) 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, a program to promote
The American Mercury, a magazine that
Lawrence Spivak purchased in 1935. 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. On November 6, 1947, while still on the Mutual Broadcasting System, the television rights to the program were purchased by
General Foods. They began to air the show on the
NBC television network with the title shortened to simply
Meet the Press. The radio version then adopted the new name. Although some sources credit Spivak with the program's creation, 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, sometimes added, "Go Bills!", and occasionally would ask panelists, "How 'bout those
Sabres?" if Buffalo's
NHL 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.
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 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 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, 2008 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
ABC'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 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 [style]... the beginning repeated with drum beats" (see "
High-definition broadcasting" below for additional information).
Under Todd on
Meet the Press 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 comedy 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 and Host of MSNBC's
The Daily Rundown, would take over the role of moderator on September 7, 2014. Because of Todd's fanhood, a
Los Angeles Dodgers 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 1:00 p.m. Eastern slot, and in May it was announced that the show would be moving from MSNBC to the free streaming platform
NBC News Now, and rechristened
Meet the Press Now, starting June 6, 2022. The show also returned to an early evening slot of 4:00 p.m. Eastern.
Under Welker On June 4, 2023, Todd announced he would be leaving his role as moderator.
Kristen Welker was named as his replacement for the flagship
Meet the Press beginning in September, while spin off
Meet the Press Now featured rotating guest hosts, with Welker only hosting
Meet the Press Now on Thursdays and Fridays. Welker debuted as moderator on September 17, 2023, featuring an interview with
Donald Trump. In June 2024, Welker took a month leave of absence because she had welcomed her second child via surrogate on May 30,
Peter Alexander filled in for Welker during her absence.
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 to a ground floor studio in NBC's new Washington, D.C. bureau on
Capitol Hill. ==Moderators== The following is the list of moderators for
Meet the Press: ==Notable guests and events==