MEET THE PRESS

'''Meet the Press''' is a weekly American television news show produced by NBC. It started as a radio show in 1945 as '''American Mercury Presents: Meet the Press''', created by Lawrence E. Spivak, who was the host and narrator. The radio series originated from WRC-AM in Washington.
''Meet the Press'' made its television debut on November 6, 1947. It is now the longest-running television show in United States broadcasting history. ''Meet the Press'' is the highest rated Sunday-morning news show on American television.
The show is also repeated Sunday evenings on MSNBC, early Monday morning on NBC as part of the ''NBC All Night'' block and is simulcast on radio stations by Westwood One.^[1] It is also available as an audio or video podcast from iTunes.

Contents

History

Current format with Tim Russert

Ratings

International broadcasts

Overseas versions

Listen to

References

History

'''Meet the Press''' and similar Sunday-morning interview shows specialize in interviewing national leaders on issues of state, economics and foreign policy. These shows help fulfill the obligations of the networks to provide a public service to the community.
The show was originally presented as a 30-minute press conference with a single guest and a panel of questioners. Its first hostess was Martha Rountree, to date the program's only female moderator. The original producer, Lawrence E. Spivak, who published the conservative political and cultural magazine ''The American Mercury'' until 1954, remained on the show as permanent panel member and then as moderator until November 1975.
Other moderators throughout the years have included Ned Brooks, Bill Monroe, Marvin Kalb, Roger Mudd, Chris Wallace and Garrick Utley.

Current format with Tim Russert

Today, the show's format consists of an extended one-on-one interview with the host, followed by a roundtable discussion or one-on-two interview with figures in adversarial positions, either congressmembers from opposite sides of the aisle or political commentators. NBC's Washington bureau chief, Tim Russert, has hosted the show since December 8, 1991, under the full title '''Meet the Press with Tim Russert'''. The show expanded to 60 minutes in 1992. The final segment of the program, "The Meet the Press Minute," (time permitting) is often devoted to a topical clip from the show's extensive archives.
Russert's sign-off is, "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 avid Buffalo Bills fan,^[2][3] sometimes adds, "Go Bills!", and occasionally will ask panelists, "How 'bout those Sabres?" if the Buffalo NHL hockey team is doing well. Spoofs of the show on ''Saturday Night Live'' often reflect this addition.
The show is simulcast on Kansas City Missouri's News/Talk radio station KMBZ.

Ratings

Main articles: Nielsen 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''.^[4]

International broadcasts

In Europe, ''Meet the Press'' is shown every Sunday night on CNBC Europe.
MSNBC and NBC News programming is shown for several hours a day on the 24 hour news network Orbit News in Europe and the Middle East. This includes ''Meet the Press'' and several other shows.
In Australia, NBC ''Meet The Press'' airs at 5:00 AM every Monday morning on the Seven network and affiliates.

Overseas versions

★ ''Meet the Press'', Australian edition, is broadcast at 8:00AM Sunday (AET) from the TEN-10 Sydney studios. It is hosted by Ten News chief political correspondent Paul Bongiorno, and has been broadcast since 1992.

Listen to

★ ''Meet the Press'': Martin Luther King (April 17, 1960)

References

1. http://westwoodone.com/program?action=viewProgram&programID=402
2. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37798-2004May18.html
3. http://publicaffairs.cua.edu/speeches/russert97.htm
4. http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-04-24-russert_x.htm