Scott Pelley entered a CBS News boardroom on Tuesday and learned he was being dismissed. The veteran 60 Minutes correspondent’s firing ignited a feud that has engulfed the network and put editor‑in‑chief Bari Weiss under fire. Weiss’s overhaul of the century‑old news division has drawn accusations of political meddling, while owner David Ellison, son of Oracle co‑founder Larry Ellison, was involved in the decision today.

Ellison is steering a $111bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery that would place CBS and CNN under common ownership. The deal, expected to seek regulatory clearance by September, has revived talk of CNN chief Mark Thompson staying on as a senior executive post‑merger, a prospect some insiders view as a stabilising influence amid the newsroom turmoil for the industry.

60 Minutes averaged 9.1 million viewers this season, up 9 percent, generating roughly $70 million in annual ad revenue. The sudden loss of three correspondents threatens the show’s profitability and could pressure advertisers as audiences shift online, in the near term. Investors watch closely, because the CBS‑Warner merger will reshape the U.S. news market and test whether aggressive restructuring can preserve legacy brands.