I have been fond of the program CBS Saturday Morning. It may be continuing, though the info/staffing at this writing is unclear. Regardless, it won’t be the same.
As you may have read, Bari Weiss is what Daily Kos called “the contrarian Substacker turned editor-in-chief of CBS News.” John Oliver is not a fan, either.
As the Guardian reported on October 29, “CBS News staffers lose jobs in ‘bloodbath’ as part of sweeping cuts from Paramount. The corporation is laying off about 1,000 staffers, including some in news, as part of a longer-term cost-cutting plan.
“The network has closed its Johannesburg bureau and is cancelling its CBS Mornings Plus and CBS Evening News Plus streaming shows. The network’s Saturday-morning program will undergo a format change, according to a source with knowledge of the changes… The network’s race and culture unit was gutted.”
Some leaving include Debora Patta, who worked out of Johannesburg, Nancy Chen, Lisa Ling, Janet Shamblian, Nikki Batiste, and the two remaining anchors of CBS Saturday Morning, Dana Jacobson and Michelle Miller.
History
Per Wikipedia, the network had tried a variety of news programming in the 7-9 a.m. Saturday slot, but it has not been very successful over the past nearly 30 years. I remember several of the anchors. But in my mind, it didn’t “click” until the team of Anthony Mason (2012-2019), Michelle Miller (2018–2025), and Dana Jacobson (2018–2025) came together in 2018.
The show, for me, had a good mix of news of the day in the first half-hour and human-interest pieces. It featured the James Beard award-winning “The Dish”, which features profiles of chefs and restaurateurs. The “Saturday Sessions” increasingly focused on independent artists.
Mason knows more about popular music than anyone I’ve ever seen. He was moved to the weekday morning show but left to do more in-depth music pieces for several CBS programs.
On June 22, 2019, Jeff Glor joined Jacobson and Miller as co-host of CBS This Morning: Saturday, later retitled CBS Saturday Morning. This was a big comedown for Glor, who became the new weekday anchor of the CBS Evening News on December 4, 2017, only to be replaced after May 10, 2019.
But he, like Anthony Mason, had a steady rapport with Dana and Michelle. He did great interviews with authors. Unfortunately, CBS laid off Buffalo native Glor and three reporters in late September 2024. His last show was on September 28, allowing him to bid farewell to viewers.
According to reports, the decision in the autumn of 2025 to oust the executive producer Brian Applegate, along with Miller and Jacobson, is reportedly a part of a broader restructuring initiative. Dana Jacobson and Michelle Miller say goodbye in an emotional final signoff on November 22, 2025. Here’s a 2022 interview with Applegate on the chemistry of SatMo.
Last two
Read the impressive bios of Miller and Jacobson. I’m a bit surprised at the ouster of Dana, given her background in sports, having previously worked with ESPN and having covered NCAA women’s basketball for CBS.
“Since joining CBS News in 2004, Michelle Miller has reported on stories of national and international importance. Her reporting around social justice has been groundbreaking. From her coverage of the killings of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown, the nationwide outrage of the Emanuel 9 Massacre in Charleston, and sexual assault allegations against prominent celebrities, Miller has been at the forefront of CBS News’ reporting on the protest movement involving these issues.” Given CBS’s recent fear of appearing too DEI, this should not have been a surprise to me, yet it was.
I’m going to tune in on Saturday, November 28, to see what Weiss hath wrought.