OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
It appears as though Chuck Todd may have suffered the same fate as the hosts of the now-defunct CNN+ streaming service, only in reverse.
According to reports, NBC and MSNBC are moving his “Meet the Press Daily” program from network to a streaming-only viewer option and are changing the show’s name to “Meet the Press Now.” Both shows play off NBC’s long-running Sunday newsmagazine program “Meet the Press.”
In Todd’s place, the 1-hour MSNBC slot will now be called “MSNBC Reports” and hosted by veteran anchor Chris Jansing.
JUST ANNOUNCED: Veteran award-winning journalist @ChrisJansing to anchor @MSNBC Reports at 1 p.m. ET beginning on May 26
More: https://t.co/mYjpTJM97I pic.twitter.com/6WJwf5aZ5L
— MSNBC Public Relations (@MSNBCPR) May 6, 2022
NBC News president Noah Oppenheim noted in a statement: “NBC News is the leader in streaming news. Since our launch, we’ve been committed to delivering the best of NBC News’ journalism, free, to streaming audiences everywhere.”
Just in: NBC is moving Chuck Todd's daily MSNBC program to NBC News Now, with veteran Chris Jansing taking over his 1 pm hour on the cable network
— Brian Steinberg (@bristei) May 6, 2022
“Chuck was one of the first broadcast anchors to see the massive potential of streaming and bringing Meet the Press’s daily franchise to NBC News NOW reinforces the platform’s status as the destination for news on streaming,” Oppenheim added.
“His enthusiasm about growing ‘Meet the Press’ beyond the Sunday show and evolving the legacy program for the streaming audience is a prime example of our mission at News NOW: to bring viewers the best of what NBC News has to offer,” Janelle Rodriguez, senior vice president of editorial for NBC News, said in a memo to staff.
NBC released a statement that added:
As the #1 ranked Sunday public affairs show, Meet the Press remains the gold standard in political journalism. Todd, who serves as NBC News’ political director in addition to moderating the Sunday program, has led a rapid expansion of the Meet the Press brand across broadcast, audio, newsletters, and streaming, and Meet the Press NOW advances the team’s early commitment to News NOW, where Todd has anchored Meet the Press Reports — which takes an in-depth look at one hot-button issue each week — for four seasons.
Carrie Budoff Brown is senior vice president of Meet the Press, John Reiss is executive producer, and MTP Daily executive producer Melissa Frankel will continue as EP of Meet the Press NOW.
Meet the Press NOW will also launch with a new audio show cast, adding to NBC News’ leading podcast lineup and allowing consumers to access NBC News’ unparalleled political reporting and analysis on their preferred platform.
In recent months, the team has also launched “Meet the Midterms” — a long-term focus on reporting from key battleground states — and will produce a series of election night specials on NBC News NOW moderated by Todd that will feature news, data, and analysis during each major primary night of the 2022 primary season.
Nguyen’s reporting appears across TODAY, NBC Nightly News, and NBC News, and she leads The Racism Virus specials on NBC News NOW, which first aired in 2021 with a second installment coming this month. Aaron Gilchrist has been with the NBC News NOW team since early 2021, anchoring key, daily breaking news coverage alongside Morgan Radford. Along with her role as anchor and correspondent, Radford led NBC News NOW’s Generation LatinX special on the Latino experience in America.
Chris Jansing, who has been with MSNBC for 20 years, has served as an anchor, Senior White House Correspondent, and covered 11 presidential campaigns beginning with the 1980 convention.
She has reported on some of the biggest breaking news stories of our time, including the September 11th terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina, and the shooting tragedies in Tucson and Aurora, Colo. With Meet the Press expanding to streaming, Jansing’s return to the MSNBC lineup further emphasizes the network’s commitment to live, breaking news coverage throughout the dayside.
It’s not clear why the networks made the change regarding Todd’s program but generally speaking when such programming alterations are made it is due to poor ratings.
