60 Minutes has entered a new era amid the 2026 TV schedule, and a person who’s been overseeing much of the work behind the scenes is CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss. In conjunction with the news magazine show’s EP, Nick Bilton, Weiss has been looking to update the program, and those efforts have been accompanied by major staff changes and backlash. Some of the criticisms have come from former staff members, including ex-EP Bill Owens, who recently shared his biggest concerns over the series he once shepherded.
Owens worked at CBS News for 37 years and, in 2019, he was named the EP of 60 Minutes after having spent 12 years overseeing its content in other roles. He ultimately resigned from his post in April 2025 amid a flurry of behind-the-scenes changes at 60. Since his departure, Owens has discussed his time with the show, and he notably shared thoughts ahead of the Season 59 premiere, which aired in September. At Semafor’s New Media & Marketing Playbook event, Owens was asked for his thoughts on his former workplace and said:
Not a lot. [Skydance owns] the company, they can do whatever they want. But the ratings are telling. There’s no doubt that linear television is in decline. But the numbers the other day were less than 6 million people. It’s like the evening news. 60 Minutes? That would have freaked me out.
Ratings for the latest season of 60 have reportedly been down compared to those of Season 58. The season premiere notched lower viewership and, despite some forward progress in subsequent weeks, more recent numbers haven’t been so strong. For instance, per data on the show’s October 25 broadcast, the episode only drew 5.6 million live viewers, which fell well below Season 58’s 9.1 million average. Despite that, when Bari Weiss addressed concerns, she stated that the show was doing “tremendously well.”
As for Owens, he’s been candid about leaving 60 Minutes, and he has attributed that move to no longer having the editorial independence he and his colleagues had long been granted. During the Semafor event, Owens also criticized the show’s interview with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and argued that better questions should’ve been asked. On a separate note, the veteran journalist also admitted that he wished his departure would’ve had a different effect on 60:
When I left, I really hoped that I was going to cause enough of a commotion that they would kind of back off. And the people, my senior team, the correspondents, they’ve tried their best. But it’s just a really difficult circumstance.
May 2026 marked the beginning of major personnel changes at 60 Minutes, as several high-profile staffers were let go, including correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega as well as former EP Tanya Simon. Days later, fellow host Scott Pelley was fired as well after he reportedly accused Weiss of “murdering” the show. Around that time, Owens defended Pelley’s comments, saying that he “stood up the way that I did a year ago and I couldn’t be prouder of him, and I know all the people at 60 Minutes couldn’t be prouder of him.”
Bill Owens has since moved on to other ventures and, beginning in March 2027, he’ll executive-produce a YouTube-based outlet known as NewPress. It’s also been rumored that Owens will spill tea about his time at 60 Minutes through a tell-all memoir, but that’s yet to materialize. At the very least, though, Owens still seems somewhat interested about what the future holds for 60.
