''60 Minutes II'' (also known as ''60 Minutes Wednesday'' and ''60 Minutes'') is an American weekly primetime

news magazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or n ...

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

that was intended to replicate the "signature style, journalistic quality and integrity" of the original '' 60 Minutes'' series. It was initially allocated the slot on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

on Wednesdays, then it was later moved to Fridays at 8:00p.m. The original ''60 Minutes'' continued airing on Sunday nights throughout the run of ''60 Minutes II''. The first edition of ''60 Minutes II'' ran on January 13, 1999. Its final broadcast was on September 2, 2005. ''60 Minutes II'' was renamed ''60 Minutes'' by CBS for the fall of 2004. CBS News president Andrew Heyward stated at the time, "The Roman numeral II created some confusion on the part of the viewers and suggested a watered-down version." The show was later renamed ''60 Minutes Wednesday'' to differentiate it from the original '' 60 Minutes'' Sunday edition, but reverted to its original title on July 8, 2005, when the show moved to the 8:00p.m. Friday

timeslot Broadcast programming is the practice of organizing or ordering (scheduling) of broadcast media shows, typically radio and television, in a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or season-long schedule. Modern broadcasters use broadcast automation ...

, where it completed its run.

Correspondents

The broadcast included original reporting from its team of correspondents and from other CBS News journalists. The program also featured updated reports on classic ''60 Minutes'' stories. Credited cast on ''60 Minutes II'' included the following CBS correspondents:

Dan Rather Daniel Irvin Rather Jr. (; born October 31, 1931) is an American journalist, commentator, and former national evening news anchor. Rather began his career in Texas, becoming a national name after his reporting saved thousands of lives during Hur ...

Bob Simon Robert David Simon (May 29, 1941 – February 11, 2015) was an American television correspondent for CBS News. He covered crises, war, and unrest in 67 countries during his career.Gottlieb, Hooper. Shearer, Benjamin F. ed., ''Home Front Her ...

, Charlie Rose, Vicki Mabrey,

Scott Pelley Scott Cameron Pelley (born July 28, 1957) is an American journalist and author who has been a correspondent and anchor for CBS News for more than 31 years. Pelley is the author of the 2019 book, ''Truth Worth Telling'', and a correspondent for th ...

and Lara Logan. The following correspondents also worked on segments for the program:

Christiane Amanpour Christiane Maria Heideh AmanpourStated on '' Finding Your Roots'', 22 January 2019 (; fa, کریستیان امان‌پور, Kristiane Amānpur; born 12 January 1958) is a British-Iranian journalist and television host. Amanpour is the Chie ...

, Ed Gordon,

Charles Grodin Charles Sidney Grodin (April 21, 1935 – May 18, 2021) was an American actor, comedian, author, and television talk show host. Grodin began his acting career in the 1960s appearing in TV serials including '' The Virginian''. After a small part ...

Carol Marin Carol Marin (pronounced "''marine''") (born October 10, 1948) is a television and print journalist based in Chicago, Illinois. Career Marin began her journalism career in 1972 at WBIR-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee working as a reporter, anchor, an ...

and Jimmy Tingle. The correspondents from ''60 Minutes'' have reported several stories on ''60 Minutes II'',

Ed Bradley Edward Rudolph Bradley Jr. (June 22, 1941 – November 9, 2006) was an American broadcast journalist and news anchor. He was best known for his reporting on ''60 Minutes'' and CBS News. Bradley began his journalism career as a radio news repo ...

also reported several one-hour special stories as well. Grodin, Tingle, and

Bill Geist William Geist is an American retired author, columnist, and television journalist. Early life Geist was born on May 10, 1945 in Champaign, Illinois. He served in the United States Army as a combat photographer with the 1st Infantry Division ...

contributed semi-humorous commentaries, paralleling the sister program's

Andy Rooney Andrew Aitken Rooney (January 14, 1919 – November 4, 2011) was an American radio and television writer who was best known for his weekly broadcast "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney", a part of the CBS News program '' 60 Minutes'' from 1978 to 201 ...

Killian documents controversy

''60 Minutes II'' ran into controversy in September 2004 when the program staff received a set of documents which alleged that, while in the service of the

Texas Air National Guard The Texas Air National Guard (TX ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Texas, United States of America. It is, along with the Texas Army National Guard, an element of the Texas National Guard. No element of the Texas Air National Guard is ...

United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

was declared unfit for duty and suspended from service. On September 8, 2004, in the middle of the 2004 Presidential election, Dan Rather went on the air on ''60 Minutes II'' with the documents. The authenticity of these documents was quickly called into question by experts and critics. This became known as the Killian documents controversy (or "Rathergate"). For about two weeks, Rather and his team stood by the story, but CBS later announced it could not vouch for the authenticity of the memos. The network stated that using the memos was a "mistake" and Rather apologized for the incident. These events would lead to Rather's eventual departure from the anchor chair and ouster as correspondent from CBS News on March 9, 2005. Rather later sued in a multi-million dollar employment lawsuit.

Awards

''60 Minutes II'' earned a number of awards, including several Emmy Awards and three Peabody Awards.

References

External links

* {{60 Minutes 1999 American television series debuts 2005 American television series endings 1990s American television news shows 2000s American television news shows 60 Minutes English-language television shows Killian documents controversy CBS original programming CBS News Emmy Award-winning programs Peabody Award-winning television programs American television spin-offs Television series by CBS Studios