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But yes, seasoned TV journalism exec Vanity Fair special correspondent and doc producer Nick Bilton is the new EP/boss at 60 Minutes, as the show fired 3 of its female leaders in EP Tonya Simon and correspondents Sharon Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, as well as executive editor Draggan Mihailovich and senior producer Matthew Polevoy.

PARAMOUNT literally followed the press release announcing the shakeup at 60 Minutes with another one reminding us that 60 Minutes is rounding out the 2025-26 season as yet again the #1 News Program on TV, with audiences +9% YoY and 17M social platform followers added, so yes — uh, clearly changes needed to be made with the jokers running this clown show.

Plus, how hard can it be for a lauded career print journalist and producer of 3 docs in 5 years who has never run a TV newsroom, or any newsroom, to learn how to concurrently oversee:

• 60+ in-depth TV docu journalism pieces a year of global scale
• A staff of over 100 people
• Things like crash-producing polished 12-14 minute segments from inside overseas disaster or war zones, sometimes in 72-hour periods.

Especially when you just fired the 2 people with the most institutional knowledge of how to do things like that, and your boss has no background in it either.

But at least the remit from management isn’t also to expand what 60 Minutes is doing to essentially be “always on,” while the new guy with no TV news experience is just trying to learn how to run a weekly show that he’s never done before.

Coming in the door with boilerplate notions like, and I’m paraphrasing, “linear TV is dead and this needs to be re-invigorated” — similar to those Weiss espoused 8 months ago (improvements still pending 🧐) — also doesn’t instill a lot of confidence, nor do quotes like describing 60 Minutes as “an unutilized news brand” ready to be taken “into the modern age.”

Now, who wants to mention that the actual job Bilton just took is deeply, deeply rooted in delivering a hit linear TV show each week on Sundays at 7 p.m., i.e., the place where most of the brand’s revenue still comes from, and your biggest brand audience exposure perch for half the year following very expensive NFL games.

If you don’t have that working well, you have nothing . . . no matter how great your new TIKTOK videos are.

We’ll see what “the modern age” means for 60 Minutes, but I’ll mention that every digital brand/creator who tells you where they make their revenue from says it’s not from IG or YOUTUBE views; it’s from brand advertising deals or selling chocolate bars — so I look forward to those banger 60 Minutes brand deals to help the TV division’s bottom line.

Bilton also said the idea is to “reach a different generation of consumers that don’t tune in to the broadcast channel but still want to experience 60 Minutes in all its forms.” Now, how a generation knows they want to experience a show that they never supposedly watch . . . well, that’s a thinker. This also sounds like the gist is potentially turning 60 Minutes into VICE on HBO (at best — and a show I liked, but very different). We shall see.

Bilton told CNBC that he’ll be sharing his ideas with the 60 Minutes troops “in a few weeks,” so we’ll keep an ear out for any subsequent leaks.

BIGGER PICTURE: Time will certainly tell whether these Ellison managerial decisions pay off — it’s possible that, in 2 years, we’ll look back and say, “Huh, those really showed results!” But I feel confident saying there isn’t anyone in the industry outside of PSKY who looks at 8 months of Bari Weiss so far and says, “Great call!”

Also, the “You’re doing it all wrong!” POV hasn’t had a great track record here in the 2020s (if it ever had one before, either) — just ask WAPO or TWITTER how their business is doing under those lines of thinking. Much less MAX, may it rest in peace.

So, if this ends up being 2 huge leadership whiffs in a row about 10 months from now (a fair time span for Bilton, and more than fair for Weiss) — not to mention following the Jeff Shell disaster — it doesn’t exactly instill confidence that David Ellison, an exec given a $63M pay package in 2025, can steer an even bigger company, much less one that comes with the biggest name in global news . . . nor does it give vibes that he can deliver things like a 30 film slate with enough hits to overcome the misses.

Management is everything, and if WARNAMOUNT happens — HBO, you’re up next on this leadership docket right next to CNN.

But for now, the big CBS NEWS editorial calls have been made . . . so, we’ll see you in September on Sunday nights for what Bilton has lined up each week! Assuming the show isn’t moved to mid-season or something. I mean, who needs NFL lead-ins?

Personally, I can’t wait to find out WTF a “360-degree product that reaches audiences wherever they consume information” version of the most lauded and watched weekly news program in TV history is #IfItAintBroke

BUT: NBCU is certainly winning the NBA playoffs this year, as the Western Conference Finals are going 7 games, vs. ESPN/DISNEY’s 4-game Eastern Conference sweep. Be there tomorrow night on NBC! #Game7

• Kudos to Juan Manuel Cerundolo for becoming the Buster Douglas of the tennis world, taking out Jannik Sinner, the biggest player in tennis, in the 2nd round of the French Open in 90+ degree Paris heat yesterday.
• Get the breakdown of all the sports TV audiences across NBA, NHL, golf, racing, soccer and more from the week that was down below today.

WELL: The entertainment business isn’t the only one laying people off in the L.A. area — the LAKERS just laid off several employees across multiple departments in job cuts described as “very brutal.”

• Although unlike Hollywood, NBA teams are generally making more money now thanks to the big new TV deals. Then again, LeBron and Luka don’t play for free beer.

OH: Kudos to all of the Golden Trailer winners, with Project Hail Mary taking home the big prize, but a shout out to that Lee Cronin’s The Mummy trailer that freaked me out for winning in the Horror category.

AND: Here’s the latest top TV series data for the 2025-26 season through mid-April from NIELSEN, combining linear TV and streaming data.

• NETFLIX has 5 of the Top 10 TV shows.
• CBS/PAR+ has 10 of the Top 25 (NETFLIX has 7)
  • ABC/DIS+/HULU has 4, AMAZON PV has 2
  • APPLE TV has 0, HBO MAX and NBC/PEACOCK have 1 each

YUP: Add Young MC to the list of folks bailing on performing in D.C. as part of the Trump-admin backed Freedom 250 concert lineup this summer . . . and Martina McBride . . . and the Commodores . . . and Bret Michaels .

• The remaining member of Milli Vanilli also had no idea he’d been booked for the gig, which is odd because all other planning capabilities in the administration have been going so smoothly this year. 🤔

• SO: Florida royalty of Vanilla Ice and Flo Rida, it’s all on you!

ALSO: DISNEY essentially attached a big 🖕 letter to the FCC with its local TV station license renewal applications — again slamming the agency for attempting to intimidate and silence free speech that the Trump administration doesn’t like.

YAH: PSKY is now on the record committing to hitting a 3.75x debt leverage ratio in FY28, and getting to 3x by FY29 in new SEC filings, confirming conversations and promises PSKY execs have made to credit rating agencies about the WBD deal.

• PSKY expects to be at 4.3x leverage this year if/whenever the WARNAMOUNT deal gets across the finish line, although industry analysts have their own scenarios around that number — the irony being that the Ellisons are being hurt by Trump’s policies that are keeping interest rates elevated in 2026, with no real relief in sight on the horizon.
• If those 2028/29 leverage targets are not being met . . . we’ll see if Larry parts with more Ellison Family Trust cash to get the company to hit them.
  • FYI: ORACLE stock is now back above $200 a share, riding continued AI optimism to the tune of +47% over the past 6 weeks.
• Either way, gonna be a lotta fun headlines in late 2026 and FY27. #costcutting #assetsales #synergy #layoffs

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🎥 The Silver Screen