This '60 Minutes' Competitor Just Hit a Milestone Amid CBS' Major Shakeup
Scott Pelley remains in the spotlight following his controversial termination from CBS News.
After looking carefree in a sailing photo posted to his Instagram on Saturday, June 6, the former 60 Minutes correspondent 68, just made notable comments about his former network in a just-published New York Times interview.
The piece went live on Sunday, June 7, in which Pelley told the newspaper things like, "CBS News is on fire," amid the gutting of the newsmagazine's senior staff.
"We need adult supervision, and at the moment we don't have it. We have people who've been installed in these jobs who through no fault of their own have no experience in television. They don't know what they're doing," Pelley also said in the NYT interview. "And there's a subtle political bias that I've never seen at 60 Minutes before, or at CBS News before. So that is my hope: a return to sanity."
Pelley became a legend at 60 Minutes over the years, a program that garnered competitors ever since its launch. Speaking of, this weekend marked exactly 48 years since ABC News' 20/20 debuted on the rival network, currently anchored by David Muir and Deborah Roberts.
Having debuted on ABC June 6, 1978, 20/20 is still going strong today. Here's the newsmagazine's breakdown on the network's website: "A proven leader as a long-form newsmagazine for over 40 years, "20/20" features unforgettable, character-driven true crime mysteries, exclusive newsmaker interviews, hard-hitting investigative reports and in-depth coverage of high profile stories."
60 Minutes premiered 10 years earlier, in 1968. Pelley was fired from the renowned program on May 30, coming shortly after the anchor butted heads with the show's new executive producer, Nick Bilton. The incident went down publicly in a staff meeting, only exacerbating the existing conflict between CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss and the longtime staff of the iconic newsmagazine program. During the meeting, which was captured on audio, Pelley accused Weiss of "murdering" 60 Minutes, per The New York Times.
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This story was originally published June 7, 2026 at 8:43 PM.