''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television news/interview program broadcast on NBC. It is the longest-running program on American television, though the current format bears little resemblance to the debut episode on November 6, 1947. ''Meet the Press'' specializes in interviews with leaders in Washington, D.C., across the country, and around the world on issues of politics, economics,

foreign policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

, and other public affairs, along with panel discussions that provide opinions and analysis. In January 2021, production moved to NBC's bureau on

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

in Washington, D.C. The longevity of ''Meet the Press'' is attributable in part to the fact that the program debuted during what was only the second official "network television season" for American television. It was the first live television network news program on which a sitting president of the United States appeared; this occurred on its broadcast on November 9, 1975, which featured

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

. The program has been hosted by 12 different moderators, beginning with creator

Martha Rountree Martha Jane Rountree (October 23, 1911 – August 23, 1999) was an American pioneering broadcast journalist and entrepreneur. She was the creator and first moderator of a public-affairs program, first on radio as ''The American Mercury'' f ...

. The show's moderator since 2014 is Chuck Todd, who also serves as political director for NBC News. Currently, the hour-long program airs in most markets on Sundays at 9:00 a.m. live in the Eastern Time Zone and on tape delay elsewhere. ''Meet the Press'' is also occasionally pre-empted due to network coverage of sports events held outside the U.S. The program is also rebroadcast on Mondays at 4:00 a.m. Eastern Time on MSNBC, whose audio feed is also simulcast on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio. The program is also syndicated by Westwood One to various radio stations around the United States, as well as on C-SPAN Radio as part of its replays of the Sunday morning talk shows.

Format

The program's format consists of an extended one-on-one interview with the host, and is sometimes followed by a roundtable discussion or one-on-two interview with figures in adversarial positions, either Congressional members from opposite sides of the aisle or political commentators. A half-hour program for the first 45 years of its history, the show was expanded to 60 minutes starting with the broadcast on September 20, 1992. The program also features in-depth examinations of facts behind political and general news stories (particularly as part of a segment called the "Data Download", introduced after Chuck Todd assumed duties as moderator, which is conducted on a touchscreen within the main set).

History

''Meet the Press'' began on radio on the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1945 as ''American Mercury Presents: Meet the Press'', a program to promote '' The American Mercury'', a magazine that

Lawrence Spivak Lawrence Edmund Spivak (June 11, 1900 – March 9, 1994) was an American publisher and journalist who was best known as the co-founder, producer and host of the prestigious public affairs program ''Meet the Press''. He and journalist Martha Rountr ...

purchased in 1935. Before the program aired, Spivak asked journalist

, who had worked in radio and had been employed by Spivak as a roving editor for the magazine, to critique the plans for the new radio show. Based on her advice, Rountree created a new radio program that she called ''The American Mercury'', on October 5, 1945. On November 6, 1947, while still on the Mutual Broadcasting System, the television rights to the program were purchased by General Foods, which began to air the show on the NBC television network with the title shortened to simply ''Meet the Press''; the radio version also adopted the new name. Although some sources credit Spivak with the program's creation, Rountree developed the idea on her own, and Spivak joined as co-producer and business partner in the enterprise after the show had already debuted. ''Meet the Press'' was originally presented as a 30-minute press conference with a single guest and a panel of questioners. Its first guest was James Farley, who served as Postmaster General,

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...

chairman and campaign manager to

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

under the first two terms of the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

Administration. Creator Rountree served as its first host, the program's only female moderator to date. She stepped down on November 1, 1953, and was succeeded by

Ned Brooks Ned Brooks (died April 13, 1969) was an American television and radio journalist who was moderator of NBC's ''Meet the Press'' on television from 1953 until 1965, and earlier on radio. Brooks is the second-longest tenured moderator of the program ...

, who remained as moderator until his retirement on December 26, 1965. Spivak became the moderator on January 1, 1966, moving up from his role as a permanent panelist. He retired on November 9, 1975, on a special one-hour edition that featured a sitting president as guest for the first time, in this case

. The next week, Bill Monroe, previously a weekly panelist like Spivak had been years before, took over as moderator and stayed until June 2, 1984. For the next seven and a half years, the program then went through a series of hosts as it struggled in the ratings against

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's ''

This Week with David Brinkley ''This Week'', originally titled as ''This Week with David Brinkley'' and currently billed as ''This Week with George Stephanopoulos'', is an American Sunday morning political affairs program airing on the ABC television network. It premiered o ...

''. Roger Mudd and

Marvin Kalb Marvin Leonard Kalb (born June 9, 1930) is an American journalist. Kalb was the founding director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy and Edward R. Murrow Professor of Press and Public Policy from 1987 to 1999. The Shor ...

, as co-moderators, followed Monroe for a year, followed by Chris Wallace (who would later go on to a much longer run as host of the rival program '' Fox News Sunday'') from 1987 to 1988.

Garrick Utley Clifton Garrick Utley (November 19, 1939 – February 20, 2014) was an American television journalist. He established his career reporting about the Vietnam War and has the distinction of being the first full-time television correspondent coverin ...

, then hosting '' Weekend Today'', concurrently hosted ''Meet the Press'' from 1989 through December 1, 1991. All this occurred despite the increasing ratings of NBC News' other programs (and those of the network generally) during that period. The program originally aired at noon Eastern Time every Sunday, acting as an awkward lead-in program to the then-half-hour ''

NFL Live ''NFL Live'' (stylized as ''NFL Live presented by Autotrader'' for sponsorship reasons) is an American National Football League (NFL) studio show, currently airing Monday through Friday at 3:00 p.m ET on sports cable channel ESPN. Formerly know ...

'' pre-game show in the fall and early winter, before moving to a 9:00 a.m. slot by the early 1990s when ''Meet the Press'' expanded to an hour.

Under Russert

Network officials, concerned for the show's future, turned to Tim Russert, the network's bureau chief in Washington, D.C. He took over as moderator of ''Meet the Press'' on December 8, 1991, and remained with the program until his death on June 13, 2008, becoming the longest-serving moderator in the program's history. Under Russert, the program was expanded to one hour and became less of a televised press conference, focusing more on Russert's questions and comments; Russert also engaged in longer in-depth interviews and hosted panels of experts to discuss the topics featured in that week's broadcast. Russert signed off each edition by saying, "That's all for today. We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's ''Meet the Press''." During the professional football season, Russert, a native of Buffalo, New York, and an avid fan of the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

, sometimes added, "Go Bills!," and occasionally would ask panelists, "How 'bout those Sabres?" if Buffalo's

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

hockey team was doing well. Spoofs of the show featured in a recurring sketch on '' Saturday Night Live'' often reflected his impromptu additions in support of the two professional sports franchises. By 2006, ''Meet the Press'' was the highest-rated program among the Sunday morning talk shows. On June 13, 2008, Russert died of a sudden coronary thrombosis (caused by a cholesterol plaque rupture). Former '' NBC Nightly News'' anchor Tom Brokaw hosted a special edition of ''Meet the Press'' dedicated to the life of Russert on June 15, 2008, in which Russert's chair was left empty as a tribute.

Guest moderators

* Andrea Mitchell (August 15, 2004)

After Russert

Mark Whitaker was named by NBC News as the division's Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief and was given "executive oversight" of ''Meet the Press''.

Interim Brokaw era

''NBC Nightly News'' anchor

Brian Williams Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is an American retired journalist and television news anchor. He was a reporter for ''NBC Nightly News'' starting in 1993, before his promotion to anchor and managing editor of the broadcast in 2004. ...

acted as moderator of the first show following the tribute to Russert on June 15, 2008, with the same guests and subject matter that Russert was planning for when he died. Following Russert's death, Tom Brokaw was named the interim moderator through the 2008 general elections. Brokaw followed Russert's tradition by signing off with "We'll be back next Sunday because if it's Sunday, it's ''Meet the Press''" (a sign-off that continues to be used by his successors as moderator). In September of that year, the show was presented with limited commercial interruption. On August 10, 2008, David Gregory moderated the panel discussion during the second half-hour of the broadcast, while Brokaw anchored the first half-hour from the site of the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

in Beijing. The following week on August 17, 2008, he moderated the entire broadcast. On December 1, 2008, it was also reported that the December 7 broadcast would be Brokaw's last, with Gregory becoming the new permanent host the following Sunday.

Under Gregory

David Gregory began his tenure as moderator on December 14, 2008. Four days after Gregory's first regular broadcast, on December 18, 2008, NBC News political director Chuck Todd was named contributing editor of ''Meet the Press''. Throughout Gregory's tenure as moderator, ''Meet the Press'' experienced significant ratings declines. In the final three months of 2013, the program placed third among the Sunday morning talk shows in total viewership, behind CBS's '' Face the Nation'' and

's '' This Week'', for the first time since 1992. It also experienced the lowest ratings in the show's entire history among the key 25-to-54 age viewing

demographic Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...

during this period. NBC management became uncertain as to the future direction of the program. A new set was introduced on May 2, 2010, featuring video screens and library-style bookshelves; Gregory would preview the guests to be featured during each week's broadcast using a large video screen. Different, modified intro music was also introduced, with the ''Meet the Press'' theme music in a shorter "modernized

tyle Tyle may refer to: People * Chris Tyle (born 1955), American musician Places * Tyle Mill, England * Tyle or Tylis Other * 21970 Tyle, minor planet See also * Tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from ...

..the beginning repeated with drum beats" (see " High-definition broadcasting" below for additional information).

Under Todd

In response to declining viewership, rumors surfaced in August 2014 that Gregory would be replaced as the program's moderator. NBC News President Deborah Turness apparently had held discussions with

Jon Stewart Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...

(then-host of Comedy Central's

news comedy News satire or news comedy is a type of parody presented in a format typical of mainstream journalism, and called a satire because of its content. News satire has been around almost as long as journalism itself, but it is particularly popular on t ...

program '' The Daily Show'') to replace Gregory, which Stewart later confirmed in a '' Rolling Stone'' interview, saying, "My guess is they were casting as wide and as weird a net as they could. I'm sure part of them was thinking, 'Why don't we just make it a variety show? On August 14, 2014, Turness announced that Chuck Todd, NBC's chief White House correspondent, would take over the role of moderator on September 7, 2014. Because of Todd's Dodger fanhood, a Los Angeles Dodger poster became part of the physical format.

''Meet the Press Now''

On September 28, 2015, MSNBC premiered ''MTP Daily'', a weekday spin-off also hosted by Todd. It formally replaced '' The Ed Show'' as MSNBC's early-evening program after a transitional period following its cancellation. MSNBC explained that the program is meant to "bring the insight and power of ''Meet the Press'' to our air every day of the week". By 2022, the show was airing in the 1 PM Eastern slot, and in May it was announced that the show would be moving from MSNBC to the free streaming platform

NBC News NOW NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

, and rechristened ''Meet the Press Now'', starting June 6. The show also returned to an early evening slot of 4PM Eastern.

Disinformation overtaking media

In a December 2019 interview with '' Rolling Stone'', Todd discussed how disinformation overtook the media during the Trump administration. However, PressThink, a project of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, took Todd to task for failing to address the issue as it unfolded, in a very detailed discussion of Todd's remarks.

High-definition broadcasting

The set utilized from March 17, 1996, to April 25, 2010, had been designed as an experimental set for high-definition broadcasting; several editions of the program (including the first broadcast of a regular series on a major television network in HD) had aired in the format in the 1990s over experimental HD station WHD-TV in Washington, D.C. Despite this, the program continued to be transmitted in NTSC over the NBC network itself. On May 2, 2010, ''Meet the Press'' became the last NBC News program to convert to high definition, and unveiled a new set consisting of large video screens mostly used to display Washington scenery, satellite interview subjects and moderator and subject talking points, along with graphics produced for the format. In January 2021, production of the program moved from WRC-TV facilities in

Tenleytown Tenleytown is a historic neighborhood in Northwest, Washington, D.C. History In 1790, locals began calling the neighborhood "Tennally's Town" after area tavern owner John Tennally. Over time, the spelling has evolved and by the 19th century th ...

to a ground floor studio in NBC's new Washington D.C. bureau on

. The move included a new set.

Moderators

The following is the list of moderators for ''Meet the Press'':

Notable guests and events

* First guest:

James A. Farley James Aloysius Farley (May 30, 1888 – June 9, 1976) was an American politician and Knight of Malta who simultaneously served as chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Postmas ...

, the former Postmaster General of the United States and former Democratic National Committee Chair. * Whittaker Chambers states

Alger Hiss Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was an American government official accused in 1948 of having spied for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Statutes of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjury in con ...

was a communist on the radio broadcast on August 27, 1948, which leads to libel suit from Hiss, the

Pumpkin Papers The Pumpkin Papers are a set of typewritten, handwritten, and microfilmed documents, stolen from the US federal government (thus information leaks) by members of the Ware Group and other Soviet spy networks in Washington, DC, during 1937-1938, wi ...

, and Justice's indictment of Hiss by December 1948. * First female guest:

Elizabeth Bentley Elizabeth Terrill Bentley (January 1, 1908 – December 3, 1963) was an American spy and member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). She served the Soviet Union from 1938 to 1945 until she defected from the Communist Party and Soviet intelligenc ...

, a courier for a Communist spy ring, on September 12, 1948. * An interview with

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

aired April 19, 1959. * An interview with Martin Luther King Jr., about the civil rights movement in the United States. * Every U.S. president since John F. Kennedy has appeared on ''Meet the Press'', although not necessarily during their presidency. Jimmy Carter used his appearance on January 20, 1980, to announce the United States' boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics.

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

appeared seven times before being elected president, but did not appear during his presidency. Bill Clinton was the guest for the 50th anniversary broadcast on November 9, 1997. The interview with

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

was conducted in the

Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval-shaped room ...

at the White House on February 8, 2004. The interview was held with then President-elect Barack Obama on December 7, 2008. Donald Trump has appeared on the program a number of times, most recently in June 2019. * The first live communications satellite television interview occurred on ''Meet the Press'' on September 19, 1965, with the British Prime Minister

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

Distribution

In addition to its broadcasts on NBC, ''Meet the Press'' also airs on various other NBCUniversal-owned channels domestically and internationally, including MSNBC, CNBC in the United States and Canada, CNBC Europe in Europe and

CNBC Asia CNBC Asia is a pay television business channel based in Singapore. A subsidiary of NBCUniversal, it is the Asian service of CNBC (Consumer News and Business Channel). Its programmes originate from Singapore. It was officially opening ceremony at ...

in Asia. It is also broadcast in Australia on the Seven Network and in the Philippines on 9TV. ''Meet the Press'' is also available as an audio or video podcast, and is simulcast on radio stations by Westwood One (which also handles distribution of all other NBC-produced radio programming, including NBC News Radio).

References and footnotes

External links