Meet the Press

Meet the Press
Tim Russert interviews General Peter Pace on Meet the Press in 2006.
Created by	Martha Rountree[1] Lawrence E. Spivak[2]
Directed by	Rob Melick[2]
Presented by	Kristen Welker (2023-present)
Narrated by	Fred Facey (1984–2008) Bert Pence (2008–2015) Dennis Haysbert (2015-present)
Theme music composer	John Williams
Opening theme	"The Pulse of Events"[3] (fourth part of The Mission)
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	66
No. of episodes	5,048 (as of May 19, 2013)
Production
Executive producers	Betsy Fischer Martin (2002–2012)[2] Robert Myers Yarin (2013–2014)[2] John H. Reiss (2014-2022)[2] David P. Gelles (2022-present)[2]
Producers	Adam Verdugo (Senior Producer)[2] Chris Donovan[2]
Production location	Washington, D.C.
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	30 minutes w/commercials (1947–1992); 60 minutes w/commercials (1992–present)
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	November 6, 1947 (1947-11-06) – present

Meet the Press is an American television news/interview show that airs on NBC. It began on November 6, 1947. It is the longest-running television show in American television history.^[2]

The show's format has a long one-on-one interview with a person who works in politics. There may also be a discussion with either members of Congress or political commentators.

Meet the Press began on radio in 1945 as American Mercury Presents: Meet the Press. It was a show that was used to promote The American Mercury, an American magazine that was issued from 1924 to 1981.^[4] The show moved to television with a shorter title of just Meet the Press on November 6, 1947.

Over the years, the show has had twelve hosts called "moderators". The first moderator was Martha Rountree. The current moderator is Kristen Welker, who has hosted the show since 2023. Tim Russert was the show's longest-lasting moderator, who hosted from 1991 until his death on June 13, 2008.

Moderators

This is a list of moderators who have hosted Meet the Press.^[2]

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	2008–2014
Andrea Mitchell	2014
Chuck Todd	2014–2023
Kristen Welker	2023–present

References

1. Martha Rountree: Radio/Television Producer, Writer, Host from shemadeit.org, a Paley Center for Media website
2. About Meet the Press
3. The Sounds of War, an April 2003 article from Slate
4. 60 Years Ago in News History: America Meets the Press Archived 2008-11-17 at the Wayback Machine from the Newseum website

Other websites

• Meet the Press official website
• 60th anniversary background information
• Meet the Press on IMDb
• @MeeTthePress on Twitter
• Meet The Press on Facebook