LIKE everything else as sociated with “Ameri can Idol,” Sunday’s edition of “60 Minutes” featuring an interview with Simon Cowell hit the ratings jackpot.
The CBS newsmagazine nearly doubled the size of its audience over last week, according to preliminary ratings.
At least part of the “60 Minutes” ratings surge can be attributed to CBS’ NCAA basketball tournament coverage, which is drawing some of the biggest audiences in years.
The Cowell interview was heavily promoted during the basketball games. And the strategy of advertising an in-depth Simon profile to the younger audience that tends to watch college basketball paid off.
The ratings for the first four days of the annual “March Madness” tournament are up about 4 percent over last year, according to early Nielsen estimates.
In the past five years, only the 2005 tournament had higher ratings.
More accurate Nielsen ratings are expected later this week.