NBC executives highly considered nabbing Jon Stewart to be the "Meet the Press" moderator before settling on Chuck Todd in the end, Talking Points reported on Wednesday.
New York Magazine's Gabriel Sherman said three different sources vouched for the fact that NBC News President Deborah Turness began grooming the "Daily Show" host to run the long-running program on Sunday mornings. Sherman states that NBC was ready to offer Stewart basically anything it took to bring him to NBC.
Todd began his run at "Meet the Press" in September. David Gregory's departure caused ratings to slip substantially, but they started to pick up initially after Todd took over. Ratings have since regressed to third place behind the show's rivals on CBS and ABC.
In his piece in New York Magazine, Sherman writes that it makes sense that NBC would want to hire Stewart due to his ability to cultivate a young and loyal audience. His combination of comedian and media critic has made him a choice for NBC in the past. He was asked to do a 10 p.m. variety show several years ago, but the gig eventually went to Jay Leno.
For the past 62 years, "Meet the Press" has been viewers' go-to show to hear analysis, interviews from U.S. and world leaders and recaps of the week's political events from prominent journalists and other experts, according to Broadway World.
