Former 60 Minutes Chief Faults Hegseth Interview and Ratings

Owens, who resigned from CBS News in April 2025, said during a gathering hosted by Semafor about media and marketing in New York that the program’s quality had declined under its new leadership. Asked what he thought of the show now, he replied, “Not a lot.”

He pointed to an audience figure of fewer than 6 million viewers, while acknowledging that linear television is declining. He said those numbers would have alarmed him if he were still overseeing the program.

Owens also faulted the show’s interview with Hegseth, saying its journalists did not ask how the war with Iran was going. He argued that the question should have been raised, and said he would have strongly objected to the production team’s omission.

Owens said he had hoped his resignation would prompt the network to change course, but that had not happened as he intended. He said senior staff and correspondents had tried their best in difficult circumstances. In March, he is due to become executive producer of Newpress, a media startup that publishes on YouTube.

60 Minutes’ Hegseth Interview Left a Critical War Question Unasked

The most important criticism Bill Owens made of 60 Minutes was not about its style: it was about a question its journalists left out of an interview with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Owens said they did not ask how the war with Iran was going, a basic matter viewers deserved to hear addressed.

The former executive producer also said the program’s audience had fallen below 6 million. He acknowledged that linear television is declining, but said that figure would have alarmed him when he led the show. The audience number and the missed question add to his concern that the program’s journalism has weakened under its new leadership.

Owens resigned in April 2025, hoping his departure would make the network reconsider its direction. He said the effort did not have the effect he wanted, despite senior staff and correspondents trying their best in difficult circumstances. His account underscores the stakes of newsroom independence: when powerful officials are interviewed about a war, asking the direct question matters. Owens is set to become executive producer of YouTube-native startup Newpress in March.

Owens’ 60 Minutes Criticism Meets a Changing Television Landscape

Bill Owens is judging the present-day 60 Minutes by the standards of the program he once ran, but he also acknowledged a central challenge facing television news: linear viewing is declining. At a New York event on November 8, he cited an audience figure below 6 million and said it would have alarmed him as executive producer.

Owens also objected to the show’s interview with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, saying it should have included a question about how the Iran war was going. That is his editorial judgment about what the interview needed; it does not, by itself, settle the broader debate over the program’s quality or direction.

He resigned in April 2025, hoping his departure would prompt the network to back off, but said events did not unfold as he hoped. He also recognized that senior staff and correspondents had tried their best in difficult circumstances. His remarks therefore describe a dispute over editorial priorities and leadership at a time when the audience for traditional television is shrinking. Owens is due to join Newpress, a YouTube-publishing media startup, as executive producer in March.