IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

About 'Meet the Press'

Click here to find out more about Meet the Press.
/ Source: NBC News

For 65 years, "Meet the Press” has featured headline-making interviews with world-leaders and U.S. newsmakers every Sunday morning on NBC. On December 7, 2008, David Gregory, former NBC News Chief White House Correspondent, was named moderator of the venerable television institution. If you have any questions or comments, you can e-mail the show.

ABOUT “MEET THE PRESS”:

For almost as long as there has been television, there has been "Meet the Press." The program, the longest-running show on network TV, premiered on NBC-TV on November 6, 1947. “Meet the Press” made its initial debut two years earlier – as a radio program with Martha Rountree and Lawrence Spivak as producers.

David Gregory became moderator of “Meet the Press” on December 7, 2008. He joined NBC News in 1995, and served as the network’s Chief White House Correspondent during the entire span of George W. Bush's presidency. Gregory is only the tenth person ever to be named a permanent host of the program. He assumed the role from veteran NBC newsman Tom Brokaw, who had served as interim moderator after the untimely death of Tim Russert on June 13, 2008.

President John F. Kennedy once called “Meet the Press” the “fifty-first state.” Since then, every man who has occupied the Oval Office has appeared on the program during his career, as has every vice president since Alben Barkley in 1952.

In addition to Presidents and Vice Presidents, “Meet the Press” has featured interviews with all the key players in each administration. Every Secretary of State from John Foster Dulles to Hillary Clinton and every Secretary of Defense from Robert McNamara to Robert Gates has appeared on the program.

Foreign policy has always been a staple of “Meet the Press” as well. Some world leaders interviewed on the program include Fidel Castro, Francois Mitterrand, Indira Gandhi, David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Ferdinand Marcos, Jean Monnet, Mikhail Gorbachev, Anwar el-Sadat, Yitzhak Rabin, King Hussein of Jordan, Hamid Karzai, Pervez Musharraf, King Abdullah of Jordan, Tony Blair and Ghazi al-Yawar.

“Meet the Press” is also proud of its history featuring women journalists and newsmakers. From the start, women played a significant role in the program. The co-creator of “Meet the Press” and the show’s first moderator was noted journalist Martha Rountree. The first female guest was Elizabeth Bentley, a former Soviet spy, who was interviewed on September 12, 1948.

“Meet the Press” has since interviewed First Ladies Eleanor Roosevelt, Nancy Reagan, Rosalynn Carter, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Laura Bush. Other notable women appearing as guests over the years include Madeleine Albright, Shirley Temple Black, Shuttle Commander Eileen Collins, Shirley Chisholm, Elizabeth Dole, Marian Wright Edelman, Geraldine Ferraro, Jane Fonda, Indira Gandhi, Tipper Gore, Anita Hill, Barbara Jordan, Caroline Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, Janet Reno, Condoleezza Rice, Phyllis Schlafly, Gloria Steinem, and Maria Shriver.

Nearly every important newsmaker in the U.S. – from politicians, military and religious leaders & astronauts to sports stars, authors & comedians – has appeared on “Meet the Press”. Some of those prominent figures include Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, Joseph McCarthy, Billy Graham, Robert Frost, Jackie Robinson, Jimmy Hoffa, John Glenn, George Wallace, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, Michael Jordan, Jay Leno, Gen. Tommy Franks, Rick Warren, Bill Cosby, Lance Armstrong, Stephen Colbert, Gen. Colin Powell, Bill Gates and Gen. David Petraeus.

Every Sunday morning for 65 years, millions of Americans tune in to get answers from U.S. and world leaders, and hear analysis, discussion and review of the week’s political events from noted journalists and experts. We are proud to be the highest rated, most watched and most quoted Sunday morning public affairs program. An average of 4 million viewers join us each week to share in a national dialogue about the important issues of our time.

If it’s Sunday, it’s “Meet the Press.”

CREDITS FOR "MEET THE PRESS":

Rob Yarin is the Executive Producer.

Chris Donovan is the Producer.

Ilana Marcus Drimmer is the Contributing Producer, Abigail Williams is the Associate Producer, Shelby Poduch is the Assistant Producer, Joe Toohey is the researcher, Jordan Frasier is the Production Assistant and Grace Lamb-Atkinson is the Research Assistant. Rob Melick is the Director.

BROADCAST SCHEDULE:

“Meet the Press” airs Sundays from 9-10 a.m. ET on the NBC-TV network; 10:30-11:30 a.m. ET in New York and Washington. (Please check local station listings for airtimes in your area.) The program also re-airs at 2 p.m. ET Sundays on MSNBC on cable. The entire program is available as a webcast and video podcast at 1 p.m. ET Sundays on our website, MeetThePressNBC.com.


POLITICAL DEBATES ON "MEET THE PRESS":

"Meet the Press" has a proud history of presenting its viewers with the very best in political debate, especially during the election season. During the last three election cycles, “Meet the Press” has featured our award-winning “Senate Debate Series”. The series was created in 2002 and has featured debates between candidates in some of the most competitive and interesting races in the country. All of the debates have originated from our Washington, D.C. studio. We were awarded the prestigious Walter Cronkite-U.S.C. Annenberg School Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism for the 2002 “Senate Debate Series”.

“Meet the Press Senate Debate Series – 2010”
Our debate series returned for a 5th political season, again featuring some of the hottest races in an election that saw a tight battle for control of Congress.

Illinois: State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D) vs. Rep. Mark Kirk (R)
Colorado: Senator Michael Bennet (D) vs. Ken Buck (R)

“Meet the Press Senate Debate Series – 2008”
Due to a busy presidential election season, the fourth installment of our series featured only one Senate debate, the key swing state of Colorado where Rep. Mark Udall (D) faced Fmr. Rep. Bob Schaffer (R).

“Meet the Press Senate Debate Series – 2006”
A combined 22.4 million viewers tuned in for the third installment of our award-winning series. This time, the debates featured:

Pennsylvania: Sen. Rick Santorum (R) vs. State Treasurer Bob Casey (D)
Virginia: Sen. George Allen (R) vs. former Secretary of the Navy Jim Webb (D)
Ohio: Sen. Mike DeWine (R) vs. Rep. Sherrod Brown (D)
Missouri: Sen. Jim Talent (R) vs. State Auditor Claire McCaskill (D)
Minnesota: Hennepin Co. Attorney Amy Klobuchar (D) vs. Rep. Mark Kennedy (R)
Maryland: Rep. Ben Cardin (D) vs. Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R)

"Meet the Press Senate Debate Series – 2004"
The “Senate Debate Series” returned to “Meet the Press” for the 2004 Election with the following debates:

South Dakota: Sen. Tom Daschle (D) vs. Fmr. Rep. John Thune (R)
Oklahoma: Rep. Brad Carson (D) vs. Fmr. Rep. Tom Coburn (R)
Colorado: State Attorney General Ken Salazar (D) vs. Pete Coors (R)
South Carolina: Inez Tenenbaum (D) vs. Rep. Jim DeMint (R)

"Meet the Press Senate Debate Series – 2002"
The first "Senate Debate Series" included:

Colorado: Sen. Wayne Allard (R) vs. Tom Strickland (D)
South Carolina: Rep. Lindsey Graham (R) vs. Alex Sanders (D)
Louisiana: Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) vs. Suzanne Terrell (R)

Gore vs. Bradley
Tim Russert moderated the first debate between Vice President Al Gore and his Democratic rival, former Senator Bill Bradley, on the set of "Meet the Press" on December 19, 1999.

INSIGHTS AND ANALYSIS:

When the news and issues of the week are in need of “Insights and Analysis,” “Meet the Press” calls on the very best political minds in the nation. Some of our most frequent Roundtable guests include:

Dan Balz, The Washington Post
Tom Brokaw, NBC News
David Brooks, The New York Times
Ron Brownstein, National Journal
Alex Castellanos, GOP Strategist
Charlie Cook, National Journal
E.J. Dionne, The Washington Post
Maureen Dowd, The New York Times
Former Rep. Harold Ford Jr.
Thomas Friedman, The New York Times
Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-MI)
Paul Gigot, The Wall Street Journal
Mark Halperin, Time
Doris Kearns Goodwin, Presidential Historian
John Harwood, The New York Times and CNBC
Katty Kay, BBC World News America
Rich Lowry, National Review
Rachel Maddow, MSNBC
Jon Meacham, Author
Wes Moore, Author
Marc Morial, National Urban League
Mike Murphy, Republican Strategist
Dee Dee Myers, Vanity Fair
Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal
Michele Norris, NPR
Todd Purdum, Vanity Fair
Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post
Joe Scarborough, MSNBC
Roger Simon, Politico
Tavis Smiley, PBS
Judy Woodruff, PBS