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Chuck Todd May Be Axed Amid ‘Meet The Press’ Ratings Slump

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Longtime NBC News anchor Chuck Todd could be fighting for his job as his show “Meet the Press” has seen its ratings plummet amid a recent shakeup at the network.

Todd was essentially demoted recently when the network moved his “Meet the Press Daily” to a streaming-only option for viewers and changed the name to “Meet the Press Now.”

Todd has remained as the host of its flagship Sunday show “Meet the Press,” but a new report suggests that his days may be numbered there, as well.

According to a report from The Daily Beast, the executive producer of “Meet the Press” is being moved over to the streaming side as the Sunday cable show has plummeted in ratings.

“John Reiss, who had been EP for the last eight years, was officially punted over to the NBC News Now streaming service, and 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,” the Daily Beast reported.

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“Gelles’ first order of business, multiple sources said, 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,” the report added.

Sources on the inside, according to the Daily Beast, said that current NBC White House correspondent Kristen Welker is likely to replace Todd.

Notably, Welker moderated the second presidential debate in the 2020 election.

Other insiders reportedly told the Beast that Todd remains unpopular with viewers and that maybe he is the reason the show’s ratings have sunk.

“At what point does anyone have the balls to say ‘Maybe the problem is the face of it’?” one Meet the Press source said.

The writing has been on the wall for some time.

A report recently detailed how Todd’s “Meet The Press” has slumped to his worst ratings period since he took over the Sunday morning program.

“In top-secret ratings data that has caught the attention of network brass, RadarOnline.com has learned Meet The Press — the longest running show in television history — recorded its lowest-rated quarter over the April-May-June period. Todd peaked at more than 4 million viewers in the first quarter of 2017 (January-February-March) in the midst of Donald Trump’s presidency,” Radar Online reported.

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“But in recent Nielsen Media Research ratings, the magic number faded to a paltry 2.4 million — shaving off a third of the notoriously goateed anchor’s audience. Making matters even worse for the Peacock network and its executive, Todd has also been in ratings free fall with viewers in the younger A25-54 demo,” the report continued.

“At his peak, the man who ex-prez Trump referred to as sleepy eyes had more than 1.2 million viewers in the first quarter of 2017, the same period when he enjoyed 4 million overall viewers. But over the past three months, the star NBC political analyst logged just 492,000 fans in the all-important younger demographic,” the report added.

“This does not augur well for Chuck,” an industry insider told Radar Online. “Chuck lost his gig at MSNBC and the guise that he’d rather leave MSNBC completely and focus on Meet the Press on Sunday.”

“But when you are focusing on the Sunday show and it is in freefall, perhaps you have to consider whether it is you and not the show itself that is driving viewers away. NBC News Chairman Cesar Conde must really be concerned. This is like David Gregory all over again,” the insider said.

Cable news data analysis shows that the show’s viewership has plummeted over the years, particularly since 2019.

Test your skills with this Quiz!

In April 2019, the show averaged around 1.9 million total viewers.

In April 2021, viewership plummeted to 1 million.

And in April of this year, “Meet The Press” averaged around 675,000 total viewers.

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