The 60 Minutes TV show was originally broadcast as a bi-weekly program.

Initially, 60 Minutes aired as a bi-weekly show hosted by Harry Reasoner and Mike Wallace. It debuted on September 24th 1968, and then appeared on alternating weeks with other CBS News productions on Tuesday evenings at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

The program employed a magazine format similar to that of the Canadian program W5, which premiered two years earlier. 60 Minutes pioneered many of the most important investigative journalism procedures and techniques.This included re-editing interviews, hidden cameras, and "gotcha journalism" visits to the home or office of an investigative subject.

According to one historian of the show, the idea of the format was to make the hosts be the reporters. The format also was to feature stories that were of national importance but focused upon individuals involved with (or in conflict with) those issues, and to limit the reports' airtime to around 13 minutes.

The trademark stopwatch did not appear on the inaugural broadcast, it debuted several episodes later.