‘What to Do About Chuck Todd’: Meet the Press Host Reportedly Faces Uncertain Future at NBC
NBC News is currently mulling what to do with Meet the Press host Chuck Todd amid struggling ratings, The Daily Beast’s Confider newsletter reported on Monday.
Confider said NBC jettisoned John Reiss – the show’s executive producer for the last eight years – to the NBC News Now streaming platform. The move may foretell a talent shakeup at the network.
Confider reported that “David P. Gelles, a long-time CNN producer who helped develop the now-defunct CNN+ streamer, was parachuted in to help fix the sinking show which is down 21 percent in total viewership and 24 percent in the key advertising demographic compared to last year—more than any of the other Sunday politics shows.”
Sources told the newsletter Gelles’ first task “is deciding what to do about Chuck Todd, who despite recently signing a two-year extension, as Confider has learned, has baffled many at NBC with how long he’s remained atop the struggling show.”
NBC News White House Correspondent Kristen Welker is rumored to be a possible replacement on Meet the Press, which is the longest-running television show, having debuted in 1947.
“Kristen Welker is the co-host of Meet the Press NOW on NBC News NOW and has been since the show launched,” NBC said. “She and Chuck have been leading NBC News NOW’s election specials all year long.”
“Todd was already demoted once this year when his Meet the Press Daily broadcast on MSNBC was relegated to NBC’s streaming service,” Confider noted. “And earlier this year, with NBC Universal CEO Jeff Shell in attendance, Todd was brutally roasted by Trevor Noah at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. ‘How are you doing?’ the Daily Show host asked Todd. ‘I’d ask a follow-up, but I know you don’t know what those are.'”
One source was especially blunt in their assessment.
“At what point does anyone have the balls to say ‘Maybe the problem is the face of it’?” the person said.
An NBC spokesperson told Confider that Reiss, the former executive producer, was at the end of his contract and looking for a different role.
“After being the EP of the Sunday broadcast for eight years, at the end of his contract, John Reiss was looking for a different opportunity within the MTP franchise,” the person said.
