CBS News’ Saturday morning broadcast will look less distinct than the rest of the division’s morning-news programming, according to a person familiar with the matter, following layoffs across parent corporation Paramount Global unveiled Wednesday.
The layoffs will also affect CBS News operations in South Africa, this person says, with a bureau in Johannesburg closing and oversight of the region moving to London. Additionally. CBS News will cancel two companion programs tied to the weekday programs “CBS Evening News” and “CBS Mornings” that were primarily appearing on its streaming properties, this person says.
The most obvious changes will come at “Saturday Morning,” a program that has focused on feature reporting as well deeper dives into food and music. Most of the staff has been gutted, according to a person familiar with the operation, and anchors Dana Jacboson and Michelle Miller and executive producer Brian Applegate are expected to leave. The show has been in executives’ sights for months; Jeff Glor, the former “Evening News” anchor who played a central role on the Saturday broadcast, left CBS News in the fall of 2024 under a separate round of cost-cutting at Paramount.
Approximately 100 jobs were affected by the move, part of a larger round of cost cutting at the struggling media conglomerate, which has suffered losses in ratings and ad dollars and lags many of its rivals in its ability to lure consumers to its streaming properties. The Ellison family bought Paramount from its previous controlling shareholders, the Redstones, in August and more cost cutting has been anticipated, even as new management has spent millions to acquire rights to show UFC matches as well as the digital opinion site The Free Press.
More to come…