Brett Ferino
05-08-2003, 07:19 AM
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - There are lots of things from 1996 that dominated the news at the time, but don't sound quite so cool anymore: Hootie and the Blowfish, the Macarena, Tickle-Me-Elmo, ValuJet and nobody is clamoring for a reunion of "The Single Guy." It's no surprise, then, that weekly showdowns between 1996 presidential candidates Bill Clinton and Bob Dole haven't helped boost ratings for CBS' "60 Minutes."
Since a slight Nielsen spike when the segment first debuted, the newsmagazine's ratings have remained flat, leading many insiders to speculate that neither Clinton nor Dole will return next season.
Producer Don Hewitt blamed the war with Iraq for steering the debates into less contentious directions. Dole was eager to support his political party, while Clinton shied away from dissention to avoid seeming unpatriotic.
''It could have been livelier if they had been in a position to talk about issues that separate right from left, liberals from conservatives, Democrats from Republicans without having to pay lip service to the war that has been going on,'' Hewitt tells USA Today.
Clinton and Dole have aired seven segments (five dealing with the war) and were originally contracted only for 10.
While not saying anything definitive about their future on "60 Minutes," CBS News President Andrew Heyward says the politicians ''have added an interesting ingredient to '60 Minutes,' just as we hoped they would.""
Since a slight Nielsen spike when the segment first debuted, the newsmagazine's ratings have remained flat, leading many insiders to speculate that neither Clinton nor Dole will return next season.
Producer Don Hewitt blamed the war with Iraq for steering the debates into less contentious directions. Dole was eager to support his political party, while Clinton shied away from dissention to avoid seeming unpatriotic.
''It could have been livelier if they had been in a position to talk about issues that separate right from left, liberals from conservatives, Democrats from Republicans without having to pay lip service to the war that has been going on,'' Hewitt tells USA Today.
Clinton and Dole have aired seven segments (five dealing with the war) and were originally contracted only for 10.
While not saying anything definitive about their future on "60 Minutes," CBS News President Andrew Heyward says the politicians ''have added an interesting ingredient to '60 Minutes,' just as we hoped they would.""