Former CBS News anchors are plotting to launch a competitor to 60 Minutes in defiance of the massive teardown of the Tiffany Network's once-vaunted news division – and they are searching for a platform to back the daring project, Breaking Celebrity News can reveal.

Bill Owens, the former executive producer of the vaunted TV newsmagazine, who hit the bricks in 2024 claiming interference from network executives, is reportedly looking to round up a TV version of the Over the Hill Gang.

Insiders said he's hoping to bring in furious, fired correspondents Scott Pelley, Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, along with longtime former executive producer Tanya Simon.

But some insiders said they have a steep hill to climb, as Owens is reportedly seeking $50million to bankroll the first two seasons of the broadcast.

"It's an emotional response, but not necessarily a smart business idea," one longtime network executive told Breaking Celebrity News.

Insiders said Owens and his fellow cast-offs will have a tough time finding a streaming platform or traditional TV network to dig deep into their pockets to pony up the big bucks necessary to produce a high-priced product like 60 Minutes in the modern news environment.

"Investigative journalism is one of the most expensive genres in television," said another well-wheeled television news veteran. "Lawyers, producers, travel, security, insurance, fact-checking – every story costs a fortune. Audiences have moved to cheaper, faster content consumed on phones."

Another media insider is even more blunt: "The business has changed. Social media, YouTube and streaming reward speed, personality and volume. They're trying to recreate a Rolls-Royce in an industry buying electric scooters."

Sources said the plan is a response to the scorched-earth gutting of CBS News with the dumping of so many high-priced and familiar faces at the venerable news division under recently installed news editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.

Her hand-picked executive producer for 60 Minutes, former New York Times columnist Nick Bilton, was strafed by Pelley for having no prior TV experience. Bilton recently hired four people to fill the openings – failed CBS News anchor Norah O'Donnell, another Times columnist, Ross Douthat, filmmaker Gianna Toboni and former British politician Trevor Phillips.

Some insiders believe Owens and Pelley see themselves as protecting 60 Minutes' legacy from the radical facelift. Others aren't convinced.