EXCLUSIVE: CBS News Boss Bari Weiss 'Faces Growing Pressure Over Ratings'
CBS News boss Bari Weiss is allegedly facing mounting pressure as the network's ratings draw scrutiny.
Nov. 12 2026, Published 6:15 a.m. ET
Bari Weiss was hired to save CBS News – but now television insiders are asking whether CBS needs saving from Bari Weiss.
Sources said her rocky first year has put her job on the line, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Bari Weiss Faces Mounting Network Backlash
Bari Weiss faces questions about her future at CBS News amid declining ratings and staff departures.
Cratered ratings have raised questions about the controversial editor-in-chief's future – and whether her expensive, headline-grabbing overhaul is delivering results.
"Bari arrived like a conquering hero, promising to fix everything," one television insider told RadarOnline.com. "But you can't save a network if nobody is watching. People are asking, 'What exactly are we paying for?'"
After a chaotic first year marked by massive staff exits and ratings declines for CBS Mornings, CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes, one insider said Weiss, 42, "doesn't listen to anyone."
Decisions made under Weiss' leadership have frustrated executives and led to lower ratings for the network's flagship news programs.
Moving Tony Dokoupil from CBS Mornings to CBS Evening News saw viewership drop below 4million last March, according to Variety – a whopping 15 percent decline from the previous year.
The Oct. 11 broadcast of 60 Minutes attracted just 6.06million viewers, including just 767,000 adults aged 25–54 – down more than 10 million from the week before – and CBS Mornings continues to run well behind its competitors, NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America.
CBS Veterans Clash With Bari Weiss
Tony Dokoupil's move from 'CBS Mornings' to 'CBS Evening News' reportedly saw viewership fall below 4 million.
"These numbers make executives nervous," said a network veteran. "You can survive bad press and angry employees. But when viewers disappear, everybody wants somebody to blame."
Weiss has also butted heads with 60 Minutes legend Lesley Stahl, a 35-year veteran of the show, after her purges earlier this year led to the departures of longtime correspondents Anderson Cooper, Scott Pelley and Sharyn Alfonsi, along with producer Tanya Simon.
Pelley accused Weiss of having "no qualifications" for the job and of "murdering" the iconic newsmagazine.
Bari Weiss Faces Growing Internal Backlash
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison reportedly backed Mark Thompson over Weiss to lead CNN after the merger.
"She does not love this place," he reportedly said in a staff meeting. "She was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that."
On Oct. 6, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, 43, completed his company's merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, declaring the new media giant – now including CBS and CNN – will be called Skydance Corp.
Weiss had been mentioned to also run CNN after the merger, but Ellison has backed rival exec Mark Thompson instead.
"She's making enemies inside the building while losing viewers outside it," claimed another source. "That's a deadly combination."
