Anderson Cooper Walks Away From '60 Minutes' After Nearly Two Decades

The ticking stopwatch that has opened every edition of 60 Minutes since 1968 will soon count down without one of its most recognizable correspondents. Anderson Cooper, the CNN prime-time anchor who has simultaneously reported for the CBS News newsmagazine since the 2006-07 season, has opted not to renew his contract with the program, according to multiple people familiar with the matter .

Cooper's final segment — an interview with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns — aired on Sunday evening, closing out a tenure that spanned nearly two decades and earned two News and Documentary Emmy Awards Anderson Cooper Set to Exit CBS News’ ’60 Minutes’variety.com·SecondaryAnderson Cooper is poised to exit CBS News‘ “60 Minutes” after nearly 20 years of contributing to the program, according to a person familiar with his thinking, the latest blow to the revered Sunday-night newsmagazine after it has been undermined repeatedly by management at Paramount Skydance and its predecessor company. CBS News was unable to make executives available for immediate comment.. In a statement released Monday, Cooper said that being a correspondent at 60 Minutes had been one of the great honors of his career, noting that he got to tell amazing stories and work with some of the best producers, editors and camera crews in the business Anderson Cooper Set to Exit CBS News’ ’60 Minutes’variety.com·SecondaryAnderson Cooper is poised to exit CBS News‘ “60 Minutes” after nearly 20 years of contributing to the program, according to a person familiar with his thinking, the latest blow to the revered Sunday-night newsmagazine after it has been undermined repeatedly by management at Paramount Skydance and its predecessor company. CBS News was unable to make executives available for immediate comment.. He explained that for nearly 20 years he had balanced jobs at CNN and CBS, but now has little kids and wants to spend as much time with them as possible while they still want to spend time with him.

The 58-year-old journalist had worked under an unusual arrangement between CNN and CBS that allowed him to contribute to 60 Minutes while anchoring his nightly CNN program at the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed network . That dual-network arrangement, rare in the television news industry, gave Cooper an outsized presence across the cable and broadcast landscape for nearly two decades. His departure now leaves him focused entirely on CNN, where he also hosts a Sunday longform newsmagazine and a podcast centered on discussions of grief, both of which have attracted growing audiences Anderson Cooper Ends Tenure As ’60 Minutes’ Correspondentdeadline.com·SecondaryAnderson Cooper is exiting as a correspondent for 60 Minutes after nearly two decades with the CBS News newsmagazine. Cooper has reported for the show while anchoring full time on CNN, under an agreement between the network and CBS. But he decided not to renew to remain on the top rated newsmagazine, according to sources familiar with the matter. Breaker first reported on his departure and his final segment, a story on Ken Burns that aired on Sunday..

Cooper signed a new deal with CNN late last year, a move that cemented his commitment to the network and effectively set the stage for his exit from CBS Anderson Cooper Departing ‘60 Minutes’ as Correspondenthollywoodreporter.com·SecondaryAnderson Cooper is ending his time at 60 Minutes. The CNN anchor, who has been a correspondent at the CBS newsmagazine for nearly two decades, opted not to renew his contract with 60 Minutes, sources say. Cooper’s final segment for the show, an interview with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, aired Sunday. Cooper remains with CNN, where he anchors the nightly Anderson Cooper 360 and a weekly newsmagazine, The Whole Story. He also hosts a podcast and streaming show called All There Is.. He had been courted for the anchor chair at the CBS evening newscast before the network parted ways with the anchor duo of Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson, ultimately giving the job to Tony Doukopil instead Anderson Cooper Set to Exit CBS News’ ’60 Minutes’variety.com·SecondaryAnderson Cooper is poised to exit CBS News‘ “60 Minutes” after nearly 20 years of contributing to the program, according to a person familiar with his thinking, the latest blow to the revered Sunday-night newsmagazine after it has been undermined repeatedly by management at Paramount Skydance and its predecessor company. CBS News was unable to make executives available for immediate comment.. Cooper's decision to stay at CNN rather than take that role signaled where his long-term priorities lay.

The departure arrives at a moment of significant transition for 60 Minutes itself. Bari Weiss, the former New York Times opinion editor and founder of The Free Press, joined CBS News as editor-in-chief in October and is widely expected to pursue a substantial overhaul of the newsmagazine Anderson Cooper Set to Exit CBS News’ ’60 Minutes’variety.com·SecondaryAnderson Cooper is poised to exit CBS News‘ “60 Minutes” after nearly 20 years of contributing to the program, according to a person familiar with his thinking, the latest blow to the revered Sunday-night newsmagazine after it has been undermined repeatedly by management at Paramount Skydance and its predecessor company. CBS News was unable to make executives available for immediate comment.. Cooper's exit marks the first major on-air change under her leadership, and industry observers are watching closely for further moves.

Weiss has already drawn both praise and criticism for her editorial approach. In December, she made an eleventh-hour decision to pull a 60 Minutes segment focused on El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison, where the Trump administration has sent a number of deportees. Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi had prepared the piece, but Weiss deemed it not ready, partly because it lacked an on-the-record response from the White House Anderson Cooper Set to Exit CBS News’ ’60 Minutes’variety.com·SecondaryAnderson Cooper is poised to exit CBS News‘ “60 Minutes” after nearly 20 years of contributing to the program, according to a person familiar with his thinking, the latest blow to the revered Sunday-night newsmagazine after it has been undermined repeatedly by management at Paramount Skydance and its predecessor company. CBS News was unable to make executives available for immediate comment.. The story eventually aired on January 18, but the episode fueled a broader debate about whether Weiss is bringing necessary editorial rigor to CBS News or introducing a chilling effect on reporting that might draw political blowback.

Defenders of Weiss argue that her insistence on balanced reporting and on-the-record sourcing represents a return to journalistic fundamentals that legacy newsrooms had drifted away from. Critics, particularly among CBS News veterans, worry that the new leadership is overly cautious about stories that might provoke conservative backlash, effectively self-censoring on politically sensitive topics. The truth likely falls somewhere in between: Weiss's editorial philosophy, shaped by her years pushing back against what she sees as progressive groupthink in mainstream media, represents a genuine shift in how one of America's most prominent news organizations approaches its work.

For 60 Minutes specifically, the challenges extend well beyond any single correspondent's departure. The program, which debuted in 1968 under the legendary Don Hewitt, has long been one of the most profitable shows on television, but its audience has aged significantly. The median viewer is well past retirement age, and the show faces the same existential question confronting all legacy broadcast news: how to remain relevant as younger audiences increasingly get their information from digital platforms, podcasts, and social media.

Cooper's dual-network career was itself a product of this shifting landscape. By maintaining a presence on both CNN's cable platform and CBS's broadcast network, he had access to two distinct audience pools. His CNN work skewed toward a politically engaged, left-of-center viewership, while 60 Minutes offered reach into a broader, older demographic that still treats Sunday-evening television as an appointment viewing habit. Losing that cross-platform presence may ultimately matter less to Cooper than gaining back weekends with his young children, but it represents a symbolic narrowing for a journalist who had become one of the most visible figures in American news.

The media newsletter Breaker was first to report Cooper's intention to leave . CBS News was unable to make executives available for immediate comment on the departure Anderson Cooper Ends Tenure As ’60 Minutes’ Correspondentdeadline.com·SecondaryAnderson Cooper is exiting as a correspondent for 60 Minutes after nearly two decades with the CBS News newsmagazine. Cooper has reported for the show while anchoring full time on CNN, under an agreement between the network and CBS. But he decided not to renew to remain on the top rated newsmagazine, according to sources familiar with the matter. Breaker first reported on his departure and his final segment, a story on Ken Burns that aired on Sunday.. The timing of the announcement — on a Sunday evening, as Cooper's final segment aired — suggests the decision had been finalized in recent days, even as negotiations over a possible renewal were reportedly ongoing in recent weeks Anderson Cooper Ends Tenure As ’60 Minutes’ Correspondentdeadline.com·SecondaryAnderson Cooper is exiting as a correspondent for 60 Minutes after nearly two decades with the CBS News newsmagazine. Cooper has reported for the show while anchoring full time on CNN, under an agreement between the network and CBS. But he decided not to renew to remain on the top rated newsmagazine, according to sources familiar with the matter. Breaker first reported on his departure and his final segment, a story on Ken Burns that aired on Sunday..

Cooper's Emmy-winning work for 60 Minutes included the segments The Music of Zomba Prison, which won for best feature story in a newsmagazine, and Little Jazz Man, which won for best arts, culture and entertainment report, both in 2017 Anderson Cooper Set to Exit CBS News’ ’60 Minutes’variety.com·SecondaryAnderson Cooper is poised to exit CBS News‘ “60 Minutes” after nearly 20 years of contributing to the program, according to a person familiar with his thinking, the latest blow to the revered Sunday-night newsmagazine after it has been undermined repeatedly by management at Paramount Skydance and its predecessor company. CBS News was unable to make executives available for immediate comment.. Over the years, his contributions to the program ranged from war zone reporting to celebrity profiles to investigative pieces, reflecting the broad mandate that has defined 60 Minutes since its inception.

What comes next for the newsmagazine under Weiss's leadership remains an open question. The correspondent roster still includes established names, but Weiss is expected to bring in new talent and potentially reshape the show's format and editorial direction. Whether that overhaul will alienate the program's loyal but aging audience or attract new viewers will be one of the most closely watched experiments in broadcast news over the coming year.

For Cooper, the calculation appears straightforward. At 58, with two young children and a secure position at CNN, the appeal of shedding a demanding second job is understandable. The era of one journalist straddling two rival networks was always an anomaly. Its end simply reflects the reality that even in an industry built on ambition and reach, there are limits to how much one person can sustain — and that sometimes, the most newsworthy decision a newsman can make is to step back.