If you need an indictation of how much our broadcast media relies on personality to capture audience share, or a sign of how badly NBC’s venerable “Meet the Press” is now ailing in ratings, then look no further than this Washington Post piece about the show’s trials and tribulations. But The Huffington Post really gets to the central issue:
A new report from The Washington Post on Monday featured David Gregory discussing the “Meet the Press” ratings slide, and hinted at the kind of pressure the embattled host is facing.
The Post revealed that in 2013, the network hired a psychological consultant to interview Gregory’s wife and friends. “The idea, according to a network spokeswoman, Meghan Pianta, was ‘to get perspective and insight from people who know him best,'” the Post’s Paul Farhi reported. “But the research project struck some at NBC as odd, given that Gregory has been employed there for nearly 20 years.”
Just think about it:
–They’re worried about the show so they do a psychological study of him. So exactly what was this supposed to accomplish? “Hey, David, smile more!”
–Supposedly “Meet the Press” is about how NBC in that time slot presents, extracts and markets timely content from news-makers. But, in reality, personality has indeed come into play for the Sunday morning shows. These shows — which might otherwise be called “The John McCain Show,” since the Arizona Senator is on all of them more often than ventriloquist Senor Wences was on The Ed Sullivan Show’s 26-year-run — rely on a mix of presentation and strong, newsmaking content to rope in viewers.
The network responded to the report in a statement to The Huffington Post Monday. “Last year Meet the Press brought in a brand consultant—not, as reported, a psychological one—to better understand how its anchor connects,” Pianta said. “This is certainly not unusual for any television program, especially one that’s driven so heavily by one person.”
But is that really what “Meet the Press” was?
In fact, in its loooooooooooong history “Meet the Press was known as the reliable place for good, old-fashioned, no-nonsense video news interviews. It was not all about the host. When the late Tim Russert took it over, the force of Russert’s personality and the thoroughness of the homework in nailing politicians with their past assertions, writings or votes iswhat made Russert a personality on the show.
Russert didn’t get the show because of his personality but because he was a solid interviewer. And a likable one.
But when Gregory became the new host, it was like on the old show Bewitched when the producers replaced one actor as Darin with another. Viewers never quite accepted it (and in fact after that is when the comedy’s ratings started to slide).
You can see a ton of blog posts now on “Meet the Press” since this is a hot issue in light of the Washington Post story.
I think one of Gregory’s biggest problems is the man who he followed and the men who compete with him each week. Russert was a once in a lifetime journalistic and broadcast giant. He had the potential of becoming the 20th century Walter Cronkite. Gregory’s competition is formidable and he doesn’t look good when stacked against them. CBS’s Bob Schieffer should have been the person to replace Cronkite and he has Cronkite’s stature and solidity. On ABC, George Stephanopoulos successfully morphed from Democratic Party political adviser and Presidential press secretary into a savvy, well-sourced political analyst and excellent host.
Gregory comes across as a B team reporter who is impressive enough journalistically but doesn’t wow you and is not particularly likable personally.
It’s these three elements — his competition, he-won’t-blow-you-away journalism, and his lack of likability that make viewers tune into ABC and CBS.
Yes, ABC and CBS are doing a good job. But Gregory is the wrong man at the wrong time on the wrong show.
NBC may stick with him, but all the tinkering with segments, all the talk about tapping social media and any guests that go on the show are unlikely to change the real dynamics: Gregory — solid reporter that he is –is simply not the choice many people want to make on Sunday mornings.
Until NBC tries someone else, the show’s ratings will keep sliding — or stay in place.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.