My how the once mighty fall. Only in this case, the “once mighty” was never mighty in the first place.
“Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd took the helm of the once-iconic NBC Sunday program on September 7, 2014, after a string of failed hosts took the helm following the unexpected death of host Tim Russert in 2008. Russert was feared — and respected — by Democrats and Republicans alike; particularly those who dared to show up on MTP unprepared for grilling by Russert. Russert was tough as nails but fair.
Not unlike the disgraced Dan Rather, who was tapped to fill the shoes of legendary “CBS Evening News” anchor Walter Cronkite, but was ultimately fired for knowingly airing fake documents critical of George W. Bush’s service in the Texas Air National Guard, Todd’s decidedly leftist bent has reportedly brought the MTP host to the precipice of being booted, as top NBC execs continue to try to “fix” MTP’s miserable ratings disaster. As reported by the New York Post, an unnamed “Meet the Press” source lamented to the Daily Beast:
At what point does anyone have the balls to say, ‘Maybe the problem is the face of it?
That “face” rests atop the “progressive” shoulders of, as Rush Limbaugh called him, “F. Chuck Todd.”
Sources told the Daily Beast’s “Confider” newsletter that Todd has “baffled many at NBC with how long he’s remained atop the struggling show.” David Gelles, an ex-CNN staffer who recently took over as the new executive producer of “Meet the Press,” was purportedly tapped to fix the MTP ratings drain, with viewership down 21% compared to last year.
Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah even took a shot at Todd while hosting the White House Correspondents Dinner in April:
Chuck Todd is here. Chuck, you here? How you doing? I’d ask a follow-up, but I know you don’t know what those are.
Boom. Nothing but net.
Here’s the thing, as the old axiom suggests: if you can’t change people, you change to people. Hence, not unlike CNN’s hopeless left-winger Brian Stelter ultimately being kicked to the curb by “The Most Trusted Name in News”, Todd appears to be on his way to the curb as well.
So, is F. Chuck Todd’s fate already sealed? As noted by the Post, NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker is “being groomed to replace Todd” if he is removed from his Meet the Depressed chair, citing NBC insiders. Welker is also slated to expand her hosting duties ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
“Meet the Press” is the longest-running program on television, debuting in 1947. Todd has anchored MTP since 2014.
The bottom line:
Reports of Todd’s likely departure from “Meet the Press” is yet another example of “mainstream” media brass finally facing reality: profit matters. The bottom line is literally the bottom line, which is profitability and responsibility to shareholders. Left-wing media sock puppets like Stelter and Todd are no longer profitable. On the contrary, they are the principal reason “legacy” news outlet ratings continue to swirl down the toilet.
Like Stelter and CNN before him, F. Chuck Todd is finally about to get the well-deserved boot.