Meet the Press: Difference between revisions

| country = United States

| language = English

| num_episodes = 3,600+

| list_episodes =

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]] [[News broadcasting|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]]. The program has been hosted by 12 [[Discussion moderator|moderators]], beginning with creator [[Martha Rountree]]. The show's current moderator is [[Kristen Welker]], who became moderator in September 2023 following longtime moderator [[Chuck Todd]]’s departure.

 

 

==Format==

 

==History==

[[File:meetthepress110975.jpg|right|thumb|''Meet the Press'' set, November 1975. On this broadcast, a sitting American president ([[Gerald Ford]]) was, for the first time, a guest on a live television network news program.]]

''Meet the Press'' began on [[radio]] on the [[Mutual Broadcasting System]] in 1945 as ''American Mercury Presents: Meet the Press'',<ref>{{cite web|title=60 Years Ago in News History: America Meets the Press|url=http://www.newseum.org/news/news.aspx?item=jn_MTP071114&style=f|publisher=[[Newseum]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081117170923/http://www.newseum.org/news/news.aspx?item=jn_MTP071114&style=f |archive-date=November 17, 2008 }}</ref> a program to promote ''[[The American Mercury]]'', a magazine that [[Lawrence Spivak]] purchased in 1935.<ref name="NYT Sale 1935">{{cite news |date=January 23, 1935 |title=American Mercury Sold to L. E. Spivak |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C00E4D8103FE53ABC4B51DFB766838E629EDE&legacy=true |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2017-08-02 }}</ref> Before the program aired, Spivak had asked journalist [[Martha Rountree]], who had worked in radio and had been employed by Spivak as a roving editor for the magazine, to critique plans for a new radio show. As a result, Rountree created a new radio program that she called ''The American Mercury'', on October 5, 1945.<ref name="shemadeit">{{cite web|title=Martha Rountree: Radio/Television Producer, Writer, Host |url=http://www.shemadeit.org/meet/biography.aspx?m=150 |work=shemadeit.org |publisher=[[The Paley Center for Media|Paley Center for Media]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032421/http://www.shemadeit.org/meet/biography.aspx?m=150 |archive-date=2016-03-04 }}</ref>

 

 

===Under Russert===

[[File:US Navy 060305-F-0193C-009 Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Marine Corps, Gen. Peter Pace, responds to a question asked by host Tim Russert during an interview on NBC's Meet the Press.jpg|thumb|Russert interviews [[General (United States)|General]] [[Peter Pace]] in 2006.]]

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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fast facts about the longest-running program in TV history |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna21872087|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071121225114/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21872087/|url-status=live|archive-date=2007-11-21|work=MSNBC.com}}</ref>

 

===Under Todd===

[[File:Chris Murphy on Meet the Press.jpg|thumb|Senator [[Chris Murphy]] on ''Meet the Press'']]

[[File:President Barack Obama participates in an interview with Chuck Todd, new host of NBC's "Meet The Press" in the Cabinet Room of the White House.jpg|thumb|U.S. President [[Barack Obama]] participates in an interview with Todd in the Cabinet Room of the White House, September 6, 2014.]]

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]] (then-host of [[Comedy Central]]'s [[News satire|news comedy]] program ''[[The Daily Show]]'') to replace Gregory,<ref>{{cite web|title=NBC Wanted to Hire Jon Stewart to Host ''Meet the Press''|url=https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/10/jon-stewart-might-have-been-meet-the-press-host.html|author=Gabriel Sherman|website=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] Daily Intelligencer |date=October 8, 2014|access-date=December 14, 2014}}</ref> 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]]?{{'"}}<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Jon Stewart on 'Meet The Press' Offer: 'They Were Casting a Wide and Weird Net'|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/jon-stewart-on-meet-the-press-offer-they-were-casting-a-wide-and-weird-net-20141030|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|author=Andy Greene |date=October 30, 2014|access-date=December 14, 2014}}</ref>

 

 

====''Meet the Press Now''====

In addition to its broadcasts on NBC, ''Meet the Press'' also airs on various other [[NBCUniversal]]-owned channels domestically and internationally, including MSNBC, NBC News Now, [[CNBC Europe]] in [[Europe]] and [[CNBC Asia]] in [[Asia]]. It is also broadcast in Australia on the [[Seven Network]].

 

 

==See also==