Bari Weiss’ First Weeks at CBS News: ‘60 Minutes’ Miss, Hunt for New Talent, Concerns Over Union Status at Free Press
Bari Weiss is poised to revamp one of the nation’s most venerable down-the-middle news outlets, CBS News. The question is, will she be able to make money for corporate parent Paramount Skydance after doing so?
The query is legitimate. Paramount executives believe Weiss, named editor in chief of CBS News earlier this month as part of an acquisition of her digital opinion site, The Free Press, will bring “a sense of energy and fearlessness” to the home of “60 Minutes” and “CBS Evening News,” according to a person familiar with the company. Paramount brass were particularly impressed by a segment shown on the most recent telecast of “60 Minutes,” this person says, featuring a sit-down with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, with the pair detailing for correspondent Lesley Stahl how they helped broker a seeming peace between Israel and Hamas.
The trouble? The telecast was one of the lowest-rated broadcasts of “60 Minutes” in the early weeks of the current season. The show, crimped by a late-running NFL game which delayed “60 Minutes” in New York, lured an average of 6.9 million viewers overall, and 946,000 among people between 25 and 54, according to Nielsen data, compared with nearly 10.2 million viewers overall, and nearly 2.1 million viewers between 25 and 54, the previous week. Overall viewership fell 32% from the prior week, according to Nielsen, and 54% among viewers between 25 and 54 — the demographic coveted most by advertisers in news programming.
Such ups and downs aren’t unusual for “60,” which can see ratings spike after an NFL broadcast. Still, the numbers are below the average audience for the show, which came to nearly 8.6 million viewers last season, when the 2024 presidential election goosed viewership. The network was encouraged by attention the interview of Witkoff and Kushner received online, according to a person familiar with the matter.
In the TV news business, scoops matter. But so too does sizzle — promotion of a big interview, parceling it out among several programs — and Weiss, who has no previous experience running an editorial operation the size of CBS News or producing TV programs, needs to master it.
There are many in the newsroom who hope she can. And there are still others who do not understand what she intends to do in her new perch or how she will go about doing it.
Upon completion of her deal with Paramount, Weiss hailed the transaction as “a great moment for the Free Press.” People are still trying to determine what it means for the news division over which she now presides.
No one seems able to articulate the relationship between Free Press, which is still publishing stories, and CBS News, which has featured Weiss’ sister and “Free Press” cofounder Suzy Weiss on programs. Are the two part of a single unit? Is “Free Press” bound by the same ethics and newsgathering standards as CBS News? There is some concern among CBS News staffers, according to two people familiar with the matter, that “Free Press,” which is not unionized, will not be bound by the same workplace policies as CBS News, where many employees are represented by Writers Guild of America. Weiss recently hired Adam Rubenstein as a deputy editor of “Free Press,” a move CBS News staffers anticipate will give him some say in the newsgathering direction of CBS News. And yet, CBS News’ union will expect its contract to be honored, even by “Free Press” personnel.
CBS News declined to make executives available for comment. A spokesman for WGA’s East Coast operations did not respond to a query seeking comment.
Inside CBS News, employees have some hope Weiss can help boost the viewership of the company’s streaming properties, which aren’t pulling in the audience executives might like. While CBS News was early to join the streaming game, it hasn’t maximized its efforts to the extend that NBC News has, which operates a stand-alone streaming outlet devoted to “Today” and a live-streaming service for national news called NBC News Now. In recent months, CBS merged its national newsgathering business with its local stations and has tapped personnel from both sides to create new streaming formats and programs, including a show that takes viewers to news stories covered by local stations in “whip-around” style.
There is also a sense that some of CBS News’ best-known programs are in for an overhaul.
Weiss has already leaped to help book newsmakers for segments on CBS News programs, setting Norah O’Donnell to moderate a panel discussion online with former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and Condoleeza Rice, and arranging an interview between Tony Dokoupil and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It’s notable that such assignments weren’t given to the current “CBS Evening News” anchors, Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson, who preside over a retooled show that uses a dual-anchor format and has tried to focus more heavily on enterprise stories rather than breaking headlines — and seen viewership drop noticeably as a result.
Despite the recent spotlight on O’Donnell and Dokoupil, CBS News executives have begun making outreach to talent agencies in hopes of luring new anchors to the fold, according to three people familiar with the matter. CBS News has tried to find out what journalists might be available in case the offer of a job comes their way, these people say, and would be amenable to putting these people in new places at CBS News even ahead of internal candidates — at least for now.
Such queries aren’t atypical when new management comes into a news division. CBS News reached out in similar fashion to agents after Neeraj Khemlani took the reins at CBS News in 2021, according to two people familiar with the matter, eager to see if potential candidates who worked elsewhere might be near a negotiating window in their contracts.
The move to inject new talent into CBS News spotlights the fact that no matter what new policies and projects Weiss brings, a host of old challenges remain — and may be of more critical economic importance to Paramount Skydance than any ideas she has on the caliber of reporting and journalism.
“CBS Evening News” and “CBS Mornings” have long been mired in third place, partially the result of CBS losing affiliates in 1994 after ceding NFL rights to a still-nascent Fox. But the network can perform well, often notching first-place wins in primetime and late night (CBS will likely lose that distinction next year after it shuts down “The Late Show,” hosted by Stephen Colbert).
Weiss will also have to grapple with what will likely be a much-scrutinized talent decision. The contract of Gayle King, the well-liked co-anchor of “CBS Mornings,” expires in 2026, according to three people familiar with the matter. Renewing King is always “a question mark,” says one of these people, as the host often debates about whether to continue and how to balance her job with her family. At a time when CBS News’ corporate parent is cutting costs and laying off staff, it’s not clear whether Paramount will want to continue paying the morning host her current salary, and whether King would want to continue if asked to take a cut.
Weiss has shown early skill in landing good “gets” for CBS News. But there’s a lot more she’ll have to master in coming months — with little time to get it right.
The query is legitimate. Paramount executives believe Weiss, named editor in chief of CBS News earlier this month as part of an acquisition of her digital opinion site, The Free Press, will bring “a sense of energy and fearlessness” to the home of “60 Minutes” and “CBS Evening News,” according to a person familiar with the company. Paramount brass were particularly impressed by a segment shown on the most recent telecast of “60 Minutes,” this person says, featuring a sit-down with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, with the pair detailing for correspondent Lesley Stahl how they helped broker a seeming peace between Israel and Hamas.
The trouble? The telecast was one of the lowest-rated broadcasts of “60 Minutes” in the early weeks of the current season. The show, crimped by a late-running NFL game which delayed “60 Minutes” in New York, lured an average of 6.9 million viewers overall, and 946,000 among people between 25 and 54, according to Nielsen data, compared with nearly 10.2 million viewers overall, and nearly 2.1 million viewers between 25 and 54, the previous week. Overall viewership fell 32% from the prior week, according to Nielsen, and 54% among viewers between 25 and 54 — the demographic coveted most by advertisers in news programming.
Such ups and downs aren’t unusual for “60,” which can see ratings spike after an NFL broadcast. Still, the numbers are below the average audience for the show, which came to nearly 8.6 million viewers last season, when the 2024 presidential election goosed viewership. The network was encouraged by attention the interview of Witkoff and Kushner received online, according to a person familiar with the matter.
In the TV news business, scoops matter. But so too does sizzle — promotion of a big interview, parceling it out among several programs — and Weiss, who has no previous experience running an editorial operation the size of CBS News or producing TV programs, needs to master it.
There are many in the newsroom who hope she can. And there are still others who do not understand what she intends to do in her new perch or how she will go about doing it.
Upon completion of her deal with Paramount, Weiss hailed the transaction as “a great moment for the Free Press.” People are still trying to determine what it means for the news division over which she now presides.
No one seems able to articulate the relationship between Free Press, which is still publishing stories, and CBS News, which has featured Weiss’ sister and “Free Press” cofounder Suzy Weiss on programs. Are the two part of a single unit? Is “Free Press” bound by the same ethics and newsgathering standards as CBS News? There is some concern among CBS News staffers, according to two people familiar with the matter, that “Free Press,” which is not unionized, will not be bound by the same workplace policies as CBS News, where many employees are represented by Writers Guild of America. Weiss recently hired Adam Rubenstein as a deputy editor of “Free Press,” a move CBS News staffers anticipate will give him some say in the newsgathering direction of CBS News. And yet, CBS News’ union will expect its contract to be honored, even by “Free Press” personnel.
CBS News declined to make executives available for comment. A spokesman for WGA’s East Coast operations did not respond to a query seeking comment.
Inside CBS News, employees have some hope Weiss can help boost the viewership of the company’s streaming properties, which aren’t pulling in the audience executives might like. While CBS News was early to join the streaming game, it hasn’t maximized its efforts to the extend that NBC News has, which operates a stand-alone streaming outlet devoted to “Today” and a live-streaming service for national news called NBC News Now. In recent months, CBS merged its national newsgathering business with its local stations and has tapped personnel from both sides to create new streaming formats and programs, including a show that takes viewers to news stories covered by local stations in “whip-around” style.
There is also a sense that some of CBS News’ best-known programs are in for an overhaul.
Weiss has already leaped to help book newsmakers for segments on CBS News programs, setting Norah O’Donnell to moderate a panel discussion online with former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and Condoleeza Rice, and arranging an interview between Tony Dokoupil and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It’s notable that such assignments weren’t given to the current “CBS Evening News” anchors, Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson, who preside over a retooled show that uses a dual-anchor format and has tried to focus more heavily on enterprise stories rather than breaking headlines — and seen viewership drop noticeably as a result.
Despite the recent spotlight on O’Donnell and Dokoupil, CBS News executives have begun making outreach to talent agencies in hopes of luring new anchors to the fold, according to three people familiar with the matter. CBS News has tried to find out what journalists might be available in case the offer of a job comes their way, these people say, and would be amenable to putting these people in new places at CBS News even ahead of internal candidates — at least for now.
Such queries aren’t atypical when new management comes into a news division. CBS News reached out in similar fashion to agents after Neeraj Khemlani took the reins at CBS News in 2021, according to two people familiar with the matter, eager to see if potential candidates who worked elsewhere might be near a negotiating window in their contracts.
The move to inject new talent into CBS News spotlights the fact that no matter what new policies and projects Weiss brings, a host of old challenges remain — and may be of more critical economic importance to Paramount Skydance than any ideas she has on the caliber of reporting and journalism.
“CBS Evening News” and “CBS Mornings” have long been mired in third place, partially the result of CBS losing affiliates in 1994 after ceding NFL rights to a still-nascent Fox. But the network can perform well, often notching first-place wins in primetime and late night (CBS will likely lose that distinction next year after it shuts down “The Late Show,” hosted by Stephen Colbert).
Weiss will also have to grapple with what will likely be a much-scrutinized talent decision. The contract of Gayle King, the well-liked co-anchor of “CBS Mornings,” expires in 2026, according to three people familiar with the matter. Renewing King is always “a question mark,” says one of these people, as the host often debates about whether to continue and how to balance her job with her family. At a time when CBS News’ corporate parent is cutting costs and laying off staff, it’s not clear whether Paramount will want to continue paying the morning host her current salary, and whether King would want to continue if asked to take a cut.
Weiss has shown early skill in landing good “gets” for CBS News. But there’s a lot more she’ll have to master in coming months — with little time to get it right.