Scoop: Paramount seeks biz counterpart for Weiss at CBS News
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Tony Dokoupil, anchor of the "CBS Evening News," is featured on a banner outside the CBS Broadcast Center in New York. Photo: Al Drago/Getty Images
Paramount has held preliminary conversations with several candidates for a business-side counterpart to CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, according to two sources familiar with the network's inner workings.
Why it matters: The search implies that if Paramount Skydance's deal with Warner Bros. Discovery goes through, Weiss would oversee all news editorial across both CBS News and CNN. Her potential counterpart would manage business operations across both companies.
Zoom in: Paramount leadership is eyeing several top news executives for the role and has started reaching out to candidates, Axios has confirmed.
- Names under consideration include NBCUniversal News Group chairman Cesar Conde, CNN Worldwide CEO Mark Thompson and former NBC News president Noah Oppenheim.
- Paramount had also considered Ben Sherwood, the Daily Beast's CEO and former ABC News president, and David Rhodes, former CBS News president and current Sky News executive chairman, according to a source familiar with the search.
- While Paramount awaits regulatory approval to acquire WBD, no Paramount executives are allowed to have conversations with any WBD executives, which would include Thompson.
How it works: Currently, Tom Cibrowski serves as president of CBS News alongside Weiss and reports to George Cheeks, chair of TV media at Paramount. Weiss reports directly to David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount.
- Former CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon oversaw all business operations at CBS News, as well as CBS News' local stations and CBS Media Ventures, which runs syndicated programming.
- She resigned last year before Ellison's movie studio, Skydance, merged with Paramount. A direct replacement for her role was never announced. Media Ventures and local stations are not part of Weiss' remit.
The big picture: The search for a business-side counterpart for Weiss comes as chaos envelops CBS News' flagship program "60 Minutes."
- While a report suggested Paramount bosses were possibly eyeing ways to limit Weiss' purview over linear coverage, a source familiar with the scouting process for this role told Axios that Weiss' position is secure.
- "The Paramount brass loves Bari Weiss. She has the full confidence of David Ellison, who believes Bari has done a fantastic job as editor-in-chief," the source told us. "Bari has been involved with identifying people she would partner with on the business side."
Zoom out: While federal regulators are expected to approve the merger, several Democratic state attorneys general and European regulators are still evaluating the merger.
- On Friday, Reuters reported that state attorneys general from California and New York are part of a group that is preparing a lawsuit to block the deal.
💠Our thought bubble: Hiring a business-side counterpart to Weiss could alleviate some of the public relations pressure around the deal.
What's next: The search hasn't concluded and the conversations continue, the source said.
