CBS News chief Wendy McMahon is likely set to lose her job as head of the news division, insiders have claimed.
The news, first reported by Puck, comes ahead of a planned $8billion merger between CBS’s parent Paramount and Larry Ellison-backed Skydance.
Shari Redstone, the daughter of media mogul Sumner Redstone, is the architect of the deal, and chairwoman of Paramount Global.
The 70-year-old is said to be looking to settle a suit filed against Paramount by President Donald Trump, to help the media giant avoid any FCC issues.
The deal, set to see Redstone reportedly walk away with healthy $1.75billion, is tentatively set to close by September.
McMahon, 50, angered both current and future leadership by advocating against Redstone’s plans to settle, sources said Thursday – after the lieutenant McMahon had installed to serve under her this past August announced she was leaving the network.
The network’s president of editorial and news gathering, Adrienne Roark ‘was essentially Wendy’s right hand,’ a source already told DailyMail.com, while indicating the former was forced out after McMahon caught her looking for a job.
The insider added how neither woman ‘[had] the editorial experience of leading a national news organizations’ – and sources close to the new leadership group at Skydance told Puck how McMahon will ‘almost certainly’ lose her job as a result.
CBS News chief executive Wendy McMahon, 50, is set to lose her job as head of its news division, insiders have claimed
The news, first reported by Puck, comes ahead of a planned $8billion merger between CBS’s parent Paramount and Skydance. Shari Redstone (right), the daughter of the late Sumner Redstone (left), is the architect of the deal, and chairwoman of Paramount Global
McMahon’s decision to give Roark, more of a ‘local’ journalist, oversight of the newsroom also saw her come under scrutiny, a source familiar with the matter told DailyMail.com – while several controversies sullied her tenure as well.
A controversial 60 Minutes segment surrounding Gaza that aired last month spawned outrage, after it described Hamas fighters as ‘militants’ and suggested that Israel should seek peace.
The yet-to-be solidified settlement with Trump over a supposedly bias 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris has also loomed large, as has the recent, ‘confusing’ overhaul of longtime fixture Evening News.
A source told DailyMail.com the new magazine style, which doubled the desk’s trademark one anchor to two, is a ‘failed experiment already’.
‘It’s being critically panned, ratings are down week by week and from this time last tear,’ the insider said.
While part of McMahon’s ‘vision’ for the company, longtime 60 Minutes boss Bill Owens has been behind the less headline-driven approach to the program started just weeks ago, after tasked with oversight of Evening News last summer.
Sources told DailyMail.com the legendary exec has since been ‘overstretched’ – while also ‘feeling pressure in the fight with the Trump lawsuit.’ Insiders called Owens the network’s ‘true editorial lead’ in comments to Puck.
The situation – and other scandals like a fiery interview with pro-Palestinian writer Ta-Nehsi Coates that aired on CBS Mornings in October – has ‘frustrated’ execs at Skydance, and perhaps even Redstone as well.
The 70-year-old is said to be looking to settle a suit filed against Paramount by President Donald Trump , to help the media giant avoid any FCC issues. The deal, set to see Redstone walk away with healthy $1.75billion windfall, is tentatively set to close by September 2025
McMahon (right) angered both current and future leadership by advocating against Redstone’s plans to settle, sources said Thursday – after the lieutenant McMahon had installed to serve under her this past August, Adrienne Roark (left), announced she was leaving the network
The network’s president of editorial and news gathering, Adrienne Roark ‘was essentially Wendy’s right hand,’ a source told DailyMail.com, indicating the former was forced out after McMahon caught her looking for a job. Her exit serves as another mark on McMahon’s record
‘I think we made a mistake,’ the heiress who has a majority stake in the company said at an event the following day in New York City.
She had been referring to how Roark and others reprimanded Mornings’ Tony Dokoupil after his interview, after the former insisted the sit-down ‘did not meet’ CBS’s ‘editorial standards.’
‘I think we made a bad mistake this week,’ Redstone said.
Sources told Puck how the senior – who is set to walk away from the media company following the merger – has been ‘discontent with all of it’.
Roark’s abrupt departure, seemingly at McMahon’s behest, serves as yet another balck mark on the latter’s record, as ratings continue to wane by the week.
Meanwhile, McMahon, reportedly perturbed by Redstone’s willingness to settle Trump’s lawsuit, is joined by her boss in CBS CEO George Cheeks, also co-CEO of Paramount Global.
Sources told Puck that Cheeks – historically an advocate for McMahon – has also agreed to stay on at the company, but is not willing to ‘fight’ for his deputy when it comes to firing talks.
McMahon, named CBS’s chief executive in 2023, is reportedly perturbed by Redstone’s willingness to settle
She is joined by her boss in CBS CEO George Cheeks. Sources told Puck that Cheeks – historically an advocate for McMahon – has also agreed to stay on at the company, but is not willing to ‘fight’ for his deputy
The woman who Roark replaced, Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews (seen here with her then boss McMahon in CBS News’ newsroom) abruptly stepped down in August a month after Skydance said it had identified at least $2billion worth of waste to be cut ahead of a prospective merger
Insiders further pointed out how Cheeks asked McMahon ahead of the 60 Minutes Gaza segment whether she thought it would spawn any outrage.
She told him that she did not, sources told Puck. Almost immediately after, both the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee bashed the network.
If it comes to fruition, McMahon’s departure would be the latest in a series of high-profile network for the network in recent years.
The woman who Roark replaced, Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews, meanwhile, abruptly stepped down in August – a move that itself raised eyebrows due to it coming in the midst of an election.
Moreover, the move was made a month after Skydance said it had identified at least $2billion worth of waste to be cut ahead of a prospective merger, seemingly putting the 30 year vet who started at the network in 1993 on the chopping block.
She was investigated in 2021 over favoritism and discriminatory hiring and management practices, three years after becoming CBS’s executive vice president of strategic professional development.
McMahon as named CBS’s chief executive in August 2023. DailyMail.com has reached out to CBS News and Paramount for comment.
Roark’s exit, meanwhile, was first reported by Breaker, a newly launched newsletter focused on New York media.
