Weiss also fired \u201c60 Minutes\u201d correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi<\/a>, who clashed with her boss over a segment on President Trump\u2019s immigration policies; and Cecilia Vega, who left ABC News to join the program in 2023.<\/p>\n Bilton will be the first executive producer in the 58-year history of \u201c60 Minutes\u201d to come from outside the tightly-knit organization. The program has only had four leaders \u2014 Don Hewitt, Jeff Fager,<\/a> Bill Owens and Simon \u2014 all of whom came up through the ranks of CBS News.<\/p>\n The moves are the most dramatic demonstration yet of Weiss\u2019 controversial efforts to remake a venerable institution long defined by intransigence and tradition. She arrived at CBS News in October <\/a>with no television experience, installed by Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison<\/a> after he acquired her digital news outlet, the Free Press, with a mandate to shake-up the network.<\/p>\n Chairman and CEO of Disney Robert A. Iger, left, and special correspondent at Vanity Fair Nick Bilton speak onstage during Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in 2017.<\/p>\n (Matt Winkelmeyer \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Weiss\u2019s willingness to bust up the furniture as she tries to get CBS News to adapt to a digital future has also come with scrutiny and accounts of her missteps that she admits were due to inexperience. The spotlight on her efforts will only intensify with the upheaval she\u2019s bringing to the most watched news program on television for decades. <\/p>\n Casting a shadow over the changes are the political machinations of Ellison<\/a>, who has built a friendly relationship with the Trump White House as he seeks regulatory approval of Paramount\u2019s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. <\/p>\n Ellison\u2019s pronouncements that CBS News needs to move more to the political center has led to the perception that the network is trying to placate Trump with more positive news coverage, even as \u201c60 Minutes\u201d has remained tough with its White House reporting. <\/p>\n \u201c60 Minutes\u201d has been under pressure since October 2024, when Trump filed a $20-billion lawsuit against CBS over an interview conducted with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. That suit was settled to clear the regulatory path for Skydance Media\u2019s acquisition of Paramount.<\/p>\n Paramount also has faced blowback over the decision by CBS to cancel its Trump-bashing late-night host Stephen Colbert<\/a> ahead of the FCC approval of its merger with Skydance Media.<\/p>\n Gags about CBS News moving to the political right have turned up at the Oscars and the Golden Globe Award telecasts. <\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s any perception that CBS loses ability to report the news without fear or favor, or is being compromised by corporate overlords or other agendas, that\u2019s going to be very harmful for the institution,\u201d said Andrew Heyward, a media consultant and former president of CBS News. \u201cIt\u2019s penetrated into the public arena, so that regular people are now bringing it up.\u201d <\/p>\n From a business standpoint, \u201c60 Minutes\u201d <\/a>is a curious target for a revamp. The program is one of the most profitable hours on the CBS prime-time schedule while retaining its status as television\u2019s most prestigious journalism operation. <\/p>\n While the ratings for \u201c60 Minutes\u201d get a boost from a lead-in from high-rated NFL late-afternoon games, it remains one of the few network shows that viewers make an appointment to watch. The program\u2019s ad revenue, which research firm iSpot pegged at $67.5 million in 2025, has remained steady in recent years even as traditional TV continues to lose ground to streaming.<\/p>\n But Weiss believes the \u201c60 Minutes\u201d brand name has to do more than just draw a big audience on Sunday night, a point she stressed in her note to staff that was obtained by The Times.<\/p>\n \u201c\u201860 Minutes\u2019 has shaped national conversations, exposed abuses of power, and set the standard for television reporting,\u201d Weiss wrote. \u201cOur responsibility is to preserve that legacy and vital mission by building a show that thrives in the 21st century. That requires a new approach: expanding 60 Minutes beyond a one-hour television broadcast, deepening its role across CBS News.\u201d<\/p>\n Bilton told The Times in an interview that he has a mandate to develop podcasts and other \u201c60 Minutes\u201d projects that reach consumers outside of the traditional TV audience. While he hasn\u2019t held a formal role in a TV news organization, he said he brings applicable news-gathering experience to his position.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve written newspaper articles, and columns, and magazine features, and I have made television shows, and written movie scripts and made documentaries,\u201d Bilton said. \u201cAnd what we do at \u201960 Minutes\u2019 is we tell stories, and I have spent my entire career studying how to do that in the best way possible, and as an investigative journalist.\u201d\u2029<\/p>\n What Weiss and Bilton might learn is that the DNA of \u201c60 Minutes\u201d is not easily transferable. Owens, who proceeded Simon as executive producer, tried to bring a \u201c60 Minutes\u2019 storytelling style to the \u201cCBS Evening News\u201d when it was revamped in early 2024. <\/p>\n Viewers did not flock to Owens\u2019 vision, and \u201cCBS Evening News\u201d was blown up again in January. (The relaunch of the program with Weiss\u2019s anchor choice of Tony Dokoupil<\/a> was marred by early missteps and has failed to improve its ratings.)<\/p>\n \u201c60 Minutes\u201d did survive the snafu that occurred with the segment that doomed Alfonsi. Her segment \u201cInside CECOT,\u201d detailed the Trump administration\u2019s treatment of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants who were deported to an El Salvador prison known for its harsh conditions was scheduled to run Dec. 21 but was pulled the day before airing by Weiss,<\/a> who believed it needed more reporting, including a direct response from the administration, which did not participate.<\/p>\n Alfonsi protested the move by Weiss, calling it politically motivated in an email she sent to colleagues.<\/p>\n The story eventually ran on Jan. 18 without any substantial changes to its tone or reporting. Weiss acknowledged internally that pulling the segment after it had already been promoted was a mistake.<\/p>\n Tanya Simon is being replaced as executive producer of \u201c60 Minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n (Michele Crowe \/ CBS News)<\/p>\n But Alfonsi said publicly that she fully expected to be let go from the program. Her contract ended with the recently concluded TV season.<\/p>\n Simon\u2019s departure came as more of a shock to the organization.<\/p>\n![\"Chairman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1780009750_748_.jpeg\")
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