May 28 (Reuters) – CBS News named on Thursday journalist and author Nick Bilton as executive producer of news magazine show “60 Minutes,” marking the first time the show has tapped a leader from outside traditional television news.
Bilton is the fifth executive producer in the show’s history. His appointment is part of a shakeup at the 57-year-old program and follows a string of other unconventional hires of podcasters and opinion writers in a new strategy to draw younger audiences. He succeeds Tanya Simon, who became the program’s first female executive producer last year.
CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss is pushing to reshape the newsroom with a stronger focus on streaming and digital audiences following Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of her outlet, The Free Press. While “60 Minutes” was one of the top broadcast shows this past season with 9.7 million viewers on average, ratings are down more than 20% from a decade ago.
“Nick embodies the energy and ambition that animated the founders of the show. We cannot imagine a better fit,” Weiss and CBS News President Tom Cibrowski said in a note to staff.
Bilton previously worked as a tech journalist and filmmaker with an investigative background. At the New York Times, he covered how technology reshaped business and society.
His reporting led to investigations by the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice and Congress, according to CBS News.
“Hiring Nick represents a deliberate vision for ’60 Minutes’ to go beyond an hour on Sunday evenings to become a 360-degree product that reaches audiences wherever they consume information,” Cibrowski said.
David Ellison – the son of longtime supporter of President Donald Trump, Larry Ellison – acquired Paramount in August and installed Weiss in October. David Ellison helped secure regulatory approval for the deal that created Paramount Skydance, with the promise that the CBS network would reflect the “varied ideological perspectives” of American viewers.
Weiss’ plan to infuse a “streaming mentality” into the storied news magazine, which included restructuring the newsroom and starting news coverage on digital platforms and ending up on television, drew mixed reviews.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; editing by Alan Barona, Rod Nickel)
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