Meet the Press

Meet the Press
Format	Public affairs, news
Created by	Martha Rountree[1][2] and Lawrence E. Spivak[1]
Presented by	David Gregory (2008–present)
Theme music composer	John Williams
Opening theme	"The Pulse of Events"[3] (fourth part of The Mission)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	4,946 as of March 27, 2011
Production
Executive producer(s)	Betsy Fischer [4]
Producer(s)	Adam Verdugo (Senior Producer)[4] Chris Donovan[4]
Location(s)	Washington, D.C.
Running time	53 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Picture format	SDTV (480i), HDTV (1080i)
Original run	November 6, 1947 – present
External links
Website

United States Sunday morning talk shows
Networks
ABC	This Week with Christiane Amanpour
CBS	Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer
PBS	The McLaughlin Group
Fox	Fox News Sunday w/ Chris Wallace
NBC	Meet the Press with David Gregory
Cable
CNN	State of the Union with Candy Crowley
Spanish networks
Uni	Al Punto
v · d · e

Meet the Press^[5][6] is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947.^[7] It has been hosted by 11 moderators, first by Martha Rountree. The current host is David Gregory, who assumed the role in December 2008. The show got a new set on May 2, 2010, with video screens with a library type setting with book shelves and a different modified intro music with David Gregory previewing the guests using the large video screen and with the Meet the Press theme music in a shorter "modernized music with the beginning repeated with drum beats" (See "High-definition broadcasting" further down this page for additional information). ^[8]

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.^[9]

The program's usual time slot over the NBC network is airing from 9-10 a.m. local time in most markets, though this may vary by markets due to commitments by affiliates to religious, E/I or local public affairs programing, and varies several weeks in the summer due to morning coverage of Grand Slam tennis and golf tournaments by NBC Sports. The program also re-airs on MSNBC Sunday afternoons at 2pm ET and early Monday mornings 4am ET (also over the Sirius/XM Satellite Radio simulcast of MSNBC audio), along with an early Monday morning replay as part of NBC's "All Night" lineup. The program is also distributed to radio stations via syndication by Westwood One, and aired as part of C-SPAN Radio's replay of the Sunday morning talk shows.

Format

The show'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 Congress members from opposite sides of the aisle or political commentators. The show expanded to 60 minutes starting with the September 20, 1992 broadcast.^[10]

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,^[11] and is simulcast on radio stations by Westwood One.^[12]

Moderators

The following is the list of moderators for Meet the Press:^[1]

Martha Rountree	1947 – 1953
Ned Brooks	1953 – 1965
Lawrence E. Spivak	1966 – 1975
Bill Monroe	1975 – 1984
Roger Mudd / Marvin Kalb (co-moderators)	1984 – 1985
Marvin Kalb	1985 – 1987
Chris Wallace	1987 – 1988
Garrick Utley	1989 – 1991
Tim Russert	1991 – 2008
Tom Brokaw	2008
David Gregory	2008 – present

History

Meet the Press began on radio in 1945 as American Mercury Presents: Meet the Press,^[13] a program to promote The American Mercury, a magazine that Lawrence E. Spivak had purchased in 1939. 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.^[2]

On November 6, 1947, while still on the Mutual Broadcasting System, the show was subsequently reincarnated on the NBC Television Network and the title shortened to Meet the Press. The radio version also adopted the new name. Although some sources credit Spivak with the program's creation,^[1][7] 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.^[2]

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 Chairman, and campaign manager to Franklin D. Roosevelt under the first two terms of the New Deal Administration. 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 on December 8, 1991, and remained until his death on June 13, 2008, serving as moderator longer than anyone in the program's history.^[14]

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,^[15][16] 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

• Andrea Mitchell (August 15, 2004)^[17]

After Russert

Mark Whitaker was named the Washington D.C. Bureau Chief and was given "executive oversight" of Meet the Press.

Interim Brokaw era

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.^[18]

Following Russert's death, Tom Brokaw was named the interim moderator through the 2008 general elections.^[19] 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 while Brokaw anchored the first half-hour from the Olympics in Beijing. 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.^[20]

Under Gregory

David Gregory began his tenure as moderator on December 14, 2008. On December 18, 2008, NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd was named Contributing Editor of Meet the Press.

High definition broadcasting

The set utilized from 1997–2010 had been designed as an experimental set for high definition broadcasting and several episodes of the series (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.^[21] However the show remained in 480i standard definition television over the NBC network itself despite this. On May 2, 2010 the show became the last NBC News program to convert to HD, 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 made for the format.^[22]

Locations (outside of DC studios)

• 1988 Republican and Democratic conventions^[23]
• 1989 United States-Soviet Summit on the island of Malta^[23]
• 1989 Economic Summit of Industrialized Nations in Paris^[23]
• 1990 Helsinki Summit^[23]
• 1992 Republican and Democratic conventions^[23]
• 1993 Clinton-Yeltsin Summit in Vancouver^[23]
• January 30, 1994 – Atlanta, Georgia (Super Bowl, Buffalo Bills went for and lost their 4th straight game; Russert publicly prayed on-air with his father)^[24]
• September 16, 2001 – Camp David, Maryland (interview with then-Vice President Dick Cheney in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks)
• January 18, 2004 – Polk County, Iowa (24 hours before the Iowa caucuses)^[25]
• January 25, 2004 – Bedford, New Hampshire (48 hours before the New Hampshire primary)^[26]
• February 1, 2004 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin (interview with Howard Dean)^[27]
• February 8, 2004 – Oval Office (interview with then-President George W. Bush)^[28]
• July 25, 2004 – Boston (2004 DNC, Barack Obama made an appearance on the show as he was going to give the keynote address)^[29]
• August 29, 2004 – New York City (2004 RNC)^[30]
• October 31, 2004 – New York City (2 days before the 2004 Election^[31]
• October 8, 2007 – Des Moines, Iowa (interview with John Edwards^[32]
• November 11, 2007 – Des Moines, Iowa (interview with Barack Obama)^[33]
• December 30, 2007 – Des Moines, Iowa (interview with Mike Huckabee, 2 days before the 2008 Iowa caucuses^[34]
• 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)^[35]
• January 20, 2008 – New York City (roundtable discussion)^[36]
• January 27, 2008 – Tampa, Florida^[37]
• June 29, 2008 – Jackson Hole, Wyoming (Western Governors' Association annual meeting) ^[38] and Simi Valley, California (Reagan Library)^[39]
• July 27, 2008 – London, England (Barack Obama's overseas trip)^[40]
• August 10, 2008 – Beijing, China (Olympics)^[41]
• August 24, 2008 – Denver, Colorado (Democratic National Convention)^[42]
• August 31, 2008 – St. Paul, Minnesota (Republican National Convention)^[43]
• 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)^[44]
• 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.)^[45]
• June 14, 2009 – Wilmington, Delaware (Vice-President Joe Biden's appearance on the show)
• August 29, 2010 – New Orleans (Special broadcast five years after Hurricane Katrina, moderated by Brian Williams)

Notable guests and events

The following is a partial list of notable guests and milestones for the show.^[1]

• 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.
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• 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:^[1]

• Bob Dole/63 appearances
• John McCain/54 appearances
• Joe Biden/44 appearances
• Dick Gephardt/41 appearances
• Richard Lugar/36 appearances
• Newt Gingrich/35 appearances

Most frequent panelist appearances:^[1]

• David Broder of the Washington Post/401 times, his first appearance was in 1963
• Robert Novak of the Chicago Sun Times/248 times

See also

• The Mission (theme music)

References and footnotes

External links

• Meet the Press Official Website
• 60th anniversary background information
• Purchase selected Meet the Press presidential interviews (Films Media Group)
• Meet the Press at the Internet Movie Database
• Meet the Press at TV.com

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