CBS News

Av Westin, an influential television producer who rose from copy boy at CBS News for Edward R. Murrow in the 1940s to help make ABC’s 20/20 newsmagazine a perennial winner of Emmy Awards, died on March 12. He was 92. Above, Westin (r) with the 20/20 host Hugh Downs in 1981. He recruited an A-list group of correspondents for the program.

CBS News White House producer Fin Gómez has been named political director for CBS News. Gómez steps into his new role this week and will continue to be based in Washington.

ViacomCBS — now Paramount — President-CEO Bob Bakish’s two-and-a-half-hour presentation on Tuesday was heavy on talk of streaming but lacking any noticeable discussion of CBS News. Could this foreshadow the company getting out of the news business?

London Bureau Chief Andy Clarke, a 38-year CBS News veteran who was responsible for dispatching journalists around the world, stepped down last week after multiple disagreements with CBS News Co-President Neeraj Khemlani over budget cuts, according to sources close to the network.

Gayle King has decided to renew her contract with CBS News, and will continue to co-host CBS Mornings. Networks don’t generally disclose salaries, however, it has been reported that King currently earns $13 million per year. This new contract would most certainly put her over that annual figure.

Gayle King recently celebrated her 10th anniversary at CBS News, a significant achievement. But in the background, there have been reports that King may leave the network when her current contract expires in May. However, it now appears no such war will transpire, because CNN’s Brian Stelter, citing sources, reports that King has decided to renew her contract and remain with CBS.

The Wall Street Journal’s Anthony Galloway (left) has been tapped to lead CBS News’ streaming operations. In addition, CBS News said it has promoted booker Kaci Sokoloff and hired ABC News veteran David Reiter to produce special events at the network and for streaming.

While the venerable newsmagazine continues to be one of the most popular shows on television, it’s now 0-for-2 in recent attempts to expand into different platforms.

A tough, new boss at CBS News is slashing costs in a bid to revamp the struggling network — and he’s also provoking complaints from employees, with some grumbling that he is “rude” and “micromanaging.” Rank-and-file at the third-place network gripe that co-president Neeraj Khemlani — a former Hearst executive who along with ex-ABC executive Wendy McMahon took the reins in May — is demanding more work even as he axes resources, with some raising concerns that ruthless bean counting at CBS News is “cutting it to the bone.”

As the nation’s big media companies look to woo new viewers trying to pick their way through a dizzying number of streaming outlets, news divisions are signing up for the battle. A lot of journalists — and the executives who manage them — will head into a decidedly non-traditional competition in 2022, one that won’t necessarily be won with news scoops. They are rushing to produce new kinds of show formats, and relying on anchors both familiar and less so, all in a furious bid to keep a younger generation of consumers from developing new connections with digital upstarts that threaten to siphon them away.

Kevin Tedesco, the longtime 60 Minutes publicist who has seen the show through more than half of its tenure on air, is retiring after a quarter century at CBS News. CBS News released no official statement about his departure, but the show revealed he was leaving via its Twitter feed today.

Ciprian-Matthews will be executive vice president of newsgathering, overseeing all of the network’s bureaus and reporting worldwide.

Norah O’Donnell’s days at the top spot at CBS Evening News may be numbered as cost-slashing execs at the broadcasting giant quietly search for her replacement amid sagging ratings. The 47-year-old anchor — who landed the evening slot in 2019 — now stands vulnerable to the network’s bean counters as her ratings have stayed stubbornly stuck in third place, according to sources close to the situation.

Amparo has been named President and General Manager of CBS News and Stations’ local businesses in Dallas-Fort Worth, including KTVT-TV (CBS 11), KTXA-TV (TXA 21), CBSN Dallas-Fort Worth and CBSDFW.com. The announcement was made today by Wendy McMahon, President and Co-Head, CBS News and Stations, and Adrienne Roark, President, CBS Stations. Amparo will report directly to Roark and assume her new role on Monday, Sept. 27. (Image: Raquel Amparo)

Brennan, now chief foreign affairs correspondent for CBS News, returns from maternity leave with a focus on COVID and international affairs.

ViacomCBS announced Wednesday that CBS News is launching See It Now Studios, a new content provider that will produce news, documentary and unscripted programming for Paramount+, CBS, the ViacomCBS family of networks, international broadcasters and other content platforms. Former CBS News President Susan Zirinsky will run the operation.

Even though she is on the cusp of turning 80, Lesley Stahl is still climbing mountains. She is proving her mettle in new ways as she reaches an age that most people see as a time to break away from any kind of career. She tangled with Pres. Donald Trump on four different occasions in recent years, and managed to walk away from a coronavirus infection. “Lesley does not stay still,” says Bill Owens, the executive producer of 60 Minutes.

Neeraj Khemlani talks about CBS Mornings and the reimagined CBS morning show franchise, as well as his vision for CBS News, and working with Wendy McMahon.

CBS apparently really wants you to know it’s a “morning” network. Earlier this week the network announced that it’s renaming its third place CBS This Morning as simply CBS Mornings in an effort to align it better with the show’s venerable CBS News Sunday Morning. Semantics aside, ultimately what’s going to cement the marriage of “morning”-titled shows on CBS is the use of the Sunday Morning sun icon and theme music, both of which are highly recognizable.

When Nate Burleson joins Gayle King and Tony Dokoupil as co-host of CBS’s morning show next month, the program will have a new look, theme and name: CBS Mornings. The changes, to launch on Sept. 7, will connect all of the morning shows together with some of the elements of its long running CBS Sunday Morning, including the use of the sun logo and trumpet theme.

CBS News and Stations has launched CBSN Baltimore, the 12th of 13 local direct-to-consumer streaming news services within the group. WJZ Baltimore is the station behind CBSN Baltimore.

CBS This Morning is shaking up its co-host lineup, with Nate Burleson joining the show in September. Burleson will join Gayle King and Tony Dokoupil on the show. Burleson had guest hosted the show in May. Anthony Mason, co-host since 2019, will shift to a role as reporter on culture.

Jay Shaylor, the executive producer of CBS Evening News, will step down from his post, one of the first significant rearrangements of top producers at the news division since it was placed under the aegis of new top executives.

Christy Tanner, one of CBS News’ top streaming executives, is leaving the company after eight years. Tanner announced her exit Thursday morning. Tanner, who joined CBS News during the advent of the streaming era, is one of the architects of CBSN, the company’s free streaming news channel. In her role as executive vice president and general manager of CBS News Digital, Tanner oversaw CBS News across all digital platforms, including CBSNews.com. Tanner is the latest high-ranking female executive to leave ViacomCBS in the last few months.