’60 Minutes’ head Nick Bilton aims to pivot show before ratings decline

Paramount Skydance’s CBS News has hired Nick Bilton as the new executive producer of “60 Minutes,” ushering in a new era for the No. 1 rated news broadcast for the past 52 years.

Bilton replaces Tanya Simon as the show’s executive producer. Simon had spent more than 30 years at “60 Minutes.” In contrast, Bilton has no experience running a TV news show.

Bilton is a former New York Times technology columnist and has made several documentaries for HBO and Netflix. He told CNBC he first met CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss socially in Los Angeles and later spent time with her working on two documentaries — “Unknown: Killer Robots” and “Biggest Heist Ever.”

One of Bilton’s biggest initial challenges will be winning over CBS News employees who believe many of the changes being implemented in the newsroom are politically motivated.

Skydance and Paramount merged last year, putting new leadership in charge of CBS and other Paramount properties including the storied film studio and more nascent streaming business. Paramount Skydance Chief Executive Officer David Ellison is now trying to merge Paramount with Warner Bros. Discovery, and he needs the Trump administration’s regulatory approval to complete the deal.

In 2024, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump sued “60 Minutes,” alleging the program deceptively edited an interview with his opponent, Kamala Harris. Paramount settled the lawsuit for $16 million, which irked some veteran “60 Minutes” employees, including longtime correspondent Scott Pelley. Another notable anchor, Anderson Cooper, announced he was leaving the show earlier this month.

Bilton said in a phone interview on Thursday that he’s committed to demonstrating his hiring isn’t a political maneuver.

“I will prove it with the work,” Bilton said. “I’m dedicated to holding people in power to account.”

The “60 Minutes” change is the latest major programming shakeup by CBS, which earlier this month aired its last episode of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” after 11 seasons, having declined to renew the show.

Bilton said Weiss is bringing him in now, while “60 Minutes” ratings are still rising — up 9% from the year prior, according to Nielsen — to pivot the show before it’s too late.

“It’s still the No. 1 news broadcast in America. But history tells you disruption doesn’t happen immediately when new technology comes along — it’s usually a few years later,” Bilton said. “We’re on the precipice of this happening to broadcast TV. What was the best year of sales for Nokia? It was 2008, one year after the iPhone came out. Blogs came out in 1997-98. The New York Times had its best year of sales in 1999.”

Bilton declined to reveal how he plans to disrupt the show, though he said it won’t be a complete overhaul. He said he wants to meet the employees of “60 Minutes” before revealing his plan “in a few weeks.”