Former CBS News president and CEO Wendy McMahon will serve as an advisor to the newsletter platform beehiiv, co-founder and CEO Tyler Denk announced on Tuesday.
“She’s an absolute rockstar and will help us to continue to push the limits of what’s possible in this new age of independent journalism,” Denk wrote in a blog post. “The old models are broken, and the new platforms (i.e. Substack) are deploying a dangerous playbook of writer exploitation and platform lock-in.”
McMahon, who was tapped to lead CBS back in 2023, resigned from her role in May as the network and its news program “60 Minutes” were facing a $20 billion lawsuit from President Donald Trump over the editing of an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Its parent company Paramount Global was pushing CBS to settle the suit as the media giant was trying to secure regulatory approval of its $8 billion merger with Skydance Media, but McMahon and former “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens, who also resigned in April, both pushed back against Trump’s demands for an apology.
“It’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward,” McMahon said in a memo when she left CBS. “It’s time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership. I have spent the last few months shoring up our businesses and making sure the right leaders are in place; and I have no doubt they will continue to set the standard.”
Paramount and Trump would settle the “60 Minutes” suit for $16 million in July, but it would notably include no apology. Three weeks later, the FCC approved the Paramount-Skydance merger.
Trump has since claimed that Skydance struck a $20 million deal for public service announcements and that the value of the settlement is actually higher.
When asked about the PSAs in August, Skydance Media CEO and Paramount’s new owner David Ellison said the company was not involved in the settlement talks, adding: “I do not want to politicize our company in any way shape or form, we want to obviously speak to the biggest audience possible.”
In addition to the settlement, Skydance agreed to appoint an ombudsman for at least two years, who would review complaints of bias at the network. On Monday, Paramount revealed former Hudson Institute CEO Kenneth Weinstein would fill the role.
Since launching in 2021, newsletters on beehiiv have generated tens of millions of dollars each month and dozens have been acquired, Denk said.
Among the successful newsletters on the platform is Oliver Darcy’s Status, which Denk said surpassed $1 million in annual recurring revenue in eight months.
“We’re building something so much more than just a newsletter platform,” Denk added. “We’re building an operating system for publishers, creators, and entrepreneurs to succeed.”
