For 58 years, “60 Minutes” has been the untouchable crown jewel of American television news — a program that outlasted the rise of cable, the collapse of network ratings and every shift in the media landscape with its focus on serious, independent journalism.
On Thursday, CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss shattered its glass case.
In the most sweeping changes in the newsmagazine’s nearly six-decade history, Weiss ousted the program’s executive producer, Tanya Simon, and replaced her with Nick Bilton, 49, a veteran tech journalist and documentary filmmaker who worked for 13 years at the New York Times but who has no experience running a TV news operation.
Weiss also fired “60 Minutes” correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi, who clashed with her boss over a segment on President Trump’s immigration policies, and Cecilia Vega, who left ABC News to join the program in 2023.
Bilton will be the first executive producer in the 58-year history of “60 Minutes” to come from outside the tightly knit organization. The program has had only four leaders: Don Hewitt, Jeff Fager, Bill Owens and Simon, all of whom came up through the ranks of CBS News.
The moves are the most dramatic demonstration yet of Weiss’ controversial efforts to remake a venerable institution long defined by intransigence and tradition. She arrived at CBS News in October with no television experience, installed by Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison after he acquired her digital news outlet, the Free Press, with a mandate to shake up the network.
Disney Chairman and CEO Robert A. Iger, left, and Vanity Fair special correspondent Nick Bilton speak onstage during the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in 2017.
(Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images)
Weiss’ 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’s bringing to the most watched news program on television for decades.
Casting a shadow over the changes are the political machinations of Ellison, who has built a friendly relationship with the Trump White House as he seeks regulatory approval of Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Ellison’s 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 “60 Minutes” has remained tough with its White House reporting.
“60 Minutes” 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’s acquisition of Paramount.
Paramount also has faced blowback over the decision by CBS to cancel its Trump-bashing late-night host Stephen Colbert ahead of the FCC approval of its merger with Skydance Media.
Gags about CBS News moving to the political right have turned up at the Oscars and the Golden Globe Award telecasts.
“If there’s 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’s going to be very harmful for the institution,” said Andrew Heyward, a media consultant and former president of CBS News. “It’s penetrated into the public arena, so that regular people are now bringing it up.”
From a business standpoint, “60 Minutes” 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’s most prestigious journalism operation.
While the ratings for “60 Minutes” get a boost from a lead-in from high-rated late-afternoon NFL games, it remains one of the few network shows that viewers make an appointment to watch. The program’s 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.
But Weiss believes the “60 Minutes” 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.
“‘60 Minutes’ has shaped national conversations, exposed abuses of power, and set the standard for television reporting,” Weiss wrote. “Our 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.”
Bilton told The Times in an interview that he has a mandate to develop podcasts and other “60 Minutes” projects that reach consumers outside of the traditional TV audience. Though he hasn’t held a formal role in a TV news organization, he said he brings applicable news-gathering experience to his position.
“I’ve written newspaper articles, and columns, and magazine features, and I have made television shows, and written movie scripts and made documentaries,” Bilton said. “And what we do at ’60 Minutes’ 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.”
What Weiss and Bilton might learn is that the DNA of “60 Minutes” is not easily transferable. Owens, who preceded Simon as executive producer, tried to bring a “60 Minutes” storytelling style to the “CBS Evening News” when it was revamped in early 2024.
Viewers did not flock to Owens’ vision, and “CBS Evening News” was blown up again in January. (The relaunch of the program with Weiss’s anchor choice of Tony Dokoupil was marred by early missteps and has failed to improve its ratings.)
“60 Minutes” did survive the snafu that occurred with the segment that doomed Alfonsi. Her segment “Inside CECOT,” which detailed the Trump administration’s 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, who believed it needed more reporting, including a direct response from the administration, which did not participate.
Alfonsi protested the move by Weiss, calling it politically motivated in an email she sent to colleagues.
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.
Tanya Simon is being replaced as executive producer of “60 Minutes.”
(Michele Crowe / CBS News)
But Alfonsi said publicly that she fully expected to be let go from the program. Her contract ended with the recently concluded TV season.
Simon’s departure came as more of a shock to the organization.
Weiss is said to have developed a solid relationship with Simon, whose late father, Bob Simon, was a highly respected correspondent for the program. But the connection apparently deteriorated after Weiss was surprised by Anderson Cooper’s sign-off from the program, ending his nearly 20-year run as a correspondent.
Cooper, who is also a full-time anchor at CNN, turned down a new “60 Minutes” deal from Weiss. During his final appearance, he expressed fears about the editorial independence of the program.
“‘60 Minutes’ has always been more than just a broadcast: it is an institution built on independence, grit, and rigorous search for the truth,” Simon wrote in a note to her staff. “That is work we did together — and with ratings up 9% over last year no less. You should all be proud.”
