"60 MINUTES" POSTS ITS HIGHEST RATINGS AND LARGEST AUDIENCE OF THE SEASON AND ITS BEST IN NEARLY A YEAR

Last Sunday's (20) 60 MINUTES was the program's highest rated and most watched this season. It posted an 11.9/18 for the broadcast's best household delivery since Oct. 31, 2004, and drew 18.13 million viewers for its largest audience since Dec. 19, 2004.

60 MINUTES (7:48-8:48 PM) finished first in households and viewers in Sunday's 8:00 PM timeslot. The broadcast landed among Nielsen's Top 10 programs for the week, finishing at eighth in households and ninth in viewers.

Sunday's broadcast featured a Lesley Stahl report on the thriving world of illegal Internet gambling, Scott Pelley's look at the rebuilding of New Orleans and Ed Bradley's profile of the rock band U2.