Les Jones

News > Viacom Using 60 Minutes for Free Advertising

CBS caught flack when 60 Minutes featured Richard Clarke pimping his book and failed to disclose that the book's publisher, like CBS and 60 Minutes, is a subsidiary of Viacom.

Last night 60 Minutes interviewed Bob Dylan about his new book, also published by a Viacom subsidiary. Captain's Quarters points out that that's just the tip of the iceberg of shameless Viacom plugs:

Other recent Viacom/CBS cross-promotions on 60 Minutes include profiles on Jim Carrey, Matt Parker, and Trey Stone at the same time their Paramount films premiered. Paramount is, of course, a subsidiary of Viacom. They've interviewed Comedy Channel stars Jon Stewart and Dave Chappelle and reported on the game show "Jeopardy!", all Viacom assets.

CBS News' reputation couldn't get much worse if they turned "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney" into a five-minute infomercial for Viagra and Geritol.