CBS just marked a milestone for one of its most revered shows, and the occasion produced a ratings win for the network.

The venerable newsmagazine “60 Minutes” launched its 50th anniversary season on Sunday, and CBS announced today that the show was Sunday’s most-watched program nationwide, excluding sports. The program delivered 14.83 million viewers, making it not only No. 1 on Sunday but also the No. 3 program of the week in prime time, based on Nielsen L+SD figures.

“The broadcast also saw increases in the key demos over last season’s premiere on the same night,” CBS notes in the announcement. “Sunday’s ’60 Minutes’ was up +6% in adults 25-54 (3.7/11 from 3.5/09), +4% in adults 18-49 (2.7/10 from 2.6/08) and added +470,000 viewers (from 14.36m, +3%).”

The season premiere featured Scott Pelley’s story about the effect future hurricanes could have on U.S. cities, Lesley Stahl’s interview with Sen. John McCain and Oprah Winfrey’s first ’60 Minutes’ report, on a divided America.

The newsmagazine, which ranks as the No. 1 news program in the U.S., is executive produced by Jeff Fager.