New ’60 Minutes’ Executive Producer Nick Bilton Vows to Pivot Iconic Show Before Ratings Erode
CNBC reported Thursday that Paramount Skydance’s CBS News has appointed Nick Bilton as the new executive producer of “60 Minutes,” the longest-running top-rated news broadcast in American television. Bilton replaces Tanya Simon, who spent over three decades with the program. His hiring marks a significant departure from tradition — Bilton has no prior experience leading a television news operation.
An Unconventional Choice for a Storied Franchise
Bilton built his reputation as a technology columnist at The New York Times and later as a documentary filmmaker for Netflix and HBO. His connection to CBS News runs through editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, whom he first encountered socially in Los Angeles. The two later collaborated on documentary projects, including “Unknown: Killer Robots” and “Biggest Heist Ever.” Weiss is understood to have championed his appointment to lead the broadcast.
Bilton told CNBC he plans to unveil a formal strategy in the coming weeks, after first meeting the show’s staff. He was careful to frame the changes as editorially driven. “I will prove it with the work,” he said. “I’m dedicated to holding people in power to account.”
A Newsroom Under Political Scrutiny
The appointment arrives against a fraught backdrop for CBS News. Veteran staffers have grown uneasy over what many perceive as politically influenced editorial changes since Paramount’s merger with Skydance completed last year. CEO David Ellison is currently seeking regulatory approval from the Trump administration for a further merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
That dynamic loomed over “60 Minutes” well before Bilton’s hiring. In 2024, then-candidate Donald Trump sued the program over its editing of a Kamala Harris interview. Paramount ultimately settled the case for $16 million — a decision that angered several longtime contributors. Correspondent Scott Pelley was among those who voiced frustration, and anchor Anderson Cooper announced his departure from the show earlier this month.
The Nokia Warning and What It Means for Broadcast TV
Despite the turbulence, Bilton said the timing of his mandate is deliberate. Ratings for “60 Minutes” are actually up 9% year-on-year, according to Nielsen data cited by CNBC. That is precisely the point, he argued. Drawing on a well-worn disruption analogy, Bilton noted that Nokia recorded its best-ever sales in 2008 — one year after the iPhone launched. The New York Times, he added, had its strongest print sales year in 1999, just as blogs were beginning to take hold.
“We’re on the precipice of this happening to broadcast TV,” Bilton told CNBC, signaling that he intends to act while the show still has momentum rather than scrambling to catch up later.
The “60 Minutes” shakeup follows CBS’s decision not to renew “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” which aired its final episode earlier this month after 11 seasons.
Read Next: Anderson Cooper Exits ’60 Minutes’ Amid CBS News Shake-Up
