Anderson Cooper is leaving CBS News’ “60 Minutes” after nearly two decades in the latest personnel shakeup to hit the storied newsmagazine and network, Reuters reported.
Cooper has been a correspondent for “60 Minutes” under a deal between CBS News-owned Paramount Skydance and CNN’s Warner Bros. Discovery since the 2006-2007 season, according to his page on the CBS News website.
“I’ve been able to balance my work at CNN and CBS for almost 20 years, but now I have young children and I want to spend as much time as possible with them while they still want to spend time,” Cooper said in a statement Monday, according to Reuters.
The journalist cut ties with CBS
Cooper is the latest high-profile journalist to cut ties with CBS News since Bari Weiss arrived as the network’s new editor-in-chief in October after Paramount Skydance bought her channel, The Free Press.
Weiss laid out her strategy in January, saying she would add 19 new contributors and focus on bringing a “streaming mentality” to the network, which has consistently trailed rivals ABC and NBC in the ratings.
He is trying to revive the third-ranked broadcast news network, which has been losing viewers in the age of social media and online information.
Weiss has expressed interest in bringing Cooper to CBS News full-time, including the possibility of him anchoring the CBS Evening News, according to the Puck report.
Paramount Skydance did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Since launching CNN’s primetime television news program “Anderson Cooper 360,” Cooper has covered major global news events, from the inauguration of the US president and political conventions to the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting.
He joined CNN in 2001 and covered the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Cooper signed a new contract with CNN last year.
Breaker reporter Lachlan Cartwright first reported Cooper’s departure from “60 Minutes.”
(With inputs from Reuters)