'Face the Nation' to remain an hour permanently

The Associated Press, Sunday, July 29, 2012, 4:53pm (PDT)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- CBS News says "Face the Nation" will permanently become an hour-long program as a growing viewership in recent months has made it the top-rated Sunday morning public-affairs show.

A provisional expansion for the program anchored by Bob Schieffer began in April. Until then, the broadcast had been only 30 minutes in duration, half the length of rival shows "Meet the Press" on NBC and "This Week" on ABC.

Roughly one-third of CBS stations still aren't airing the second half-hour each week. But CBS News president David Rhodes said Sunday's announcement was meant to assure those holdouts that the show's expansion won't be short-lived.

The announcement was made at the Television Critics Association conference.