That ticking noise that begins every 60 Minutes segment? Turns out thats not a stopwatch. Its a time bomb.

At least thats how its sounding lately, like the illustrious citadel of American broadcast journalism is on the brink of blowing up. Last night, in the latest shudder suggesting an imminent explosion, correspondent Scott Pelley ended the show with a Last Minute segment that all but declared open rebellion against 60 Minutes corporate overlords at Paramount and raised a fist in solidarity with longtime executive producer Bill Owens, who just days earlier had bolted CBS in protest over what he called editorial meddling by management. No one here is happy about it, Pelley informed viewers, perched on a stool before a backdrop of the programs iconic ticking timepiece. But in resigning, Bill proved one thing he was the right person to lead 60 Minutes all along.

Whats got everyone so worked up, of course, is the $20 billion lawsuit thats billion with a b President Trump lobbed onto the 60 Minutes set last year, claiming that the show had perpetrated election interference by editing a videotaped interview with Kamala Harris from its original 45 minutes to a more broadcast-friendly 21 minutes. You know, the same way 60 Minutes had, without complaint, edited Trumps interview from 45 to 20 minutes during the 2020 campaign. The way, in fact, TV news has been editing interviews since Edward R. Murrow was cutting them on kinescope.

Nobody is taking Trumps lawsuit seriously probably not even Trump. It has next to no chance of prevailing in court. But what is being taken seriously especially by Shari Redstone, president of National Amusements and controlling shareholder of Paramount Global, which owns CBS, which produces 60 Minutes is the fact that Redstone is trying to sell her company for $8 billion to Skydance Media. That deal requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission, which has the authority to review transfers of broadcast licenses, a necessary step for Skydance and Paramount to complete their transaction.And, of course, the FCC is now run by Trump appointee Brendan Carr, who has not-so-subtly hinted that certain complaints against 60 Minutes are likely to arise and that if Redstone wants the deal to go smoothly she should probably settle the $20 billion suit with the guy in the Oval Office.

In other words, nice little merger youve got here. Shame if anything happened to it.

The stakes involved are obviously incredibly high not just for 60 Minutes but for all of news broadcasting and the whole notion of a free press. This isnt, after all, the first time Trump has strong-armed a major media outlet, not even in the last six months. Last December, he got ABC to pay him $15 million to settle an only slightly less flimsy defamation suit (this one against George Stephanopoulos, who supposedly slandered the president by referring to what Trump did to E. Jean Carroll as rape when technically the court had deemed it sexual abuse). That corporate capitulation was troubling enough. But if Redstone were now to settle the even-easier-to-beat 60 Minutes suit, it would shred the shows long tradition of editorial integrity and send a deep, muzzling chill through all of journalism, not to mention torch Redstones own reputation.

But, alas, its starting to look like thats precisely what shes about to do.

One of the reasons Owens departure was so shocking was that it seemed to signal Redstone was on the verge of caving. In truth, the reasons for Owens exit may have been more nuanced, possibly having something to do with the return of former CBS News president Susan Zirinsky, who assumed an oversight role after 60 Minutes took heat for a segment on Israels war in Gaza. Still, the snowballing narrative is that Owens sacrificed himself in a desperate warning to Redstone not to sink 60 Minutes over her Skydance deal. Thats more or less how Pelley presented it at the end of 60 Minutes last night. And it was certainly how a slew of headlines played it, as well (Woman Who Destroyed CBS News, 60 Minutes Sacrificed for Sale, and Redstone Greed Ending Legacy, among them). It was also Jake Tappers take during a seven-minute Redstone rant on CNN just hours after Owens announced he was quitting.

It seems as if Shari Redstone is likely to bend the knee to Trump and settle, Tapper said with an angry frown. Hope the moneys worth it, Shari!

Of course, Tappers right, the money isnt worth it. Sure, the Skydance merger would conceivably add hundreds of millions of dollars to Redstones personal fortune, but shes already likely worth half a billion if not more. There isnt a whole lot on planet Earth that she cant already afford. Still, Redstones own bank account isnt the whole point; shes also trying to protect the media empire her father built and that she took over just before her father Sumner Redstone died at 97 in 2020. And after years of cable-TV declines, missed streaming opportunities and less-than-blockbuster feature releases, a cash-infusing merger, particularly with another family-run firm thats promised to keep Paramount intact, may well be the companys best, if not only, hope for a future.

Most of the other suitors circling Redstone a few years ago Warner Bros., Sony, Barry Diller and Byron Allen, to name a few wanted to carve up Paramount, keep what they liked and sell the rest for scrap. Skydance, though, run by billionaire Larry Ellisons son David, was reportedly the only one to assure Redstone that Paramount would be kept whole. Whether Skydance keeps its word about that is TBD as far as anyone knows there isnt anything in writing but at least, as kin themselves, the Ellisons can theoretically appreciate Redstones impulse to safeguard her fathers legacy. (Unless, that is, they decide they can make even more money by breaking their word).

The point here is this: Redstone is trapped in a lose-lose situation. If she fights Trump on the 60 Minutes suit, it could blow up the Skydance deal, leaving her company bleeding on the floor. If she caves to Trump and settles, it could blow up 60 Minutes the crown jewel of Paramounts news division and one its few truly trusted global brands leaving the company bleeding on the floor.

Come to think of it, that ticking sound may not be a stopwatch or a bomb. It could be something worse: Donald Trump counting down the seconds until the free press runs out of time.