Meet the Press

This article is about the American public affairs program. For the Australian program, see Meet the Press (Australian TV program).

Meet the Press
Meet the Press logo.
Created by	Martha Rountree and Lawrence E. Spivak
Presented by	Tom Brokaw (interim); see list of moderators
Opening theme	"The Pulse of Events" by John Williams (third part of The Mission)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	4,811 as of September 3, 2008
Production
Running time	30 minutes w/commercials (1947–1992); 60 minutes w/commercials (1992–present)
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	November 6, 1947 – Present

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.

Meet the Press and similar Sunday-morning interview 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:

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 – present

History

Meet the Press set, November 1975.

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

The logo under Russert's anchoring.

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.

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. Following Russert's death, Tom Brokaw was named the interim moderator through the 2008 general elections.

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.

Locations (outside of Washington)

• June 29, 2008– Jackson Hole, Wisconsin (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 (Joe Biden's Appearance on the show)

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” during the show , though 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.
• 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/52 appearances
• Joe Biden/42 appearances
• Dick Gephardt/41 appearances
• Richard Lugar/36 appearances

Most frequent panelist appearances:

• David Broder of the Washington Post/400 times, his first appearance was in 1963
• Robert Novak of the Chicago Sun Times/247 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.

External links

• MSNBC Official Website
• 60th anniversary background information
• Meet the Press: Martin Luther King (April 17, 1960) from vintageradioplace.com
• Purchase selected Meet the Press presidential interviews (Films Media Group)