“CBS Saturday Morning” will broadcast its last show with co-hosts Michelle Miller and Dana Jacobson this weekend — and no replacements have been revealed to staffers, stoking anxiety as they await yet another round of job cuts, The Post has learned.
As first reported by The Post, Miller, Jacobson and executive producer Brian Applegate were ousted from the 28-year-old show as part of a first round of brutal layoffs last month under CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss and network president Tom Cibroswki.
Since the news broke, top brass has been tight-lipped on who would replace the hosts, when they would be leaving or what the vision for the show will be — an information vacuum that has left employees on edge, sources said.
The confusion is “par for the course,” according to a CBS insider. “This is a network that has no plans,” the person said sarcastically.
A source close the situation said there is a plan for the show, but it will be revealed at a later date.
CBS News declined to comment.
A source said the show’s hosts will be leaving this Saturday and that Adriana Diaz, who co-hosted the now-canceled “CBS Mornings Plus,” will fill in Nov 29. Sources said Diaz had been approached to anchor the show full-time but doesn’t appear to be interested.
As of now, the show, which airs nationwide on Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. ET, will likely be helmed by a carousel of fill-ins.
While “CBS Saturday Mornings” doesn’t have a particularly deep bench, names that have been traded by insiders include Diaz, Elaine Quijano, Errol Barnett, Kelly O’Grady and Jericka Duncan.
The uncertainty looms as Weiss and Cibrowski prepare for a second round of steep cuts that are expected to impact talent — some of which will likely leave under the guise of retirement — and high-level managers in addition to the rank-and-file.
The network’s first round of cuts claimed roughly 100 jobs, as parent company Paramount Skydance laid off roughly 1,000 people last month.
Aside from Miller, Jacobson and Applegate, other boldface names that are leaving the company include “CBS Evening News” anchor John Dickerson, correspondents Janet Shamlian, Nancy Chen and Nikki Battiste, contributor Lisa Ling and foreign correspondent Debora Patta.
Patta, who had signed a new contract months earlier, is looking into taking legal action against the network, The Post first reported.
Meanwhile, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison said on the company’s earnings call earlier this month that it will cut another 1,600 jobs as part of a strategic review. It is unclear when those cuts will hit and how many jobs will be slashed at CBS News.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
