The Real Reason 60 Minutes’ Spin-Off Series 60 Minutes+ Flopped

Paramount+ didn’t offer any specific reason for why it axed “60 Minutes Plus” in early 2022, after only making one season of the show on the streaming service (via Variety). However, as Deadline pointed out, “Such programming is … traditionally more expensive to produce.”

Despite its pedigree of reporters and journalists, including Pulitzer Prize winner Wesley Lowery (via Variety), the company must have decided it wasn’t worth making more episodes. One Variety article seems to confirm that the show indeed “did not find the audience traction that Paramount+ executives desired.” 

However, Variety revealed that “60 Minutes” will have a new life on a digital platform, but this time as a full-on streaming channel. Pluto TV, also owned by Paramount, will host the channel, which will feature years of reports, interviews, and more from the show’s decades of programming. The show’s executive producer Bill Owens praised this move, saying, “The channel will allow us to share our broadcast and historic archive with the wider world.” Regardless of whether it’s on the CBS network or within the archives featured on Pluto TV, the legacy of “60 Minutes” will always endure for curious television viewers.