put his cocaine-addled life back together. The magazine’s 6.4 rating/15 share in 25-54s was its best since Dec. 17, 2000.

The week before, when 60 Minutes did an extended report on the pornography industry that said some big media companies like Time Warner and others capitalized on porn through pay-per-view services, the program grabbed 18 million viewers, the most it’s had in nearly two years.

The venerable news magazine benefits from NFL games that run over but nonetheless, CBS says its 14.93 million viewers are nearly 6% more than last year at this time.