CBS News boss Bari Weiss is likely to gain editorial oversight of CNN if and when Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery is approved, according to a report.
Paramount executives are said to have held preliminary discussions with several candidates who would come in and run the business-side operations next to Weiss while she continues to oversee editorial.
The company is considering several big names, including current CNN CEO Mark Thompson, NBCUniversal News Group chairman Cesar Conde and former NBC News chief Noah Oppenheim, Axios reported.
Ben Sherwood, currently CEO of Daily Beast, and former CBS News president David Rhodes are also under consideration, according to the report.
The search implies that once the merger goes through, Weiss will also be put in charge of CNN’s editorial operations, Axios said.
A CNN spokesperson declined to comment. The Post has sought comment from Oppenheim, Sherwood and NBC News.
A spokesperson for Rhodes declined to comment.
All four candidates have extensive experience running large news organizations, a contrast with Weiss, whose background is in print and digital journalism rather than television news management.
Under the current org chart, Tom Cibrowski is president of CBS News. He reports to Paramount television chief George Cheeks, while Weiss reports directly to Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison.
Last month, Puck News reported that Paramount executives began informal discussions about scaling back Weiss’ role and bringing in a more experienced hand to manage the business side of both CBS News and CNN.
According to Puck, the executive would be brought in to allow Weiss to focus on scaling the company’s digital operations.
A Paramount spokesperson denied the report.
According to Axios, Ellison couldn’t be more pleased with Weiss’ performance thus far.
“The Paramount brass loves Bari Weiss,” a source told the news site.
“She has the full confidence of David Ellison, who believes Bari has done a fantastic job as editor-in-chief.”
The source told Axios that “Bari has been involved with identifying people she would partner with on the business side.”
The prospect of Weiss overseeing editorial operations across both CBS News and CNN would represent a remarkable expansion of her influence less than a year after she was brought in to run CBS News.
Weiss, 42, was installed as CBS News editor-in-chief after Ellison’s media company, Skydance, merged with Paramount last year.
Since taking over the helm of the Tiffany Network’s news division, however, Weiss has made changes that have ruffled feathers — nowhere more visibly than at “60 Minutes,” the long-running television newsmagazine.
Last month, Weiss fired the show’s executive producer, Tanya Simon, and two correspondents, Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.
She then installed Nick Bilton, a tech reporter whose bylines appeared in Vanity Fair and the New York Times, as the show’s new executive producer.
Last week, Scott Pelley, the veteran “60 Minutes” correspondent, was fired after he angrily confronted Bilton over the firings.
The show’s three remaining correspondents — Lesley Stahl, Jon Wertheim and Bill Whitaker — announced that they would remain with the program, though they were critical of management’s handling of the firings.
The Post has sought comment from CBS News and Paramount.
Paramount Skydance’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery has not yet closed, though both companies have said they expect the roughly $110 billion deal to be completed in the third quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approvals and any legal challenges.
Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders have already approved the transaction, but the merger still faces scrutiny from antitrust regulators and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who has said his office is reviewing the deal.
