The CBS newsmagazine “60 Minutes” began its 59th season on Sunday, September 13, 2026, without directly addressing recent staff departures and leadership changes during the broadcast. The program concluded with an announcer stating that the show would feature “new faces” this season and emphasized its history of providing journalism the public can trust.
The season premiere follows a period of transition at CBS News, which began after David Ellison became the corporate leader of parent company Paramount and appointed Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News late last year. Weiss has stated the news program would take a “new approach,” resulting in the dismissal of the show's top producer and two correspondents.
Among the departures was Scott Pelley, a longtime correspondent and former evening news anchor, who was fired following a confrontation with management earlier this year. In June 2026, Pelley alleged that new leadership instructed him to “inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story,” an accusation that CBS denied. Other departures included correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, who were dismissed, while Anderson Cooper chose to leave the program.
The leadership changes included the appointment of Nick Bilton, a former technology columnist and documentarian, as executive producer. Bilton replaced Tanya Simon, a 30-year veteran of the show who had served as executive producer for approximately one year. During this transition, a segment by Alfonsi concerning deportees in El Salvador was pulled from the schedule by Weiss before being broadcast a month later.
The restructuring occurs amid ongoing legal and corporate pressure, including a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump regarding the show’s editing of a 2024 interview with Kamala Harris. The installation of Bilton, who has no prior television broadcast experience, represents a departure from the program’s traditional structure. The next steps for the program involve the debut of new correspondents throughout the 59th season.