DISMAL DROP

MAGA-Curious CBS Boss Hit by Fresh ‘60 Minutes’ Ratings Blow

Viewers are losing interest in the once-venerated CBS News show.

CBS boss Bari Weiss’s revamped 60 Minutes has taken a fresh ratings hit.

Viewers are tuning out from the news magazine after it began its 59th season under new leadership last month, data shows.

The show drew 9.6 million total viewers for its fifth episode of the season, plummeting 14 percent from the comparable episode last year, which attracted 11.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen data obtained by Status.

The outlet also reported that the NFL lead-in can’t be blamed for the drop. The Buffalo Bills–Las Vegas Raiders game averaged 26.5 million viewers heading into 60 Minutes, up from 25.3 million for last year’s game. That translates to a steep 64 percent drop in audience between the NFL broadcast and the news show.

CIVIL WAR

MAGA-Curious CBS Boss’ Bust-Up With ‘60 Minutes’ Star Leaks

Leigh Kimmins

The decline adds to the challenges facing CBS News under Weiss, who took the helm as editor-in-chief without prior broadcast experience.

Paramount CEO David Ellison appointed her after the company acquired The Free Press, the right-leaning blog she co-founded, for a reported $150 million.

Status described the results as another setback for Weiss, arguing that her changes had yet to bear fruit.

“It’s another bad sign for Bari Weiss, who radically overhauled the show with the promise of improving its performance,” the outlet said. “Instead, so far this season, she’s lucky to match the previous year’s ratings.”

It added: “It’s like taking apart a perfectly functioning Ferrari to make it even faster, only to put it back together and discover [it’s] actually slower than before.”

Meanwhile, staffers have openly rebelled against Weiss’s “anti-woke” approach to the newsroom, according to Radar. Weiss has also clashed with employees, including 60 Minutes legend Lesley Stahl, after repeatedly inserting herself into the editorial process and becoming “very, very hands-on.”

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People familiar with the bust-up told Status that Stahl, a 35-year stalwart of the show, privately discussed quitting after a confrontation with Weiss over the airing of a report on violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

Stahl is reported to have pushed back after Weiss—a strong supporter of Israel and critic of media coverage of the war in Gaza—and her deputy, managing editor Charles Forelle, brought a pile of editorial notes before the package was set to air.

Forelle attempted to delay the piece from airing, but it eventually did after an “aggressive back-and-forth.”

“They didn’t know if it was going to air because the screenings got so heated,” a source told Status.

When contacted for comment, Jeremy Adler, the Senior Vice President of Communications at CBS News, told the Daily Beast: “This week’s 60 Minutes was the week’s #1 news program across viewers, adults 18+ and adults 25-54, and was the week’s #1 non-sports primetime program in viewers and adults 18+ for the fourth time this season.”

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Isabel van BrugenFreelance Writer

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