CBS News in freefall as '60 Minutes' collapse under new leadership

Things for CBS’ flagship news program 60 Minutes are not looking too good. According to a new post on X, ratings continue to decline since the current season’s start.

“Early ratings reports put audience for this past Sunday's telecast of 60 Minutes at about 5.7M, a low for the current season that has sparked chatter internally at CBS. Numbers may change w/final report later today, and Fox had an NFL game opposite telecast, but that # is tough,” Brian Steinberg’s post notes.

The news comes on the heels of an embarrassing social media mistake CBS had to correct. CBS News deleted a post that inaccurately claimed Florida State Rep. Angie Nixon "declined to say" if Cuba was a dictatorship. In the full clip of the interview, she stated she relied on others' accounts, as she had not visited the country herself and could not make an informed decision.

The network has faced mounting criticism since coming under the leadership of Bari Weiss, whose MAGA-curious leanings have fueled concerns about the direction of its journalism and editorial independence. Critics, including former CBS employees, accuse Weiss of pushing a political agenda, pointing to ties between the network’s parent company leaders and the Trump administration.

Despite dominating in ratings for decades, 60 Minutes has taken a big hit. An episode that aired earlier this month featuring an interview with Secret Service director Sean M. Curry drew mediocre viewership compared with other episodes.

The episode drew in 6.061 million total viewers, with 767,000 viewers in the key 25-54 age demographic. Veteran60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl has allegedly considered leaving the show as other staffers grow frustrated with behind-the-scenes politics.

Also this month, Weiss came under fire after leaked audio from a CBS News meeting exposed severe editorial clashes between the leadership team. After Oliver Darcy reported on disputes over CBS’s Middle East coverage, foreign editor Shayndi Raice, chosen by Weiss, held a tense 15-minute virtual meeting with staff. The audio captured Raice calling challenges to editorial decisions “insubordination” and warning they could be grounds for firing.

Former 60 Minutes journalist Scott Pelley accused Weiss of “murdering” the program during a tense staff meeting. He was later fired but secured a major deal, losing his severance and other benefits effective immediately. In a termination note, executive producer Nick Bilton criticized Pelley’s “performative display of hostility,” accusing him of hijacking Bilton’s first staff meeting to attack his “qualifications and intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt,” according to USA Today.