{"id":966618,"date":"2026-07-29T10:57:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T10:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/966618\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T10:57:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T10:57:16","slug":"exclusive-cbs-searches-for-producers-to-help-run-60-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/966618\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | CBS searches for producers to help run ’60 Minutes’ –"},"content":{"rendered":"

CBS News has been scrambling to hire top producers to help run \u201c60 Minutes\u201d<\/a> \u2014 but the show\u2019s new boss Nick Bilton has been using interviews with prospective candidates as \u201ctherapy sessions\u201d to vent about his own work conditions, sources told The Post.<\/p>\n

Multiple insiders said the Tiffany Network recently interviewed seasoned candidates who were under the impression they were auditioning to be Bilton\u2019s No. 2 executive \u2014 and noted that the job description sounds an awful lot like Bilton\u2019s own executive producer role.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want the candidate to run investigations, story development and operations,\u201d said one source briefed on the situation. \u201cWhat the f\u2013k is Nick going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n

CBS News has been scrambling to hire top producers to help run \u201c60 Minutes\u201d \u2014 but the show\u2019s new boss Nick Bilton has been using interviews with prospective candidates as \u201ctherapy sessions\u201d to vent about his own work conditions, sources said. Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, right Donald Pearsall \/ NY Post Design<\/p>\n

A network source, however, clarified that Bilton now seeks three to four deputies to help him run the show, although the source declined to confirm whether that was after scrapping a search for a single No. 2. The person said each deputy will have a specialized role, as a slew of senior producers have either been fired or resigned in recent months.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, 49-year-old Bilton \u2014 a former New York Times technology columnist who was brought in by CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss to shake up \u201c60 Minutes\u201d and expand it across multiple platforms \u2014 has been openly griping to potential hires about office politics.<\/p>\n

Specifically, Bilton appears to be chafing over how he and Weiss are viewed internally after they fired \u201c60 Minutes\u201d correspondent Scott Pelley in early June<\/a>. Pelley had confronted Bilton in a meet-and-greet, telling him he had \u201cslender qualifications\u201d<\/a> for the job and that Weiss was \u201cmurdering \u201960 Minutes\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a heated back-and-forth, Bilton stormed out of the meeting, inviting journalists to \u201cenjoy the bagels\u201d. Pelley was ousted the next day by Bilton, which accused him in a letter leaked to the press of having \u201cno interest in contributing to the future success of the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weiss hired Bilton to shake up\u201d the show \u201c60 Minutes\u201d and expand it digitally. Getty Images for Uber, X and The Free Press<\/p>\n

One prospective job candidate said Bilton spent a major chunk of a recent interview addressing the incident and the behavior of the staff, while another candidate said the exec was \u201cdefensive\u201d and \u201cdismissive\u201d when it was pointed out that a major hurdle is staffers\u2019 lack of trust in him and Weiss.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s having therapy sessions in these interviews,\u201d a source told The Post. <\/p>\n

Bilton on Tuesday announced four \u201cnew faces\u201d coming to \u201c60 Minutes\u201d <\/a>\u2014 Ross Douthat, Sebastian Junger, Gianna Toboni and Trevor Phillips. Longtime CBS News journo Norah O\u2019Donnell is becoming a \u201c60 Minutes\u201d correspondent, he added.<\/p>\n

Regarding 42-year-old Weiss, Bilton has shrugged off criticism as \u201cBari-derangement syndrome\u201d \u2014 a term that\u2019s popular in Weiss\u2019 inner circle, according to sources close to the network.<\/p>\n

Bilton has also told sources that he feels like he\u2019s \u201cassembling \u2018The Avengers of news,\u2019\u201d referring to the Marvel superhero franchise.<\/p>\n

Sources said Bilton spent a lot of time addressing the incident with Scott Pelley and the aftermath, which led to the firing of the \u201c60 Minutes\u201d correspondent. CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI was speechless,\u201d one source said of Bilton\u2019s flip comment. \u201cReally? \u2018The Avengers?\u2019 We\u2019re journalists. Not Marvel movie characters. We report, question, speak truth to power, not shoot lasers out of our eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The source said that Bilton\u2019s comment seemed light and didn\u2019t sound like he was taking his role of rebuilding the award-winning show\u2019s foundation seriously.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s dumb and naive about what \u201960 Minutes\u2019 is, which is great for the executive producer,\u201d the source added sarcastically.<\/p>\n

CBS News and Bilton declined to comment. <\/p>\n

A person close to Bilton said \u201cThe Avengers\u201d reference was merely an analogy, adding that Bilton, who grew up in England, is \u201cterrible with American sports\u201d and \u201cnever gets sports analogies correct.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next season\u2019s \u201c60 Minutes\u201d will feature Jon Wertheim, Bill Whitaker and Lesley Stahl (L-R), after four of the show\u2019s seven castmates exited the show. CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Bilton\u2019s lack of TV experience appears to be the key issue with higher-ups at CBS, who have expressed concerns that he has \u201cbig ideas\u201d but lacks the \u201cskills to get things done,\u201d sources said.<\/p>\n

Three people who interviewed with Bilton said the executive has difficulty explaining his vision with precision, noting that he doesn\u2019t articulate \u201chow\u201d he will transform \u201c60 Minutes\u201d digitally. One person said that he uses inscrutable jargon, adding: \u201cIf he would have used the word \u2018synergy,\u2019 I wouldn\u2019t have been surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n

A network source claimed Bilton was \u201cintentionally\u201d not clear about strategy with interviewees over concerns about \u201cleaking\u201d to the press. The person added that Bilton is expected to lay out his vision clearly in the coming months.<\/p>\n

Currently, longtime \u201c60 Minutes\u201d producer Maria Gavrilovic, who was promoted to senior producer, is playing the role of Bilton\u2019s deputy, and she will be named to the role full time, the person said. Bilton also spoke about the gig with former \u201c60 Minutes\u201d producers Ira Rosen, Joel Bach and current producer Andy Court, according to Status<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Higher-ups at CBS have expressed concerns that Bilton has \u201cbig ideas\u201d but lacks the \u201cskills to get
things done,\u201d sources said. Joshua Blanchard<\/p>\n

He also met with ABC News executive producer Muriel Pearson, but talks with the aforementioned candidates appear to have hit a dead end. According to a source, there has been talk of moving Jay Kernis, a producer on \u201cCBS Sunday Morning,\u201d to the role. So far, Bilton has yet to hire any senior producers.<\/p>\n

The show was decimated in May when Weiss fired executive producer Tanya Simon, as well as correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.<\/a>\u00a0Senior producers Draggan Mihailovich and Guy Campanile were also let go, and veteran producer Michael Gavshon <\/a>and star correspondent Anderson Cooper <\/a>both resigned amid the tumult.<\/p>\n

While Simon was replaced by Bilton, efforts to staff up elsewhere appear to be dragging \u2013 even as the first episode of the new season is slated to air in September. Some sources believe Bilton is being careful about the selection process and aware of the enormity of his decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sharyn Alfonsi, who has been a critic of Weiss\u2019 leadership, was one of three correspondents let go from \u201c60 Minutes.\u201d Getty Images for Texas Conference for Women<\/p>\n

Others who spoke to Bilton, along with other senior execs, gathered that they didn\u2019t know exactly what they wanted.\u00a0Two sources said they had multiple conversations with Bilton, Weiss and her deputy Charles Forelle that dragged out for weeks with little clarity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sources opined that another issue inhibiting recruitment is the bad press \u201c60 Minutes\u201d has garnered under Weiss\u2019 reign.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A source with knowledge of the matter said he\u2019s interviewed 70 people in the last two months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t imagine anyone with a profile and existing perch wants to be part of the Bari-Bilton s\u2013t show,\u201d one insider said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bilton has interviewed 70 people in the last two months to fill a host of positions at \u201c60 Minutes,\u201d but he has yet to fill any senior-level roles, a source with knowledge said. AP<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Weiss reportedly yanked a segment on El Salvador\u2019s CECOT prison shortly before it aired.\u00a0She felt the piece wasn\u2019t ready and asked Alfonsi <\/a>to get comment from the Trump administration, among other steps, sparking pushback from the correspondent.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The move ruffled feathers inside \u201c60 Minutes,\u201d which previously operated in a vacuum and was led solely by the executive producer \u2013 not the network\u2019s top exec. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other skirmishes included Weiss playing a hands-on role in booking the show\u2019s interview with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As previously reported by The Post<\/a>, Weiss allowed Netanyahu to OK who would interview him \u2013 and he chose CBS News correspondent Major Garrett over \u201c60 Minutes\u201d stalwart Lesley Stahl.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CBS News has been scrambling to hire top producers to help run \u201c60 Minutes\u201d \u2014 but the show\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":966619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[30],"tags":[15327,127560,64,26871,171,398,27598,173,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-966618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-60-minutes","tag-bari-weiss","tag-business","tag-cbs-news","tag-entertainment","tag-media","tag-scott-pelley","tag-tv","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117002911870336868","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/966618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=966618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/966618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/966619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=966618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=966618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=966618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}