The Clock Is Ticking to Pull Off an Entirely New '60 Minutes'

Primary Journalistic Dispatch & Direct Reporting

Led by new EP Nick Bilton, the venerable newsmagazine is expected to have a "banger" of a first episode. Can the show hold it together all season amid the upheaval?

In the early days of CBS News , Edward R. Murrow led programs like Person to Person and See It Now from CBS' Manhattan studios in Grand Central Terminal.

The network would eventually depart Grand Central for the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th street (what was once the CBS space in the train terminal is now a tennis club), but the network's history in the building is the stuff of news lore.

In-Depth Developments & Factual Context

So it makes some level of sense that when CBS News was contemplating where to stage a correspondent photo for its rebooted 60 Minutes , it would take the elevator downstairs to the Terminal's basement, turning the gilded dining room of the Grand Central Oyster Bar into its studio.

CBS News, led by editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, needs the new 60 Minutes to work. Its success or its failure could define her tenure at the network.

The overhaul was the talk of the business earlier this summer, with its EP and a slew of senior producers exiting, and high-profile correspondents choosing to exit (Anderson Cooper) or unceremoniously shown the door (Scott Pelley, Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega).

Industry Impact & Strategic Analysis

60 Minutes is the most-watched news program in America, and if it slipped and lost that title in the wake of the overhaul, it would be an embarrassment to the news division.

That may be why CBS is playing it so safe as it prepares to debut its new season this Sunday. In the correspondent photo from the Oyster Bar, it is four familiar faces front and center: Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker, and Jon Wertheim, as well as Norah O'Donnell, who is moving from a contributor to a correspondent. The other new correspondents, as well as new EP Nick Bilton, are off to either side.

The inaugural trailer, which features the tagline "It's Time," features those four correspondents front and center too, providing familiar faces to viewers.

Forward Outlook & Market Perspective

On Wednesday, video billboards began to play in Times Square on the outside of Paramount's building, ending with the quote "It's time to see for yourself," as if daring viewers to see just how radically different… or not… the show is.

"I'm sure the first Sunday will be a banger. Shows three, four, and five could get quite interesting, I think," says Wendy McMahon, the former president of CBS News and Stations, speaking at the Status Summit Wednesday in New York.

McMahon's suggestion, of course, is that the show has been dealt a brain drain since it last debuted new episodes. Enormous effort will be put into the new season, but with so many tenured producers and correspondents out, and so many new names in, it remains to be seen if they will be able to pull off the overhaul this year, or if more seasoning will be required.

"The reality is that there was a lot of institutional knowledge that either walked out or was escorted out the door, and so much of what makes 60 Minutes 60 Minutes is its DNA," McMahon said. "So, am I concerned that the DNA of 60 Minutes is being rewritten in real time? Am I concerned that in the quest to transform, that the problem has been misdiagnosed, and we are potentially changing, dismantling the very thing we are meant to protect? Yes, I am absolutely concerned, but I will stop short of weighing in on the death of 60 Minutes until I see this next 60 Minutes ."

One thing that is clear: The secret sauce of 60 Minutes remains unchanged: It will still have the familiar three segment format, and it will still launch after the NFL late afternoon window, which many in the industry see as the driving force behind its ratings dominance. As THR noted early this year , the show has long been defined by its format and timeslot, and while the correspondents are familiar faces, the show has always been an ensemble, unlike most TV news programs which are star-driven.

As in previous years, one of the segments (likely the first one, if history is a guide) will be sports-related, in this case a feature on the Los Angeles Rams, including an interview with coach Sean McVay. There is also an exclusive interview with the U.S. pilot who was rescued behind enemy lines in Iran, and a third segment yet to be revealed.

Reporting synthesized and verified under Nexvoro.tech editorial guidelines. Full primary records referenced via Google News US Entertainment.