All posts tagged "cbs news"

'The show is dead': CBS insider calls Bari Weiss' '60 Minutes' a sewn-up 'Frankenstein'

CBS News insiders are sounding the alarm over Bari Weiss' revamped '60 Minutes,' with one senior staffer declaring the show already "dead."

The grim verdict came from an unnamed CBS News senior staffer who spoke with media columnist Justin Baragona in a Wednesday article for his Zeteo newsletter "Ragebait."

"The show is dead. We're just looking at some Frankenstein of bits sewn together of mismatched pieces," the staffer told Baragona. "I think the season is in trouble."

The doom-saying followed the network's own upbeat press release about the premiere, which one CBS reporter mocked in an all-caps text to Baragona.

"WELCOME TO THE SPIN ZONE!!!" the reporter wrote, according to Baragona.

Staffers have reason to worry. The season debut of Weiss' overhauled '60 Minutes' pulled in the worst premiere ratings this century, according to final Nielsen figures. The newsmagazine drew about 7.9 million total viewers, down roughly 21 percent from last year's premiere, with a steeper 33 percent drop in the key 25-to-54 demographic that advertisers pay a premium to reach.

The internal gloom has been building since Weiss took over CBS News earlier this year and veteran producers and correspondents headed for the exits. One staffer previously told Baragona that anchor Norah O'Donnell was "willing to play the part of dimwit reporter used as a propaganda tool."

Weiss and her boss, Paramount CEO David Ellison, have drawn criticism for their ties to President Donald Trump and his administration, and critics blamed the ratings slide on that leadership rather than the competing NFL games that aired that same Sunday.

"Nearly 2 million people collectively just said, f— you Bari Weiss," a CBS News senior staffer told Baragona, referring to the loss of viewers between last season's '60 Minutes' premiere and this year's. "And also, f— you David Ellison."

Online, the schadenfreude was thick. "Bari is a loser," journalist and radio host Doug Henwood wrote. Author Don Winslow needled, "Is this called winning??"

Bari Weiss torched as '60 Minutes' premiere hits worst ratings this century: 'A loser'

Eyes are on CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss as the final ratings for the '60 Minutes' premiere come in, and they don't look good.

On Tuesday, the final Nielsen ratings for the season debut of '60 Minutes' revealed that the show's viewership had dropped by about 21 percent. The drop in ratings came after veteran '60 Minutes' producers and correspondents left, and as Weiss and her boss, Paramount CEO David Ellison, have been criticized for their ties to President Donald Trump and his administration.

Other CBS News programs have seen their ratings plummet since Weiss took over earlier this year as well. Media reporter Justin Baragona noted that 7.9 million total viewers watched the '60 Minutes' season premiere, which marked "the first time this century it's premiered with fewer than 9 million viewers."

"Was it football, or the overhaul?" asked a Tuesday article by Variety, which noted that NFL Sunday games kicked off the same day as the season debut of '60 Minutes.' However, online critics were already pretty certain the reason for the ratings drop was Weiss and Ellison's leadership.

"Don't forget to credit @bariweiss," posted author Don Winslow. "Is this called winning??" he asked in another post.

"Bari is a loser," ripped journalist and radio host Doug Henwood.

"I refuse to watch 60 Minutes during the Ellison/Bari Weiss era," political consultant Neera Tanden wrote.

"Schadenfreude," author and legal expert Chase Madar posted, using a word that means joy in other people's misery.

"So much winning from MAGA sycophant Bari Weiss," film and TV critic John Rocha blasted. "Norah O'Donnell and the rest of these fools sold their souls just to have the worst #60Minutes debut this century. The more they kowtow to this buffoon, the more they lose...respectability, honor, status and credibility."

"I didn't think it would bomb this badly," lamented journalism professor Michael Socolow. "I'm not happy. I think the whole thing is both sad and infuriating."

Displeased CBS News legend scolds viewers angry at Bari Weiss takeover

Returning CBS News anchor Norah O'Donnell took to Instagram to plead with viewers not to let her boss, Bari Weiss, scare them away.

CBS Mornings announced O'Donnell's return in an Instagram post, and Zeteo media columnist Justin Baragona pointed out in a post on X how she began defending Weiss, the CBS editor-in-chief, in the comments. Weiss has come under fire as the ratings for CBS Mornings and CBS Evening News have plummeted and the network's flagship show, "60 Minutes," has lost veteran correspondents.

Instagram user @courtneylonniestevens wrote, "I feel Norah is too good to stay with CBS. I wish some other news force had scooped her up. As long as Bari Weiss and the Ellisons are in charge bye bye," referring to David Ellison, the CEO of CBS' parent company, Paramount, and his father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison. The Ellisons have been criticized as Trump allies.

"This is so silly," O'Donnell replied. "Just watch our show!"

"This is tough," wrote another Instagram user, @stormy.angel.ghc. "But I can't watch CBS anymore with Bari Weiss running things. Love Nora tho."

"This makes no sense," O'Donnell responded. "Watch our show."

"NO!! Go to another network," Instagram user @scammbuster wrote. "I will never watch a minute of CBS programming after the Colbert/60 minutes fiasco. You deserve better CBS!"

The comment referred to the ending of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, a CBS show that was critical of Trump, as Paramount sought the green light from the Trump Justice Department for a merger with Skydance. Paramount is now seeking a merger with rival movie studio Warner Bros. Discovery.

O'Donnell responded, "@scammbuster thanks for commenting. Give us a try."

Many of the comments on the Instagram post lamented that O'Donnell was coming back while Weiss was in charge. On X, the reactions to Baragona's post echoed the feeling.

"Sorry, @norahODonnell," wrote Grant Stern, the executive editor of Occupy Democrats. "It's not silly. You're going to tarnish yourself at CBS. The internet never forgets."

'Enthralled' Bari Weiss courts fired CNN star as struggling CBS News eyes massive shakeup

CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss has been quietly courting fired CNN anchor Chris Cuomo to join her fledgling network.

In a Friday episode of Power Lines, media reporters Oliver Darcy and Jon Passantino revealed that Weiss has her sights set on Cuomo as a big-name acquisition for CBS News, whose ratings have been plummeting.

Cuomo is currently working for NewsNation, where he hosts his own prime-time show. He was fired by CNN in December 2021 after an investigation by the New York Attorney General revealed that he used his media sources to help his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, amid sexual harassment allegations.

"This is kind of a curious one," Passantino said about the move. "Bari Weiss has been just enthralled with him, thinking apparently out loud that he's a very skilled broadcaster and somebody that she would like to have join the team."

Passantino noted that Weiss has been "shuffling a lot of desk chairs on that Titanic over there" at CBS News. Correspondents and producers at '60 Minutes,' the flagship program at CBS News, have been leaving or getting axed, and Weiss recently brought on former New York Times conservative columnist Ross Douthat.

"Apparently Weiss and Cuomo have even met in person about this," Passantino said, noting the meeting may have been "just another general conversation." However, the two have "even exchanged some texts," Passantino said.

Darcy confirmed, "Bari is definitely interested in bringing Chris Cuomo over to CBS News. There's no doubt about that...they did have a meal together," and "They exchanged texts, I'm told, fairly often with each other."

However, Darcy also noted that Cuomo is in a multi-year contract with NewsNation to stay on until 2028. On top of that, Cuomo is suing CNN for $125 million because of his firing, and Paramount-Skydance, the company that owns CBS News, is trying to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN. The merger has been held up by a judge after a dozen state attorneys general sued, though.

"It would be super uncomfortable," Darcy said about Cuomo coming on while suing CNN. "Just think about how totally wild that would be that she brings on somebody who is actively suing CNN."

New '60 Minutes' hire's slip reveals broken promise from Bari Weiss: expert

A slip by conservative New York Times columnist Ross Douthat revealed that promises to "60 Minutes" from CBS don't mean anything, an expert said.

In a Friday episode of the Power Lines podcast, media expert Jon Passantino called out how Douthat answered questions during his exit interview. Douthat was announced as the newest "60 Minutes" correspondent last month, and fellow New York Times columnist Ezra Klein interviewed Douthat for his podcast.

Klein asked Douthat, "What did they say they wanted? Like, what is your sense of what '60 Minutes' is trying to become with you launching as a marquee name?"

Douthat is a longtime conservative Catholic New York Times opinion columnist, and he's coming in as veteran "60 Minutes" correspondents exit. Former correspondents like Scott Pelley, who was fired earlier this year, have criticized the show's direction under Bari Weiss, who was made the CBS News editor-in-chief under Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison.

Cecilia Vega, another fired correspondent, has said she was pushed to include footage of protesters assaulting people they believed were undercover ICE agents, but her team found no credible examples of such incidents.

Weiss and Ellison have promised that they'll back off from how "60 Minutes" is run, and Executive Producer Nick Bilton would run the day-to-day operations. Pelley notably accused Weiss of "murdering" the show shortly before he was fired, per reports.

However, Douthat's response to Klein revealed that the promises to back off from "60 Minutes" don't mean anything, according to Passantino. Douthat waved off Klein's questions and told him, "You would need to get Bari to come on your podcast to get sort of her answer to that question."

Passantino flagged that as a "slip" that showed "a total violation of the previous means in which the show has been operated with its independence." Weiss and Ellison "assured Leslie Stahl and others, 'We are not going to change any of that, Nick Bilton is going to run this show,'" Passantino explained.

"If you listen to the brand-new marquee '60 Minutes' correspondent, Ross, he didn't say that. He said, 'You got to talk to Bari. Bari's the one with the ideas here. She's the one who's going to be running the show.'" Passantino said. "Right there shows that all of these verbal assurances, they don't actually mean anything."

CNN insiders shred MAGA billionaire's plea: 'We do not want it here'

CNN insiders shredded an op-ed by a MAGA billionaire who's trying to take over their parent company, according to a media reporter.

During an episode of the Status podcast Power Lines, Oliver Darcy, who reports on media, said that CNN staffers and journalists panned a New York Times op-ed by Paramount Skydance owner David Ellison, who is trying to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. Ellison controls CBS, which has seen a MAGA makeover of its news programs under Bari Weiss and cut the Trump-critical The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

The Paramount chief's guest essay marked his first public defense of the deal, which a dozen states sued to block. A judge halted it until a trial set for March, but if it's greenlit, Ellison would take control of CNN. Darcy said that he spoke with more than a dozen people inside CNN about whether the essay swayed them, and they responded with a "resounding no."

"We all have eyes and ears and see what's happening at CBS," one employee told Darcy. "You can't just write an op-ed and erase that."

Another called out Weiss, whose leadership has seen the gutting of '60 Minutes' and the ratings of CBS Mornings and CBS Evening News plummet.

"The thing David Ellison seems to be missing is the wild mismanagement and disrespect that Bari has displayed at 60 and CBS," the CNN staffer told Darcy. "We see it, and we do not want it here."

A third CNN staffer told Darcy that the changes Ellison directed at CBS News "eroded the newsroom's trust," and concluded, "Free pressifying CNN is not the answer."

In the op-ed, Ellison wrote that he does not wish to bend newsrooms to his views, and said he wants them to reflect "the whole world, not one side of it." Darcy read that line as signaling which side Ellison believes is underrepresented.

"I don't think he believes that liberals are underrepresented," Darcy said. "I think he believes that conservatives are underrepresented in media."

Darcy also noted that Paramount didn't respond to his request for comment.

CBS insiders 'actively exploring options' as another big name departs: report

Another Colbert is leaving CBS amid a growing exodus and producers saying they're "actively exploring options," according to reports.

Comedian Stephen Colbert lost his show at CBS earlier this year as the network's MAGA-friendly owner David Ellison sought the Trump administration's approval for a merger. Now, Colbert's daughter, Madeleine Carlisle, is leaving her role as an associate producer for '60 Minutes,' which is bleeding talent under Bari Weiss, according to reporting by The Daily Beast.

Carlisle worked as an associate producer for '60 Minutes' since November 2022 and as an intern for the show in 2017. She also worked at The Atlantic and Time. CBS axed her dad's show, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," with its final episode airing in May.

Her departure comes as the news show is set to return with new episodes in September. According to The Daily Beast, '60 Minutes' Executive Producer Nick Bilton is facing a "Herculean effort" to assign enough stories to have enough episodes for the show to get through the upcoming season.

Like Ellison, Weiss is considered a MAGA ally as her leadership has seen Jeffrey Epstein stories killed and attempts to push negative coverage of anti-ICE protesters, according to reports.

Correspondents like Scott Pelley, Anderson Cooper, Cecilia Vega, and Sharyn Alfonsi are no longer with '60 Minutes,' after having left or been fired under Weiss. Meanwhile, other CBS news programs are struggling to retain viewers, as CBS Evening News ratings dip and CBS Mornings recorded its lowest-rated week ever in July.

According to The Daily Beast, Carlisle's resignation may be followed by more departures as other producers are "actively exploring options" to leave '60 Minutes.'

Status recently reported, "People on the show and those associated with it believe Bilton is deeply underwater, though he has expressed confidence in his ability to get ['60 Minutes'] to air this fall."

Bari Weiss' CBS struggles deepen as key show records worst ratings ever: report

Bari Weiss' struggles at CBS have deepened as a key news program has recorded its worst ratings ever, per reports.

According to reporting by Mediaite, CBS Mornings saw the lowest-rated week in the history of the program and a rough July. The bad ratings mark a new low for Weiss' rocky tenure as the editor-in-chief of CBS News, which is owned by MAGA-friendly David Ellison's Paramount Skydance.

Nielsen data showed that CBS Mornings had an average viewership of 1.59 million for the week starting on July 13, according to Mediaite. The program, which debuted in 2021, had never fallen below an average viewership of 1.6 million, Mediaite noted.

The show's average viewership has also fallen from the period last year, Mediaite noted. From July 14 to July 18 of 2025, CBS Mornings had an average viewership of 1.83 million. The figures from this year marked a 13 percent drop from last year, Mediaite reported.

Earlier this month, media expert Oliver Darcy sounded the alarm on the ratings "turmoil" under Weiss that's hitting all three of the key programs in CBS News. Darcy noted that CBS Evening News, which is hosted by the MAGA-aligned Tony Dokoupil, is also suffering from historically low ratings.

Weiss was also criticized for changes to 60 Minutes, the flagship CBS News program. Veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley was fired shortly after telling his boss that Weiss was "murdering" the program. Correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega and Anderson Cooper are also no longer part of 60 Minutes.

Bari Weiss's new charm offensive appalls CBS staffers after '60 Minutes' gutting: report

MAGA-aligned CBS News boss Bari Weiss has gone on a charm offensive, but her staff isn't buying it, per reports.

According to reporting by the New York Post, Weiss has changed her approach to leading CBS News in the wake of firing veteran and star correspondents from its flagship program, 60 Minutes. Recent reports have also shown that other CBS News programs are sinking to record-low ratings.

Sources told The NY Post that Weiss is "notably friendlier" and "more hands-on" with CBS News staff. In recent weeks, Weiss has started editorial meetings by "celebrating" wins and spotlighting journalists who have done a good job, at times reading their names aloud from her notebook, the Post reported.

She was previously "aloof in the newsroom," and preferred "descending to the rank and file mostly to pick apart the news division's work rather than to praise it," sources told The Post.

"She made zero effort before, but since the '60' explosion, she's been very nice to people," a source said to the Post, referring to the loss of correspondents like Scott Pelley, Sharyn Alfonsi, and Cecilia Vega.

"I think Bari has been given management training and told to develop relationships with existing staff and try to retain them," another source told the Post, adding that Weiss previously kept staff "at arm's length" and "did not schmooze with the talent."

According to the Post, sources said that Weiss has a new "open-door" policy after she reportedly "barricaded" herself away from staff inside her sixth-floor suite at the CBS Broadcast Center.

Meanwhile, other insiders point out her friendlier attitude appeared "as speculation about her own career prospects has lately taken a turn," according to the Post. CBS News parent company Paramount Skydance is trying to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN, and Weiss is "cautious" about positioning herself to run CNN, a source told the Post.

'Collapsing on every front': CBS News sinks to record lows under Bari Weiss

A media expert offered a grim diagnosis of CBS News' "turmoil" under Bari Weiss and noted it's hitting record lows.

During an interview posted by Offline on Saturday, Oliver Darcy, a former CNN reporter and the founder of Status, laid out how CBS News is struggling under Bari Weiss, its conservative editor-in-chief.

"They are collapsing on every front," Darcy said. "CBS Evening News has hit historic low ratings. They struggle now to get four million viewers on the evening news, which would have been unthinkable just even a year ago."

The CBS Evening News is led by Tony Dokoupil, whom critics consider a MAGA voice and a handpicked disciple of Weiss. It's also come under fire for ditching its 38-page ethics handbook for a five-point patriotic statement. It's not the only CBS News program struggling with ratings, Darcy added.

"The CBS morning show with Gayle King is hitting all-time low ratings," Darcy said. "They are on pace to have posted their worst June of all time. They posted the worst May of all time ratings."

Under Weiss, the CBS flagship news program, 60 Minutes, has suffered from public feuds and firings and "no longer resembles what we know 60 Minutes to be," Darcy said.

"Anderson Cooper is gone. Cecilia Vega is gone. Sharyn Alfonsi is gone. Scott Pelley is gone. The executive producer is gone. The executive editor is gone," Darcy said. "That show is no longer what it once was. It carries the name forward, but that's probably about it at this point."

Darcy concluded, "Those three main shows are all in turmoil," and those are "the three programs you would really judge Bari Weiss on."