In major shake-up, CBS replaces ‘60 Minutes’ executive producer with tech journalist

CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss on Thursday replaced Tanya Simon, the executive producer of the network’s flagship newsmagazine “60 Minutes,” with a technology journalist who has never worked in television news.

Nick Bilton, a documentarian and former New York Times technology columnist, will take over for Simon when the show returns for a 59th season in the fall, CBS News leaders announced.

The moves are part of Weiss’ sweeping shake-up of the storied program, created by the legendary producer Don Hewitt.

CBS News has also cut ties with “60 Minutes” correspondent Cecilia Vega, who joined the show in 2023, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Sharyn Alfonsi, another “60 Minutes” correspondent, told the Times this week that CBS News had not renewed her contract. CBS News and Alfonsi did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the status of her deal.

Alfonsi clashed with Weiss late last year over the last-minute postponement of her segment about the Trump administration deporting Venezuelan men to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

Alfonsi said the delay was “not an editorial decision” but a “political one.” Weiss said she held the story “because it was not ready.” It ultimately aired in January.

Weiss — who also had no TV news experience when she was hired last fall — said in a statement that Bilton was “one of the most entrepreneurial journalists of our time and the perfect leader for one of the most entrepreneurial news brands of all time.”

“We have huge ambition for ‘60 Minutes’ to reach new heights through deep, revelatory journalism that breaks news, exposes wrongdoing, widens public understanding and forces accountability from every institution and every center of power,” Weiss added.

In a letter to “60 Minutes” staff Thursday, Bilton introduced himself and said in part: “I’m here to lead this show, not preserve it under glass. That means honoring what works and being honest about what doesn’t. I have a notebook full of ideas.”

“Some are about the show itself. Some are about the next generation of correspondents. Some are about the strange fact that we produce one extraordinary hour for one night a week in a world that consumes content around the clock,” he added.

In a statement shared with NBC News, Simon acknowledged that “leadership has decided it is time for a new chapter.”

“I want to be unequivocally clear about one thing: it has been an immense privilege to lead this broadcast, and I could not be prouder of what we have built, fought for, and delivered together over the last year,” Simon added.

“60 Minutes” has faced intense criticism from President Donald Trump, who sued CBS before the 2024 election over an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris that he claimed had been deceptively edited. CBS vehemently denied that claim. Paramount eventually settled the suit for $16 million.

Bilton’s reporting has appeared in the Times and Vanity Fair. In recent years, Bilton produced documentaries about business and technology for Netflix and HBO, including a film about disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes.

Weiss is a former opinion writer and editor at the Times who launched the website The Free Press in 2021. Paramount Skydance, which owns CBS, acquired The Free Press when it hired her.

She has overseen a wave of big-picture changes at CBS News since she was hired in October, including tapping Tony Dokoupil as anchor of “CBS Evening News.”

The departures of Vega and Alfonsi came after CNN primetime anchor Anderson Cooper announced he was leaving the series following a 20-year run as a correspondent.

In a farewell message this month, Cooper said in part: “The independence of ‘60 Minutes’ has been critical, and I think the trust it has with viewers is critical to the success of ‘60 Minutes.’”