News Show Throne Is Up for Grabs
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By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 20, 2009

David Gregory says he was acutely aware of "the legacy of the program" when he took over "Meet the Press" four months ago.

"I realized I was succeeding Tim Russert, and that was a big deal," he says. "I'm trying to bring as much passion as I can, and I hope viewers are seeing it. My voice is still evolving in this. . . . Just like Tim did, I've got to go out there and earn it."

But the NBC newsman, who is drawing lukewarm reviews, has a fight on his hands. George Stephanopoulos seems reenergized at "This Week," and he and Bob Schieffer at "Face the Nation" have been closing the gap with the longtime ratings leader.

"Obviously, Tim's tragic death has opened up the playing field for everybody," says Chris Wallace, host of "Fox News Sunday." "He was the king of Sunday morning. The throne is empty."

Stephanopoulos, who brings an insider's knowledge from his days at the Clinton White House, has loosened up considerably as a moderator. "You do get more comfortable in your role and more confident in your presentation," he says.

Schieffer, for his part, isn't touting any new bells and whistles. "We're doing exactly what we've always done," he says. "We have not changed a thing. We're still basing our show on news." But he says it is "very, very difficult" to compete against his hour-long rivals when he has only 30 minutes, which is largely devoted to newsmaker interviews rather than discussions among journalists.

The Nielsen figures reflect the more competitive landscape. In the first three months of the year, "Meet the Press" drew 4.16 million viewers, a decline of 6 percent from the same period last year. ABC's "This Week" attracted 3.36 million (up 12 percent); CBS's "Face the Nation" 3.19 million (up 8 percent); and "Fox News Sunday" 1.48 million (basically flat). On April 5, "This Week" came within 200,000 viewers of "Meet," and "Face" was within 290,000 viewers.

No one, including Gregory himself, expected the former White House correspondent and cable host to be another Russert -- a garrulous, working-class storyteller and prosecutorial interviewer. Gregory is a sharp, diligent and well-prepared host who asks follow-up questions. But he is not what you would call an outsize personality, and his sharp wit has remained mostly hidden.

Gregory displayed "little energy and virtually no passion" on a recent program, writes Baltimore Sun television critic David Zurawik. "And that is the opposite of what made Russert so compelling to watch." The new moderator is polished, writes Newsday critic Verne Gay, but "seems more intent on covering the waterfront than digging for news, or in pushing the talking heads off their talking points."

Gregory says he is "letting loose," not holding back, and his executive producer, Betsy Fischer, says he is pinning down guests. When the new General Motors chief executive, Fritz Henderson, said his pay had been cut 30 percent, Gregory asked him how much he will be making. The answer: $1.3 million.

"We're dealing with a major recession," Fischer says. "Excitement is not necessarily something that is called for. David is very passionate about preparation for the show."

But where Russert created tension by trying to catch his guests in inconsistencies, Gregory often poses low-key, open-ended questions. In a recent interview, he asked John McCain, "What is your take on the anger, the populist anger in the country? Do you think it's justified, or do you think it's been overblown? . . . And yet the White House says the Republicans have become the party of no. Is that fair?"

Stephanopoulos, meanwhile, has been injecting more of his opinion. Eight days ago, he was deep into a discussion about the financial crisis with Newt Gingrich and Paul Krugman, among others, when the former House speaker said there would have to be a second major stimulus law because there was "almost no hope" the current one would work.

But how, Stephanopoulos pressed Gingrich, did that square "with what you were just saying earlier about the problems of debts and deficits?" Gingrich shifted gears, saying it would be better for the states to cut spending over time.

"George really drives the show," says Ian Cameron, the program's executive producer. "He's not an overbearing personality, but someone who gets to the point."

The Gingrich exchange reflects the program's new mix-and-match approach that adds politicians and business leaders to the traditional journalists' roundtable. Stephanopoulos, who has experimented with various formats, now believes it was a mistake to have temporarily dropped the roundtable in 2003. "If you get the right group together with diverse views, people who know what they're talking about and can do it in a lively manner, the roundtable takes off," he says. "It's not enough just to be glib."

"This Week" has added such corporate chief executives as Google's Eric Schmidt and FedEx's Fred Smith to the expanded roundtable segment, which features George Will and, at times, paid ABC contributors: Krugman, the Nobel-winning New York Times columnist; CNN's Donna Brazile; former Bush campaign pollster Matthew Dowd; and onetime Pentagon spokeswoman Torie Clarke.

Gregory, searching for new journalistic voices, has booked 16 first-time guests, including the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, Fortune's Bethany McLean, National Review Editor Rich Lowry, Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberly Strassel, Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary and two panelists from NPR's "Planet Money."

Schieffer's signature is the folksy closing commentary, such as this one after the president's London visit: "Let me just say that personally I was okay with Michelle Obama touching the queen of England. . . . When we were invited to the British Embassy last year to see the visiting Elizabeth and Philip, my wife donned a hat as big as a washtub and we had a fine time."

After Schieffer repeatedly lobbied the White House, "Face the Nation" landed the first Sunday morning interview with President Obama since the inauguration. "I think if I could get that dog, we could probably draw a bigger audience," he jokes. The year's other big newsmaking interview, with Dick Cheney, was snagged by John King, the host of CNN's new "State of the Union."

Wallace says he is handicapped by weak lead-ins on many Fox broadcast stations -- including a pair of televangelists in New York -- but draws 1.2 million viewers for replays on the Fox News Channel. He says he is doing newsmaking interviews "even with a Democratic administration" -- his is the only program not to land an interview with Obama since the election -- and taking a "fair and balanced" approach.

Wallace has, for instance, asked administration officials why the president has stopped using the "war on terror" term promoted by George W. Bush. "We ask different questions and approach subjects differently," Wallace says.

Sunday talk shows are less personality-driven than, say, the morning shows of Matt and Meredith and Diane. But who sits in the host's chair still matters more than the fact that, say, Wallace does a "power player of the week" or Stephanopoulos runs clips of late-night comics.

Some slippage was probably inevitable for Gregory, but he retains custody of one of the best brand names in journalism. Even when Schieffer had Obama last month, Gregory finished first in the ratings with an interview of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who also appeared with Stephanopoulos.

"The guys we're up against are good," Gregory says. "George and Bob have been doing this for a while. They're established. They're both first-rate journalists."

Kurtz hosts CNN's media program, "Reliable Sources," which airs on Sunday mornings.