Brian Williams Says ’60 Minutes’ Needs to Change Amid Controversial Shakeup

Former NBC News host Brian Williams shared his thoughts on the recent 60 Minutes drama, arguing that the long-running news magazine program could “use a new coat of paint.”

Williams joined veteran television producer Jonathan Wald for a discussion on the future of news media at the inaugural Status Summit in New York on Wednesday (September 9). During the conversation, moderated by Status’ Oliver Darcy, Williams shared his thoughts on 60 Minutes.

In addition to saying it could use a refresh, Williams said the show needs to air year-round. “I’d like to see a 52-week-a-year broadcast,” he stated, per TheWrap. The former NBC Nightly News anchor noted the tradition goes back to 60 Minutes creator Don Hewitt and his love of tennis, joking that Hewitt would play from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

“Apparently news stops during those months,” Williams quipped.

CBS News confirmed the 60 Minutes correspondent lineup earlier this week, which includes Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker, Jon Wertheim, Norah O’Donnell, and Ross Douthat. They’ll be joined by contributors Matt Gutman, Sebastian Junger, Gianna Toboni, Trevor Phillips, and Ariel Levy.

The show has been through a tumultuous few months, to say the least. In May, CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss fired 60 Minutes producers Tanya Simon, Draggan Mihailovich, and Matthew Polevoy, and correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi. After longtime correspondent Scott Pelley spoke out against Weiss during a heated staff meeting, he, too, was dismissed.

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Williams, who anchored MS NOW’s (then MSNBC) The 11th Hour until November 2021, expressed concern for linear television. “I think linear TV is done with all of us,” he stated. “It just sort of isn’t what it used to be.”

Wald, however, said this is a chance to explore alternative avenues. “I think the collapse of the traditional media superstructure, the network system that reared me from infancy until I left MSNBC, I think that collapse has created opportunity that nobody could have imagined four years ago, three years ago,” he said, highlighting platforms like Beehiiv and Substack.

He also shared a more optimistic view of Weiss’ changes at CBS News, saying that she isn’t “automatically bad for the news business.” Wald added, “I think all of it remains to be seen.”

Williams also shared optimism about the future of the news industry, saying, “As long as there are stories and people to tell them, as long as there’s an audience.”