“60 Minutes” has found its new executive producer after Bill Owens exited the news program ahead of Paramount’s settlement with Donald Trump. Tanya Simon, who was most recently the interim EP for the CBS show, will now serve as its executive producer.
Simon has been part of “60 Minutes” for 25 years. Before serving as the interim EP in April, she was the executive editor of the series for six seasons. Prior to that she was a senior producer who oversaw digital content for 60MinutesOvertime.com and supervised production of “60 Minutes Sports,” a monthly sports-focused special that ran on Showtime.
Simon will be the fourth executive producer in the 57-year history of the news show as well as the first woman in the role.
“Tanya Simon understands what makes ’60 Minutes’ tick. She is an innovative leader, an exceptional producer and someone who knows how to inspire people,” Tom Cibrowski, president and executive editor of CBS News, said. “Tanya knows that the success of today’s ’60 Minutes’ depends on delivering a weekly mix of the most informative, impactful and entertaining stories and investigative journalism from around the world.”
“It is a privilege to lead ’60 Minutes’ and its formidable team of journalists,” Simon said. “I’m deeply committed to this level of excellence and I look forward to delivering an exciting season of signature 60 stories that cover a wide range of subjects for a broad audience and engage viewers with their world.”
In April, longtime EP Bill Owens resigned from his role at “60 Minutes.” In a memo to staff, Owens said he felt that he lost the ability to make independent decisions as the show’s parent company Paramount Global was in the midst of settling a $20 billion lawsuit from President Donald Trump.
That suit was settled for $16 million earlier in July.
