Over the past few years, “60 Minutes” correspondents have been trying to meet some interesting challenges. Is it possible to quit the show during summer vacation with one storyline already decided?
It’s no longer a game to do that now.
There are serious questions about whether CBS News will be able to launch the 59th season of “60 Minutes” as scheduled in the fall, following a mass purge of top staff at the venerable news magazine. The show relies on the network’s Sunday afternoon football games as a major viewership vehicle, so getting the show off to a good start in mid-to-late September is critical. “60 Minutes” has been America’s most-watched news program for many years.
Now, the question is whether the show has enough on-air correspondents and production staff willing to allocate, report, write, fact-check and edit three in-depth, documentary-style episodes, each 12 to 13 minutes long, for soccer fans and news enthusiasts to see. Staffers are disheartened by recent developments and are questioning the motives of CBS parent Paramount Skydance, which wants to curry favor with the Trump administration as executives try to finalize a deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery.
“There aren’t enough people,” said a source familiar with the workings of “60 Minutes.” The source said the new episodes will provide concrete on-screen evidence of whether CBS News executives were able to ramp up production. If “60 Minutes” offers an unusual number of “two-parters,” or stories that take up two segments during the show, it’s a sign there isn’t enough content in the pipeline, the person said.
“I feel sorry for the people there,” this person says. In times of extreme upheaval, “they have nowhere else to go on the same level. They have to hang on.”
The ranks of “60 Minutes” senior executives have been watered down. CBS News fired correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega last week. Executive producer Tanya Simon. Editor-in-chief Dragaan Mikhailovich. and two senior producers, Guy Campanile and Matthew Paulvoy. A third correspondent, Anderson Cooper, announced his resignation in February. The program is once again reeling from the firings of correspondent Scott Pelley, who was fired Tuesday night for speaking out against CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, and Nick Bilton, a former technology reporter and documentary maker who was installed as the news magazine’s new top producer.
Another person familiar with CBS News said staffers are “absolutely shaken.” “They want to know what’s going on and how the show needs to change to fit Weiss’ vision.”
CBS News declined to request comment from executives. A person familiar with the situation said there is a sense that someone else will take on the story job. Former CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell will contribute an article, and CBS News staffers like Major Garrett have been leading the show’s segments in recent weeks. Such an arrangement would likely help CBS News eliminate some of the newsmagazine’s hefty costs.
Three people familiar with Paramount Skydance’s news operations said that kind of information has become harder to come by since Mr. Weiss arrived last year. Mr. Weiss is a former opinion writer who left the New York Times to start Free Press, a digital site that often criticizes the attitudes of “woke” people. Paramount reportedly paid $150 million to acquire the site, merging it with part of the CBS News business, but Mr. Weiss retains control over its editorial and reporting staff.
At a town hall in January, Weiss told CBS News officials who cover the news that instead of thinking about “what shows to cover” or “how many hours to air on linear TV,” they should think about “how can we produce the most revelatory stories for viewers who expect their news instantly and on demand, and for a younger generation for whom ‘streaming’ and ‘social’ are simply television and news.”
Still, the TV show continues to air.
Since then, Mr. Weiss’ interactions with many producers and reporters have been infrequent, people familiar with the matter said. There appears to be a lot of animosity between the people Mr. Weiss has hired to form the “masthead” at CBS News and the people tasked with making sure shows like “CBS Evening News” and “48 Hours” operate as they should and make a profit.
A person familiar with CBS News said Perry’s dramatic departure this week will definitely create a new sense of camaraderie on “60 Minutes.” If Weiss and her team can do some new outreach to the group and get them to understand her vision for the issue at hand and what Bilton wants to do, the two sides may be able to find common ground as they prepare the show for the fall, the person said.
But many are skeptical that Weiss can foster a spirit of cooperation after such a wholesale purge of top newsmagazine talent. Despite claims to the contrary, news magazines continue to attract large audiences even without football and have a healthy digital presence.
One person familiar with CBS News said in the fall, “We’ll see very soon how all of this really impacts 60 Minutes.”
