Overview
- Puck reports the talks are on the “one-yard line,” with lawyers finalizing terms and plans to give Bari Weiss a senior role guiding CBS News’ editorial direction.
- Multiple outlets cite a potential purchase price for The Free Press in the range of roughly $100 million to $200 million.
- Paramount and Weiss have declined to comment as CBS newsroom insiders express alarm and some threaten to resign, with one source saying management expects departures.
- The push comes after regulators approved the Skydance-Paramount merger on conditions that included appointing an ombudsman and revisiting DEI policies, following a $16 million settlement tied to a 60 Minutes segment.
- The Free Press is seen as a commercial asset with a sizable audience, reported at about 1.5 million subscribers including roughly 170,000 paying.