Bari Weiss has some pretty hard numbers to hit when 60 Minutes comes back

Weiss’ oversight at 60 Minutes has been tumultuous, to say the least—to the point that the same Status article mentioning the new benchmarks she needs to hit also mentions that staffers have come to refer to the day when multiple members of the show’s team were recently laid off as “Black Thursday.” (Followed, presumably, by “Whatever Color It Is When Scott Pelley Rips The Boss You Just Installed Over Him A New One In Front Of Everybody Monday.”) Per Status, those concerns are still hanging heavy over 60 Minute, including in a recent “off-the-record” dinner held for staff where host Bill Whitaker reportedly spoke about his discomfort with staying on at the show after so many high-profile departures. 

Interestingly, though, it sounds like Weiss’ bosses at Paramount have their own, more numerical worries about the series, which is reportedly behind its usual blistering pace of story production ahead of its return on September 13. Fair or not, a “veteran television news executive” quoted in the Status piece reportedly said that high-level execs at Paramount are extremely fixated on comparing the performance of Weiss (and, more directly, new 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton) against the show’s numbers for its premiere last year, which drew 10.03 million viewers. “It’s 10.03M or bust,” the executive continued of the show’s upcoming premiere. “If they fall short, they’re cooked.”