60 Minutes’ 59th season is in full swing amid the 2026 TV schedule, and its premiere (which aired a few weeks ago) was preceded by copious amounts of discussion from pundits. This marks the first full season that the show is being overseen by CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss. This past summer, Weiss initiated various behind-the-scenes changes and, as a result, several notable employees were let go from the series. Long-time managing editor Guy Campanile was one of them, and he’s now reacting to the new season.
Multiple analysts theorized that 60 would be a different kind of show when it returned to the airwaves this fall. Those assumptions were not only due to the presence of new correspondents and contributors but also Weiss’ sensibilities regarding news coverage. THR recently caught up with Campanile, who – as both he and the trade pointed out – was well known for not mincing words while working at the Eye Network. His thoughts on the new season of the news magazine show aren’t so critical, but something gives him pause:
We kept hearing about a notebook full of ideas that the new executive producer had, and the broadcast had been described as a melting ice cube and that changes had to happen. And the broadcast I’ve seen the first few weeks, in the broad strokes, in shape and form, not in content, does not look very different. So I’m trying to understand why it was all blown up.
Campanile – like a number of other journalists – is of the thinking that the show hasn’t changed much under Weiss’ leadership thus far. With that, though, the question he poses is why the various BTS changes were made to begin with. In terms of on-camera talent, Weiss hired Ross Douthat, Trevor Phillips, Gianna Toboni, Sebastian Junger and Ariel Levy and brought in Nick Bilton as the new executive producer. On the other side of this, series veterans Bill Whitaker, Lesley Stahl and Jon Wertheim.
The fired 60 Minutes alums were let go this past May, with Campanile being joined by former EP Tanya Simon as well as former producer Matthew Polevoy and executive editor Draggan Mihailovich. Correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi were also fired amid the staff changes and, shortly after, Scott Pelley was let go as well. Pelley’s exit notably came after he accused Weiss of “murdering” the show. On that note, other former employees have made allegations of “journalistic interference” against Weiss.
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Shortly after he was let go, Campanile didn’t hold back his thoughts on being fired. He claimed that he and his colleagues were dismissed because they chose not to be “accomplices in the destruction of the most prestigious news program on American television.” Amid backlash from Campanile and others, though, some have defended Weiss, with CBS Evening News’ Tony Dokoupil saying he hadn’t witnessed any bias in news coverage. Additionally, Norah O’Donnell defended Weiss while announcing her return to CBS Mornings.
As for how 60 Minutes has been doing ratings-wise this season, the premiere marked a low, as it only pulled in 7.94 million viewers. That tally marked a decrease of 10 million viewers from the previous season’s debut episode. However, the show saw gains during its second episode, as it marked 6.77 million viewers, a 5% increase of Season 58’s second episode.
Many eyes remain on Bari Weiss, as she reportedly continues to mull changes at CBS News. When it comes to staffing, it’s alleged that she wants to land Chris Cuomo and that she’s supposedly considering reaching out to Maria Bartiromo for a 60 Minutes gig. Nothing has been confirmed on either of those fronts but, in the meantime, it’d be easy to imagine Guy Campanile and others continuing to keep an eye on 60’s new era.
