{"id":5797,"date":"2026-08-12T18:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T18:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5797"},"modified":"2026-08-12T18:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T18:08:11","slug":"how-meet-the-press-tvs-longest-running-program-continues-to-take-the-nations-political-pulse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5797","title":{"rendered":"How \u2018Meet the Press,\u2019 TV\u2019s Longest-Running Program, Continues to Take the Nation\u2019s Political Pulse"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n\tWhen Kristen Welker was named host of NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press\u201d in 2023, she went back and re-watched pivotal episodes and interviews conducted by the show\u2019s legendary moderator Tim Russert.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5795\">Riz Ahmed on Why \u2018Bait\u2019 Is His Most Vulnerable and Personal Piece of Work to Date<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tRussert, who died in 2008, reinvented \u201cMeet the Press\u201d in 1991 when he moved away from the show\u2019s original press conference format and turned it into a show known for its one-on-one conversations with politicians and newsmakers.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cI wanted to revisit so many of those moments,\u201d Welker says. \u201cAnd what struck me was the interviews that he did that were for the history books, like interviewing former vice president Dick Cheney at Camp David after the U.S. had gone to war, and also some of the lighter moments on the show \u2014 like when he interviewed Yogi Berra, they talked about some of his famous sayings and their shared love of baseball and sports, and how that was so much a part of the American experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cMeet the Press\u201d is the longest-running program in television history. It launched as a radio show in 1945 before moving to the fledgling NBC television network in 1947. That means the show will hit its 80-year milestone next year, just a year after NBC marks its 100th. \u201cWe like to go big here at NBC, so we\u2019re already talking about it,\u201d Welker says of the anniversary.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThere will be plenty of material to cite in that celebration. Besides being TV\u2019s longest-running program, \u201cMeet the Press\u201d has made history several times over the years. That includes the moment in 1975 when Gerald Ford became the first time a sitting U.S. president to appear on a live network news program.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tWelker likes to point out another historic fact about \u201cMeet the Press\u201d: The series was created by a woman, pioneering journalist Martha Rountree, who served as the show\u2019s first moderator from 1947 to 1953.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s important to point out, I\u2019m the second woman to moderate \u2018Meet the Press,\u2019 and I always keep her in mind,\u201d says Welker, who also made history as the first Black journalist and woman of color to host the show. \u201cI think about her strength and her courage, and what she must have faced when she first came up with this idea.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5793\">Top 61 Showrunners of the 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tThere\u2019s quite a bit of NBC News DNA in both Welker and \u201cMeet the Press\u201d executive producer David Gelles. She first joined NBC as an intern with the \u201cToday\u201d show while still in college, while Gelles started as a page at the network. He later worked with Russert as a producer in the NBC News Washington bureau, and also collaborated with several other \u201cMeet the Press\u201d hosts including Tom Brokaw, David Gregory and Welker\u2019s predecessor, Chuck Todd.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cWhen Kristen and I got together, we discussed about how important it was to honor the traditions of the show,\u201d Gelles says. \u201cAt the same time, I think we obviously recognize that the audience is changing, and we\u2019ve had to make the show relevant for the audiences of today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThat includes the daily edition, \u201cMeet the Press Now,\u201d which airs on NBC News\u2019 streaming platform, as well as social media extensions. \u201cWe have a linear television show, but we have a lot of platforms at NBC News to reach people,\u201d Gelles says. \u201cWe\u2019ve on mobile, on streaming, and even on YouTube with Steve Kornacki. I really think that we\u2019re reaching people where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tWelker and Gelles have also expanded \u201cMeet the Press\u201d with segments like \u201cMeet the Moment,\u201d where they\u2019ve interviewed figures like documentarian Ken Burns about American history, actress Olivia Munn about her battle with breast cancer, poet Amanda Gorman about the power of poetry and more. And in a nod to this polarized era, the program developed the \u201cCommon Ground\u201d series, featuring joint conversations with figures from opposite ends of the political spectrum.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tWith the midterm elections coming up, Welker and Gelles say they they\u2019re prepped for what will be a busy fall \u2014 and continue to focus on their mission to \u201cdo something for the history books.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tSays Gelles: \u201cWe really hope that historians will study what we\u2019ve done on each week\u2019s show and that it\u2019ll be part of way people understand where our politics were.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5791\">\u2018Boys for Life\u2019 Cast: Alex Wolff, Will Angus and More Almost Friday Stars to Lead Paramount Primal Comedy (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As NBC hits 100, &#8220;Meet the Press,&#8221; TV&#8217;s longest-running program, marks its 80th anniversary next year. How it continues to take the nation&#8217;s pulse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[1071,1072,4519],"class_list":["post-5797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tv","tag-kristen-welker","tag-meet-the-press","tag-nbc-100"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How \u2018Meet the Press,\u2019 TV\u2019s Longest-Running Program, Continues to Take the Nation\u2019s Political Pulse - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5797\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How \u2018Meet the Press,\u2019 TV\u2019s Longest-Running Program, Continues to Take the Nation\u2019s Political Pulse - Relocation Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As NBC hits 100, &quot;Meet the Press,&quot; TV&#039;s longest-running program, marks its 80th anniversary next year. 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