‘60 Minutes’: Novel time sale

CBS’ “60 Minutes” has sold all of its advertising time on Sunday’s show to Philips, which the network said would allow the newsmagazine’s stories to run longer.

The electronics company will use half of the show’s normal commercial time. As a result, the first two stories of the week will run uninterrupted. It’s the first time this has happened since the newsmagazine began in 1968, and executive producer Jeff Fager said he hoped it would become more common. Not only does it mean more time for stories, but the sponsor’s commercials are likely to stand out because of less clutter, he said.