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The news that the FCC has approved Skydance’s $8 billion merger with CBS parent company Paramount Global comes on the same day as 60 Minutes, the show that drew a $10 billion lawsuit from Donald Trump over an interview they aired (which held up the deal), named their new Executive Producer. In tonight’s edition, we report on an asset Skydance has had discussions about buying – The Free Press – and why Bari Weiss’ sky-high valuation just doesn’t add up.

Also tonight, we have scooplets about MTV visionary Tom Freston's new book and the brutal circulation figures at the L.A. Times that paint an alarming picture of the newspaper's future.

Finally, tonight, you’ve been asking what is going on with The Breaker podcast – we are happy to report below that it will soon be back, new and improved!

Mentioned tonight: David Ellison, George Cheeks, Tom Cibrowski, David Rhodes, Wendy McMahon, Bill Owens, Tanya Simon, Bill Whitaker, Rupert Murdoch, Robert Thomson, Dennis Berman, Margi Conklin, Andy Mills, Charles Lane, Alex Chitty, Michael Moynihan, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, Chris Argentieri, and Aimee Bell.

We're back! Well, almost. After a hiatus spent (virtually) summering with the tycoons at Sun Valley, and the Sulzbergers in upstate New York, Breaker is plotting a new-and-improved show coming to your feed this fall. 

We're lining up some incredible guests, and we'll be chin-wagging at some of the best spots in downtown Manhattan. Be sure to subscribe to this channel so you don't miss a single saucy scooplet!

(Exclusive.) Embattled CBS News staffers heard the first bit of good news they’ve received in several months on their 9 am daily call Thursday when president and executive editor Tom Cibrowski announced Tanya Simon had been named executive producer of 60 Minutes.

The well-liked and well-respected Simon, the daughter of legendary 60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon, had been acting in the role ever since EP Bill Owens announced in April that he would be leaving the network. 

At the time, 60 Minutes faced mounting pressure after Donald Trump sued CBS for $10 billion and accused the program of “unlawful and illegal behaviour” over the editing of an interview with Kamala Harris. 

Earlier this month, CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, agreed to settle the lawsuit at a cost of $16 million (crucially, there was no apology to Trump as part of the settlement, although it could be argued Owens and former CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon’s resignations were the apology).

While the decision to give the job to Simon was made by Paramount Global co-CEO George Cheeks and Cibrowski, Breaker has learned it was blessed by Skydance Media CEO David Ellison.

Just hours after the Simon announcement, the FCC approved Ellison’s $8 billion merger with CBS parent Paramount.

With most of the correspondents and show staff on their summer vacation (we hear Bill Whitaker, who conducted the now infamous interview with Harris that Trump sued over, is in Europe) Simon and some CBS News staff departed the CBS building in Midtown for a nearby restaurant that is a favorite drinking spot of CBS Newsers for a lunchtime toast.

They certainly had a lot to talk about. In recent weeks, there has been feverish speculation that former CBS News President David Rhodes (now running Sky News across the pond) would return to the company. And reports that Ellison is in talks to buy Bari Weiss’ Free Press (a story she and her publisher Dennis Berman continue to leak). 

Ellison would be wise to speak to News Corp CEO Robert Thomson, who met with Weiss and had the News Corp bean counters take a proper look at The Free Press numbers, only to conclude…