Television pioneer and longtime CBS executive Don Hewitt, the creator of "60 Minutes," has died, CBSNews.com reported Wednesday. He was 86.
The winner of eight Emmy and two Peabody awards, Hewitt began working for CBS News as an associate director in 1948. He was executive producer of “60 Minutes” when it premiered on CBS on September 24, 1968. Hewitt stepped down in June 2004, but the program remains on the air and is the No. 1 news program, according to CBS News’ Web site. As recently as 2007, Hewitt was executive producer for the first-ever network television special coverage of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Show on NBC.
