Skydance-Owned Paramount Buys Free Press, Names Weiss

Paramount, now owned by Skydance CEO David Ellison, has acquired Bari Weiss’s media company The Free Press in a deal reported at about $150 million in cash and stock and appointed Weiss editor-in-chief of CBS News. Under the arrangement The Free Press will operate under Paramount while retaining an independent brand, Weiss will remain CEO of The Free Press, and she will report directly to Ellison rather than CBS News president Tom Cibrowski. Weiss, a former New York Times opinion editor who left in 2020, has no prior experience running television news but built a large independent audience (reported roughly 1.5 million subscribers), prompting speculation about her personal windfall. Supporters say the hire is part of an effort to modernize CBS and to “shape editorial priorities” across platforms, while media analysts and critics warn it could signal a rightward shift and undermine the network’s credibility amid recent turmoil, including a reported $16 million settlement and management shakeups. Paramount and Weiss say she will engage CBS staff to restore trust, and the media industry is watching whether independent-media clout can translate into stewardship of a legacy broadcast newsroom.