WhatFinger


Comfortably in last place.

NBC wanted a comedian to host Meet The Press. Settled for Chuck Todd.



There was a time, long, long, ago, when Meet the Press was the gold standard for Sunday morning news shows. Tim Russert was viewed as a tough, take-no-prisoners interviewer and he delivered weekly grillings that made every politician - regardless of party - squirm. Unfortunately, after Russert passed away, the show never managed to regain its reputation.
David Gregory was basically a Democrat mouthpiece who would cozy up and lob softballs to whatever left-wing politician happened to wander in off the street. Ratings plummeted, and Meet the Press has languished at the bottom of the news show barrel for years. So, when NBC jettisoned Gregory, they decided to replace him with someone they knew would put eyes in front of screens. That person was not eventual host Chuck Todd. It was comedian Jon Stewart who, as he puts it, hosts "the fake news" for Comedy Central. From New York magazine:

Support Canada Free Press


This Sunday marks Chuck Todd’s one-month anniversary in the anchor chair at Meet the Press. Despite an opening-week ratings spike from his exclusive sit-down interview with President Obama, the Todd-helmed show has settled back into third place behind ABC's This Week and CBS's Face the Nation. This has been frustrating to NBC News executives, who at one point had considered going in a radically different direction with the show. Before choosing Todd, NBC News president Deborah Turness held negotiations with Jon Stewart about hosting Meet the Press, according to three senior television sources with knowledge of the talks. One source explained that NBC was prepared to offer Stewart virtually “anything" to bring him over. "They were ready to back the Brink's truck up," the source said. A spokesperson for NBC declined to comment. James Dixon, Stewart's agent, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Two things here: First, somewhere Tim Russert is spinning in his grave. It's just plain sad that what was once the most respected hard-hitting news show in the world was almost turned over to a comedian - a guy who regularly, and forcefully, points out that he's not a real news man. It shows you not only how far Meet the Press has fallen but how far mainstream journalism has fallen as well. Think they're interested in the truth? Wrong. They're interested in advertising dollars. Nothing more. Second, imagine being poor old Chuck Todd. Here you are, slaving away as a White House correspondent and a host/panelist at MSNBC - which no one watches - when you get a dream job. You're taking over the hallowed halls of Meet the Press. Then, you find out that not only were you the second choice, but the first choice was a comedian who was undoubtedly offered way, way, more money that you're getting. The "prize" got away, so you'll do. To top it all off, after enjoying a brief viewership bump, Todd's version of Meet the Press has now returned to its usual spot in a last place ratings wasteland. So, congratulations NBC. Not only is your new Meet the Press host a consolation prize, he's not doing anything to turn around your dismal ratings situation. Here's a novel idea: since two networks regurgitating Obama talking points hasn't worked, why not try doing some actual news?


View Comments

Robert Laurie -- Bio and Archives

Robert Laurie’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain.com

Be sure to “like” Robert Laurie over on Facebook and follow him on Twitter. You’ll be glad you did.


Sponsored