Dylan Byers delivers the bad news!

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May 19, 2026

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Bari’s New Role

As Paramount closes in on its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, I’m told that members of the senior leadership team have had informal discussions about changing Bari’s mandate at CBS News—and, eventually, CNN—in ways that would give her less control over the linear product. Paramount would look to bring in an executive who could manage that business.

No plans have been telegraphed or formally enshrined, and it’s unclear how involved David himself has been in the discussions. But sources with knowledge of the conversations said that Bari would likely cede day-to-day control over Evening News, CBS Mornings, and 60 Minutes to this more experienced, as-yet-unnamed executive, shifting her focus to the news division’s digital growth while maintaining broad editorial influence across all the company’s platforms. (A spokesman for Paramount responded: “Bari has the full support of Paramount and David Ellison as the editorial leader overseeing CBS News and 60 Minutes. Reports suggesting otherwise are inaccurate.”)

The conversations, I’m told, reflect Paramount leadership’s newfound acceptance that Bari was given too broad a mandate for someone without previous experience in television, as well as some irritation with the ceaseless barrage of negative press. After all, before founding The Free Press—which Paramount acquired last year for a handsome $150 million—Bari had only ever served as an editor and writer. Nevertheless, David put her in charge of the news division, with a direct reporting line to him, while entrusting that network president Tom Cibrowski, a TV news veteran, would pick up the slack. But even with Tom in place, sources inside CBS News and 60 Minutes complain that Bari is drastically overstretched, and lacks the experience and managerial skills necessary to run the network.

For now, it’s unclear whether leadership would enlist current CNN C.E.O. Mark Thompson for the linear role, though David has met with him in recent days, I’m told. Sources said it was unlikely that David would elevate Cibrowski, a capable broadcast manager but not necessarily the right fit for a combined mandate across CBS and CNN. Meanwhile, it remains very possible that they could bring in someone from outside the building. As you’ll recall, former Paramount president Jeff Shell had informal conversations with former CBS News president David Rhodes about serving in a similar role. Many CNN veterans still fantasize about the second coming of Jeff Zucker, who has quietly advised Bari at times, but most doubt that David would want to risk antagonizing Trump by hiring his old nemesis. In any event, as one source noted, David & Co. have come around to the view that they need to “let her be her.”

Bari has her supporters and detractors, to be sure, but it would be entirely unfair to pin this misadventure solely on her. She took a nine-figure deal that most people in their right minds would have accepted and held her head mostly high amid an unprecedented situation. Ellison is also concurrently trying to close his $111 billion WBD deal in order to stand up a bona fide media kingdom —and may have been working through his own learning curve during this experiment. In this sort of dynamic environment, big decisions have been made quickly, even if they need to be undone relatively quickly too.

That said, it’s hard to imagine that the pace of change is going to slow down anytime soon—not at CBS News or Paramount Skydance or, eventually, WarnerMount. Closing this merger will require a massive pro forma-ing of thousands of people and finding billions in synergies. In a way, this potential new role could be a gift for Bari. Despite all the headaches she’s had to manage, the next person is going to have to deal with much worse.