In a change that shakes up the Sunday show landscape, Chuck Todd is thrilling as moderator of NBC’s Meet the press with Kristen Welker succeeding him from September.
Todd will be chief political analyst for NBC News, where he will work on feature length journalism and producing the Chuck Toddcast And Get to know the press reports.
Todd announced the news at the end of the program on Sunday morning.
“The key to the survival of all these media entities, including on this Meet the press, is for leaders not to extend their welcome. “I’d rather leave a little early than stay a little too long,” Todd said.
“I’m also willing to take a step back because I know the person I’m passing the baton to is someone who’s been ready for this for a while: Kristen Welker,” Todd added. “I have had the privilege of working with her from day one and let me say she is the right person at the right time. And for what it’s worth, this is exactly how I always hoped this would end, that I would pass the baton to her, which I will officially do in September. “
Welker, who has been a regular fill-in anchor for Meet the Press and Todd’s election night co-anchor, “is the ideal journalist to build on the Meet the press legacy,” said a memo from NBC News President of Editorial Rebecca Blumenstein and NBC News Senior Vice President of Politics Carrie Budoff Brown sent to NBC News staffers Sunday morning.
Todd was appointed moderator of Meet the press in September 2014, and has expanded its programming to other platforms through a streaming spin-off (a top priority not only for Todd, but also Welker), and with the Meet the Press Film Festival. Last year, the program celebrated its 75th anniversary.
Welker has been with NBC News since 2010 and is currently chief White House correspondent and co-anchor of Weekend Todayin addition to her regular cover-up duties Meet the press.
David Gelles, who was named executive producer of the program last year, will continue in that role.
Read the memo from NBC News President of Editorial Rebecca Blumenstein and NBC News Senior Vice President of Politics Carrie Budoff Brown:
After nearly a decade, Chuck Todd has decided to transition to a new role at NBC News in the coming months. As he shared with the Meet the Press audience today, he will pass the chair to his colleague in September Kristen Welker.
Under Chuck’s thoughtful and passionate leadership, Meet the Press has maintained its historic role as the must-have Sunday morning news program. Through its incisive interviews with many of the top newsmakers, the show has played a vital role in politics and policy, routinely making headlines and framing thinking in Washington and beyond.
In September 2014, he became a moderator of Meet the Press – the longest-running television show in history and the gold standard of Sunday public affairs programming. During one of the longest runs as a moderator in the show’s storied history, he transformed the brand into a vital modern franchise, expanded its footprint into a range of new media, and kept Meet the Press at the forefront of political discourse. . He has led the flagship program through the 70th and 75th anniversary and two presidential election cycles.
Chuck has established himself as a trusted authority on politics – from ensuing presidential and national elections to local and congressional races across the country. In his new position as Chief Political Analyst, he will maintain his role as NBC News’ leading voice for politics, both in the field and at major events. He plans to focus on long-term journalism and continue producing the Chuck Toddcast and Meet the Press Reports.
Kristen, no stranger to Meet the Press viewers, is a regular fill-in on the Sunday broadcast, anchors Meet the Press NOW every Monday and Tuesday, and has been Chuck’s co-anchor on election nights since 2021. She is the ideal journalist to build on the legacy of Meet the Press.
Kristen cut her teeth as a broadcast journalist at ABC and NBC affiliates in Rhode Island, California and Pennsylvania before settling into the weekend anchor chair at WCAU in Philadelphia. She joined NBC News in 2010 as a correspondent in Burbank, California, and arrived in Washington the following year and was later named Chief White House Correspondent. A campaign veteran, she has covered the White House and all corners of Washington across three presidential administrations.
She has masterfully moderated presidential debates before the primaries and general elections, and her sharp questioning of lawmakers is a masterclass in political interviewing. A tenacious reporter who loves to get big scoops, she is widely admired by the agency and network for her deeply collaborative nature.
Join us in congratulating Chuck on an extraordinary run and wishing him well in his new role, as well as welcoming Kristen as the chairman of the moderator of television’s longest-running show.
—Rebecca and Carrie
