CBS News has hired a well-regarded TV veteran as its No. 2 executive — even as insiders speculate that the broadcast giant’s boss is on the way out.
The Tiffany Network appointed former ABC News executive Tom Cibrowski to the role of president and executive editor of CBS News, replacing Adrienne Roark, the former CBS News president of newsgathering, who left for a job at Tegna earlier this month.
Cibrowski — a 25-year veteran of ABC News who served as executive producer of “Good Morning America” when it overtook NBC’s “Today” in the ratings — will have a wider purview than Roark, running all CBS News shows, as well as newsgathering and reporting units.
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The network’s embattled boss Wendy McMahon, president and CEO of CBS News and Television Stations, announced Cibrowski’s appointment on Thursday.
“Everything he does is marked by a deep understanding of the news landscape, and he is committed to telling stories with impact, integrity, and fairness,” McMahon wrote in a memo to staff.
Cibrowski has held numerous high-profile roles but was passed over for the several top jobs at ABC News, including the news president role last year and the head of ABC News’ local stations. Most recently, he was president of ABC News’ KGO-TV in the Bay Area,
“He’s a pro, solid, stable no mistakes,” said a former ABC colleague.
A second source added that McMahon, who worked with Cibrowski at ABC, “trusts him” and is likely hoping he can help her reverse the fortunes of the network and help “save her job.”
Speculation over McMahon’s fate has mushroomed in recent weeks following missteps including the overhaul of “CBS Evening News.” McMahon replaced anchor Norah O’Donnell with lesser-known, budget-friendly co-anchors John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois while revamping the news-centric format to focus on longer “60 Minutes-style” features.
Results have been disastrous, with ratings dropping by the week and producers caught flat-footed during major breaking news events. As reported by The Post, the show has done an about-face and tried to front-load the nightly news program with breaking news and analysis.
The turmoil comes as Skydance Media aims to merge with the Paramount Global-owned network this year in a deal that is expected to result in sweeping layoffs and a restructuring of Paramount, home to CBS, MTV and Showtime.
Sources told The Post that Skydance CEO David Ellison and former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell, who is primed to take over as president of the merged company, are rumored to have doubts about McMahon.
“The Ellison-Skydance contingent has not been impressed by her strategy or leadership ability,” another source told The Post last week.
Skydance, Ellison and CBS declined to comment at the time.
Insiders say the Cibrowski appointment is a last-ditch effort by McMahon, who some speculated could lose the top job in the coming weeks.
Some speculated that Cibrowski could replace McMahon, while others said a more likely scenario would be for Shell and CBS CEO Cheeks to bring in their own person.
Either way, “There’s no way she survives,” a source close to Skydance and Shell told The Post on Thursday. “She has been a disaster.”
“I don’t think she lasts more than a month,” the person speculated.
Other missteps include the debacle around “60 Minutes’” edit of its Kamala Harris interview. President Trump sued CBS News for a whopping $20 billion, claiming it “deceptively” edited the interview to make the former Vice President look better in the sitdown.
Trump demanded the network turnover the transcripts but they pushed back for months until FCC chairman Brendan Carr– who will decide if Skydance can merge with Paramount — began applying pressure.
Earlier this month, CBS handed over the transcript, but it did not reveal any doctoring on the part of the newsmagazine show, just some clean-up of Harris’ wordy responses.
The long, drawn out debacle was savaged in the press and will likely cost the network millions as the case is before a mediator who is working with Trump and the media giant to reach a settlement.
