Correspondents at “60 Minutes” in past years have tried to win an interesting challenge: Could they leave the show for a summer vacation with one story already in the can?
Doing so now is no longer a game.
In the wake of a massive ouster of the top staff of the venerable newsmagazine, serious questions have been raised about whether CBS News will be able to launch the 59th season of “60 Minutes” on time in the fall. Getting the show off to a good start in mid-to-late September is crucial because the program uses the network’s Sunday-afternoon football games as massive generator of audience. “60 Minutes” has for years been the nation’s most-watched news program.
Now the question is whether the show will have enough on-air correspondents and production staff willing to assign, report, write, fact-check and edit three in-depth documentary-style vignettes of 12 minutes to 13 minutes length to show to football fans and news aficionados. Staffers are demoralized by the recent moves and questioning the motives of CBS parent Paramount Skydance, which has been eager to curry favor with the Trump administration as executives work to consummate a deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.
“There’s not enough people,” says one person with knowledge of the inner workings of “60 Minutes.” This person says new episodes will provide tangible on-screen evidence of whether CBS News management was able to get production in gear. If “60 Minutes” offers an unusual number of “two parters,” or stories that take up two segments during the show, this person says, it’s a tell-tale sign there’s not enough content in the pipeline.
