"60 Minutes" creator Don Hewitt had a simple motto for the show: "Tell me a story." Its new leader, Nick Bilton, is trying to move past a tumultuous period when the show itself was the story.

Bilton, a former columnist, author and documentary producer with little experience in television news, was installed by CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss last May as part of a dramatic overhaul of the storied newsmagazine.

Many veteran correspondents and producers left or were ousted during a shake-up in which some departing talent accused Weiss of putting a political thumb on the scale. Weiss denied those charges.

Since then, Bilton and his team have been rebuilding its roster of correspondents and lineup of stories. His leadership faces its first test when the show returns Sunday for its 59th season.

CBS leadership gave Bilton the option to wait to premiere the new season until October, according to people familiar with the matter. But he decided to go ahead. "We're ready," he told the network, the people said.

Technology, particularly artificial intelligence, will be a theme this season, people familiar with the matter said. Bilton sees AI as the kind of defining story "60 Minutes" tackled in previous eras, including the Vietnam War, the fight against Big Tobacco and the Sept. 11 attacks.

He has also promised a renewed emphasis on original investigations, long a hallmark of "60 Minutes."

People close to the show say that 35 stories are being shot or edited and 60 more are in development.

The new season begins as CBS parent Paramount, controlled by the Ellison family, is fighting California and 11 other states seeking to block its $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.

"60 Minutes" remains one of television's most popular news programs and a profit center for CBS. Last season, the show averaged 9.1 million viewers, up 9%, according to Nielsen.

Annual revenue is about $100 million, including distribution fees and digital advertising, and its budget is roughly $60 million, people familiar with the show's economics said. A CBS spokesman declined to comment on its finances.

The show generated $67.2 million in linear-TV advertising last year, down 25% from $84.5 million in 2022, according to iSpot. Like most broadcast television, "60 Minutes" has seen declining ad revenue.

Weiss had no television experience when she took over CBS News last October after selling the Free Press, the news and opinion site she founded in 2021, to Paramount. Some staff saw her as an interloper at "60 Minutes," which has long prized its autonomy.

In May, Weiss parted ways with executive producer Tanya Simon, a 25-year veteran of the show. Correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega also exited.

Alfonsi had accused Weiss of political interference after she briefly held a story about the Trump administration's deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador. Weiss said newsrooms regularly hold stories that aren't ready for publication. The segment, called "Inside CECOT," eventually ran in January, with some additional material bookending the piece. Vega had also clashed with the new leadership.

The revolt reached a crescendo when correspondent Scott Pelley confronted Bilton at his first staff meeting, accusing Weiss of "murdering" the show. Pelley was fired soon after.

Weiss said management had tried to engage with Pelley "to find a way back," but couldn't do so and had to part ways with him.

Bilton, a former New York Times and Vanity Fair correspondent and author of two books, came to the job having never run a television program or any operation on the scale of "60 Minutes," though he had produced TV documentaries.

When Bilton was tapped, Weiss said in a statement that he "is one of the most entrepreneurial journalists of our time."

Bilton is giving the nearly 60-year-old show a visual refresh, including a redesign, different lenses and shooting in 4K. He has told colleagues the changes are intended to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

For decades, one of the show's calling cards was taking viewers somewhere they otherwise might never see. Social media has made that harder. Bilton believes a feature now has to show viewers something they haven't seen or offer a genuinely new angle, people familiar with his thinking said.

That also means keeping the storytelling accessible. Bilton and executive editor Maria Gavrilovic use Racine, Wis.-where Gavrilovic grew up and Bilton's father lives-as shorthand when talking about the audience they want to reach. One test when reviewing a story is whether someone in Racine would understand it.

Bilton faces the challenge of establishing his independence even as Weiss remains closely involved with "60 Minutes," people close to the show said. While previous news chiefs typically steered clear of "60 Minutes," Weiss is more hands-on, saying previously, "what's being called 'editorial interference' is in reality the job description of an editor in chief."

Since the spring revamp, Bilton has been rebuilding, adding New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat as a correspondent and Sebastian Junger, Gianna Toboni and Trevor Phillips as contributors. They join Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim.

Bilton elevated Norah O'Donnell to correspondent, promoted Pelley's producer Gavrilovic to executive editor and added Chris Stewart as an executive editor, a new hire from The Wall Street Journal, where he was investigations editor.

The premiere will include an interview with one of the rescued U.S. airmen shot down in Iran this past April. There is also a feature on the Super Bowl-favorite Los Angeles Rams, airing on a network that also carries NFL games.