Bill Owens, the former executive producer of 60 Minutes who resigned in 2025, is reportedly developing a rival current affairs program and pitching it to major streaming platforms, according to a report from The Independent. The new show is said to be courting journalists and producers who left or were dismissed from CBS News since Bari Weiss took over as editor-in-chief.
The report describes a project still in early stages, with Owens and allies sounding out streaming executives about a broadcast that would echo the investigative format that made 60 Minutes a fixture of American television for more than five decades.
From CBS News to a Fresh Start
Owens stepped down from 60 Minutes in April 2025, telling staff he could no longer run the broadcast the way he believed was necessary and that it had become clear he would not retain full editorial control. His departure came during a tense period at CBS’s parent company, Paramount, as it pursued a settlement with the Trump administration over a lawsuit tied to a 2024 interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
That settlement cleared a path for Paramount’s merger with Skydance Media, a deal led by David Ellison that closed later in 2025. The merger reshaped CBS News’ leadership, and Weiss, the founder of the news outlet The Free Press, was installed as editor-in-chief after Paramount Skydance acquired her company. Her arrival triggered a wave of departures and firings across the network’s news division, as veteran producers and correspondents clashed with a newsroom culture shift they said prioritized a different editorial direction over the traditions that had defined CBS News journalism.
NarwhalTV covered the broader fallout from that leadership transition in its report on CNN’s ownership shake-up and Bari Weiss’s expanding influence across legacy broadcast news.
What the New Show Could Look Like
Details of the pitched program remain limited, but people familiar with the discussions say it is being framed as a long-form investigative broadcast rather than a daily news show, positioning it as a direct successor to the format Owens spent years overseeing. The involvement of former 60 Minutes staffers who left CBS in the wake of Weiss’s appointment suggests the project is being built around institutional experience rather than a completely new production team.
Streaming platforms have increasingly sought marquee journalism talent and franchise-level programming to differentiate themselves in a crowded market, making a reunion of respected investigative producers an attractive proposition even without a network affiliation. Whether any platform commits to funding and distributing the show remains unclear, and no formal announcement has been made by Owens or any streaming company.
Why It Matters
The reported pitch underscores a broader tension playing out across American broadcast journalism as corporate ownership changes reshape newsroom leadership and editorial priorities. 60 Minutes has long been regarded as one of the most trusted names in television news, and Owens’ departure was seen by many industry observers as a signal moment in how much editorial independence remains at legacy networks under new ownership structures.
Owens told colleagues at the time of his resignation that he needed to make independent decisions based on what was right for the broadcast, “without any sort of interference,” a message that resonated widely among journalists watching the CBS transition.
If a rival program does materialize, it would represent one of the more direct challenges to a legacy network newsmagazine in recent memory, testing whether audience loyalty to individual journalists and producers can translate into success outside a traditional broadcast home. It would also add to the growing list of media figures and formats migrating toward streaming as traditional cable and network viewership continues to decline.
What Comes Next
For now, the project remains in the pitch stage, with no confirmed platform, launch date, or full roster of participating journalists. CBS News and Paramount Skydance have not issued a public response to the report, and Owens has not commented publicly on the specifics of the plan.
The situation adds another chapter to a turbulent stretch for CBS News, which has weathered leadership turnover, a contentious corporate merger, and public scrutiny over editorial independence within the span of little more than a year. Whether Owens’ new venture reaches air will likely depend on how streaming executives weigh the value of proven investigative talent against the costs of building a new prestige news brand from the ground up.
