CBS News Launches New Content Provider

CBS News has unveiled See It Now Studios, a new content provider that will produce news, documentary and unscripted programming for Paramount+, CBS, the ViacomCBS family of networks, international broadcasters and other content platforms.

See It Now Studios will also create spin-offs of CBS News brands, building on the reporting and resources of CBS News, and produce “insta-docs” in the wake of current events. Susan Zirinsky, a journalist and former president of CBS News, has been named president of See It Now Studios.

Zirinsky will report directly to George Cheeks, president and CEO of CBS and chief content officer for news and sports for Paramount+. Joining Zirinsky in See It Now Studios are Senior Executive Producer of Content Oversight Terence Wrong and Aysu Saliba as supervising producer for development. Grace Kim is the unit’s production manager, and Amy Gardner is an associate producer. Zirinsky will work with executive producer Mitch Weitzner and his team of Sasha Reuther and Danielle Levy. See It Now Studios will work in collaboration with Neeraj Khemlani and Wendy McMahon, presidents and co-heads of CBS News and Stations, for its “insta-docs.”

See It Now Studios has a slate of productions set for 2021 and beyond, with the first documentaries focusing on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. See It Now Studios’ productions will be distributed globally by the ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group.

Cheeks said: “This is a studio built on the foundation of the incredible journalism and storytelling of CBS News but with a broader remit. See It Now Studios will have the flexibility to work across a range of production formats and concepts to meet the growing needs of linear and streaming platforms, including producing premium documentary content for Paramount+. There is no one better to lead this new unit than the journalistic and producing force of nature that is Susan Zirinsky. She and her team have already hit the ground running.”

Zirinsky added: “See It Now Studios will deliver premium, impactful non-fiction series and unscripted programming. We’ve got a slate of powerful projects that use immersive storytelling to illuminate people and places that rarely grant access. These are strong, story-driven projects, with engaging narratives and compelling characters that will keep viewers watching. All told through with the high-quality standards set by CBS News.”

The productions on the See It Now Studios slate include The 26th Street Garage: The FBI’s Untold Story of 9/11, a Paramount+ original documentary streaming on September 9. Narrated by award-winning actor Tom Selleck, the doc tells the story of how the FBI was forced to evacuate its New York headquarters and transformed an automotive garage into a new command center. In the two-hour documentary Race Against Time: The CIA and 9/11, officials and operatives inside the CIA share first-person accounts of their efforts to stop Osama bin Laden and the catastrophic attack they knew would eventually come. It will premiere on September 10 on the CBS Television Network and Paramount+.

Ghislaine, a four-part series for Paramount+, will unpack the allegations against the socialite, the abuse the victims endured at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein and its lasting impact. Also for Paramount+ is the six-part docuseries Unsealed: The Insurrection—Where Did it Begin?, which delves into the forces that united to attack the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.