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Meet the Press
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Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television show in worldwide broadcasting history, having made its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been hosted by eleven moderators, the most recent being David Gregory, who assumed the role in December 2008.
Meet the Press and similar shows specialize in interviewing national leaders on issues of politics, economics, foreign policy and other public affairs.
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Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television show in worldwide broadcasting history, having made its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been hosted by eleven moderators, the most recent being David Gregory, who assumed the role in December 2008.
Meet the Press and similar shows specialize in interviewing national leaders on issues of politics, economics, foreign policy and other public affairs. These shows help fulfill the obligations of the networks to provide a public service to the community.
Meet the Press is the highest-rated of the American television Sunday morning talk shows.
Format
The show's format consists of an extended one-on-one interview with the host and was sometimes followed by a roundtable discussion or one-on-two interview with figures in adversarial positions, either Congress members from opposite sides of the aisle or political commentators. The show expanded to 60 minutes starting with the September 20 1992 broadcast.
Occasionally, a final segment called "The Meet the Press Minute" was added. It was devoted to topical clips from the show's extensive archives.
Distribution
Meet the Press originates on NBC in the United States, with additional telecasts on various other NBC Universal channels, including MSNBC in the U.S. and Canada, CNBC Europe in Europe, and CNBC Asia in Asia. It is also broadcast in Australia on the Seven Network.
Meet the Press is also available as an audio or video podcast, and is simulcast on radio stations by Westwood One.
Moderators
The following is the list of moderators for Meet the Press:
History
Meet the Press began on radio in 1945 as American Mercury Presents: Meet the Press, a program to promote The American Mercury, a magazine that Lawrence E. Spivak had bought in 1944. Before the program aired, Spivak asked the journalist Martha Rountree, who had worked in radio and had worked for 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, it was subsequently reincarnated on the NBC television network and renamed Meet the Press. The radio version also adopted the new name. Although some sources credit Mr. Spivak with the program's creation, Ms. 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 hostess was its creator Martha Rountree, to date the program's only female moderator. She stepped down November 1 1953, and was replaced by Ned Brooks, who remained as moderator until December 26 1965. Spivak became the moderator on January 1 1966, moving from his role as a permanent panelist. Mr. Spivak retired on November 9 1975, and he was replaced by Bill Monroe, who stepped down on June 2 1984.
The program then went through a series of hosts as it struggled in the ratings against ABC's This Week with David Brinkley. Roger Mudd and Marvin Kalb (as co-moderators) followed Monroe for a year, followed by Chris Wallace in 1987 and 1988, and Garrick Utley from 1989 through December 1 1991.
Under Russert
Network officials, concerned for the show's future, turned to Tim Russert, the network's Washington bureau chief. He took over December 8 1991, and remained until his death on June 13 2008, serving as moderator longer than anyone in the program's history.
Under Russert, the show was expanded to one hour and became less of a televised press conference and more focused on Russert's questions and comments, with longer interviews and with Russert hosting panels of experts.
Russert signed off by saying, "That's all for today. We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press."
During the football season, Russert, a native of Buffalo, New York and an avid Buffalo Bills fan, sometimes added, "Go Bills!", and occasionally would ask panelists, "How 'bout those Sabres?" if the Buffalo NHL hockey team was doing well. Spoofs of the show on Saturday Night Live often reflect this addition.
Russert died on June 13, 2008 of a sudden coronary thrombosis (caused by a cholesterol plaque rupture). The former NBC Nightly News anchor and current special correspondent Tom Brokaw hosted a special edition of Meet the Press dedicated to the life of Russert on June 15, 2008, in which Tim Russert's chair was left empty, as a tribute.
Guest moderators
After Russert
Mark Whitaker was named the Washington D.C. Bureau Chief and was given "executive oversight" of Meet the Press.
Interim Moderators
Brian Williams, the NBC Nightly News anchor, acted as moderator of the first show back after the June 15 memorial broadcast, 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." In September the show was presented with limited commercials.
On August 10, David Gregory moderated the panel discussion during the second half-hour of the broadcast. The following week on August 17, he moderated the entire show. It was also reported on December 1, 2008 that the December 7 broadcast would be Brokaw's last, with David Gregory taking over full time the following Sunday.
Under Gregory
- David Gregory began his tenure as moderator on December 14, 2008.
- On December 18th, 2008 NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd was named Contributing Editor of Meet the Press.
Locations (outside of DC studios)
- 1988 Republican and Democratic conventions
- 1989 United States-Soviet Summit on the island of Malta
- 1989 Economic Summit of Industrialized Nations in Paris.
- 1990 Helsinki Summit
- 1992 Republican and Democratic conventions
- 1993 Clinton-Yeltsin Summit in Vancouver
- January 30, 1994– Atlanta, Georgia (Super Bowl, Buffalo Bills went for and lost their 4th straight game; Russert publically prayed on-air with his father)
- September 16, 2001– Camp David, Maryland (interview with then-Vice President Dick Cheney in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks)
- January 18, 2004– Polk County, Iowa (24 hours before the Iowa caucuses)
- January 25, 2004– Bedford, New Hampshire (48 hours before the New Hampshire primary)
- February 1, 2004– Milwaukee, Wisconsin (interview with Howard Dean)
- February 8, 2004– Oval Office (interview with then-President George W. Bush
- July 25, 2004– Boston (2004 DNC, Barack Obama made an appearance on the show as he was going to give the keynote address)
- August 29, 2004– New York city (2004 RNC)
- October 31, 2004– New York city (2 days befeore the 2004 Election
- October 8, 2007– Des Moines, Iowa (interview with John Edwards
- November 11, 2007– Des Moines, Iowa (interview with Barack Obama)
- December 30, 2007– Des Moines, Iowa (interview with Mike Huckabee, 2 days before the 2008 Iowa caucuses
- January 6, 2008– New Hampshire (2 days before the New Hampshire primaries)
- January 13, 2008– South Carolina (interview with Hillary Clinton during her presidential campaign)
- January 20, 2008– New York city (roundtable discussion)
- January 27, 2008– Tampa, Florida
- June 29, 2008– Jackson Hole, Wyoming (Western Governors' Association annual meeting) and Simi Valley, California (Reagan Library)
- July 27, 2008– London, England (Barack Obama's overseas trip)
- August 10, 2008– Beijing, China (Olympics)
- August 24, 2008– Denver, Colorado (Democratic National Convention)
- August 31, 2008– St. Paul, Minnesota (Republican National Convention)
- September 7, 2008– Wilmington, Delaware (Senator Joe Biden's appearance on the show)
- October 26, 2008– KWWL Studios Waterloo, Iowa (John McCain's campaign stop)
- December 7, 2008– Chicago, Illinois (Barack Obama's appearance on the show. While the show was taped in Chicago, Brokaw introduced and ended the show in D.C.)
Notable guests and events
The following is a partial list of notable guests and milestones for the show.
- First guest: James A. Farley, the former Postmaster General of the United States and former Democratic National Committee Chair.
- First female guest: Elizabeth Bentley, a courier for a Communist spy ring, on September 12, 1948.
- First U.S. Senator to appear: Sen. Claude Pepper (D-Fla.) on November 24, 1947.
- First athlete to appear: Jackie Robinson on April 14, 1967.
- Every U.S. President since John F. Kennedy has appeared on "Meet the Press," although not necessarily during his presidency. Gerald Ford appeared on November 9, 1975 on Lawrence Spivak's final show as moderator. Jimmy Carter used his appearance on January 20, 1980 to announce the United States' boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics. Ronald Reagan appeared seven times prior to being elected the President, but did not appear during his presidency. Bill Clinton was the guest for the 50th anniversary broadcast on November 9, 1997. The February 8, 2004 interview with George W. Bush was conducted in the Oval Office at the White House. President Barack Obama has appeared multiple times on "Meet The Press" as well.
- The first live communications satellite TV interview occurred on "Meet the Press" on September 19, 1965, with the British Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
Frequent guests and panelists
Most frequent guests:
- Bob Dole/63 appearances
- John McCain/68 appearances
- Joe Biden/43 appearances
- Dick Gephardt/41 appearances
- Richard Lugar/36 appearances
Most frequent panelist appearances:
- David Broder of the Washington Post/401 times, his first appearance was in 1963
- Robert Novak of the Chicago Sun Times/248 times
Ratings
As of April 2006, Meet the Press has been the number-one Sunday-morning interview show for five years straight, beating CBS's Face the Nation, ABC's This Week, Fox News Sunday, and CNN's Late Edition. It has the second-highest rating on Sunday morning, behind CBS News Sunday Morning, which airs in the same time slot in most markets.
Fourth Quarter 2008 (Source: NTI) TOTAL VIEWERS
- ABC “THIS WEEK” 3,350,000
- CBS “FACE THE NATION” 3,150,000
- NBC “MEET THE PRESS” 4,630,000
- FOX “FOX NEWS SUNDAY” 1,500,000
External links
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