CBS News’ Saturday morning broadcasts will be less prominent than the station’s other morning news programs, according to people familiar with the matter, following layoffs announced Wednesday across parent company Paramount Global.
The people said the job cuts would also affect CBS News operations in South Africa, with the Johannesburg bureau closing and regional oversight moving to London. Deb Pata, a well-regarded foreign correspondent who has covered much of the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas, is retiring, according to two people familiar with the matter. CBS News is cutting back on its division dedicated to reporting on race and culture. moreover. CBS News plans to discontinue two companion programs related to its weekday shows “CBS Evening News” and “CBS Morning” that primarily appeared on its streaming properties, one of the people said.
The move, which affected about 100 jobs across the news division, is part of a major cost-cutting effort at the struggling media conglomerate, which has suffered losses in viewership and advertising dollars and has lagged behind many competitors in its ability to attract consumers to its streaming properties. The Ellison family bought Paramount from former controlling shareholder Redstone in August, and further cost cuts are expected even as the new management spent millions acquiring rights to broadcast UFC fights and digital opinion site Free Press.
The most obvious changes will be seen on “Saturday Morning,” a show that focuses on feature reporting and digs deeper into food and music. Most of the staff has been gutted, with anchors Dana Jakuboson and Michelle Miller and executive producer Brian Applegate expected to leave, according to people familiar with the operation. The plan has been on the radar of management for months. Former “Evening News” anchor Jeff Groh, who played a central role on Saturday’s broadcasts, will leave CBS News in the fall of 2024 due to another cost-cutting move by Paramount. From now on, weekday producers will be adding more shows to their remit.
The small program held its own, maintaining ratings even as rivals NBC and ABC lost viewers. Through the first five weeks of this season, “Saturday Morning” had its best start in 20 years, according to Nielsen data.
Other staff members leaving include Nikki Batiste, Nancy Chen, Janet Shamilan, Arturo Rimes, Elise Preston, and Lisa Lin, who was hired as a contributor in 2023 to deliver corporate reporting to various CBS News programs.
The digital programming, CBS Evening News Plus and CBS Mornings Plus, was created as a way for viewers to move between linear and streaming platforms. John Dickerson led the second half of the show online following “CBS Evening News,” but it was expected that he would leave the show at the end of the year, and the continuation of the program was considered to be up for debate. CBS News sent Tony Dokoupil and Adriana Diaz to “CBS Mornings Plus.” This is a morning show that some affiliates have used to fill in other morning hours.
CBS News has been under pressure for months, weakening the news department by settling what appeared to be flimsy lawsuits brought against “60 Minutes” by two different sets of corporate executives and installing a politically-inclined ombudsman to adjudicate potential bias claims against CBS News. Bari Weiss has been appointed as the new editor-in-chief. Weiss, the founder of the Free Press, has espoused conservative leanings on many issues of his time. The layoffs were not caused by Mr. Weiss, but were introduced after the sale of Paramount to Mr. Ellisons.
