NBC News has named David P. Gelles the new executive producer of Meet the Press with Chuck Todd. Gelles joins the legendary Sunday show after nine years at CNN, including a stint as senior broadcast producer of The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. Gelles also led the creation and development of four DC-based CNN+ shows: Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace, The Newscast with Wolf Blitzer, The Source with Kasie Hunt and Jake Tapper’s Book Club.
The move represents a homecoming for Gelles, who served as a producer for NBC’s Today from 2006 to 2011—and was subsequently a producer on Brian Williams’ Rock Center from 2011 to 2013 before joining CNN. He also began his career as an NBC Page.
Gelles and Todd also go way back: as a producer for Today, Gelles would frequently book Todd for his stories before Todd joined NBC News. Gelles also put together Todd’s first story as Chief White House Correspondent.
After eight years on the job, Meet the Press executive producer John Reiss is leaving the Sunday show and will exclusively focus his efforts on Meet the Press Reports—the single-topic, deep-dive politics program, which streams seasonally on NBC News Now.
Melissa Frankel will remain the executive producer of Meet the Press Now, which is the daily show on NBC News Now that used to air on MSNBC.
Reiss and Todd launched the show together in 2020 and—this fall—Meet the Press Reports will launch its fifth season on NBC News’ ad-supported streaming platform.
During his tenure as Meet the Press EP, Reiss led an overhaul of the MTP brand, working with Todd to move Meet the Press from a Sunday-only program to a seven-day-a week, multi-platform franchise. That expansion included the launch of Meet the Press Daily on MSNBC (and, this year, Meet the Press Now on NBC News Now); a weekly podcast; a yearly film festival and Meet the Press Reports, one of the first shows to bring a major broadcast anchor to a streaming audience.
TVNewser obtained Reiss’ note to staff announcing his departure from Sundays and next steps:
Subject: My next steps at MTP
All I had planned to do was say hello.
Almost exactly eight years ago as I was walking down a hallway past a 30 Rock guest office, I realized, hey, there’s Chuck Todd. Go in and say hi. By the time I walked out, Chuck had asked if I might consider becoming the executive producer of Meet the Press. Um, yes, I’d consider that.
And thus began eight of the most productive, enjoyable and fulfilling years of my 28 spent at NBC News.
It’s now time for me to move on. For the past few months I’ve been talking with Noah, Carrie and Chuck about what my next role here should be—and I’m enormously grateful to be staying with the Meet the Press team, the place I’ve called home for so long—now as the executive producer for one of the many new platforms this team has created, Meet the Press Reports.
So, while I’m going, I’m not going very far. Noah and Carrie have made a commitment to MTPR—and I’ll be concentrating on growing and expanding that platform. I’ll also be working on some other projects that I hope will involve many of the people on the receiving end of this email.
Working for Meet the Press has been among the most rewarding experiences of my career, an eight-year teachable moment. The research conducted for this broadcast is a weekly miracle. The production values are unparalleled. And we have a moderator who always pushes us to do more, to do better, to do smarter. All of you have made it a privilege to call Meet the Press home.
I’ve also learned a few things in this job. I’ve learned that viewers pause their DVR’s to study five-color graphics that never should appear on TV in the first place—and that there’s always time for sports talk while we’re looking at elements. I’ve also learned that as hard as it is to wake up at 3:15 on Sunday mornings, it’s an honor to be with this team an hour later—and help produce the best Sunday morning public affairs broadcast in the business. Meet the Press isn’t the longest-running show in television history for nothing.
Finally, though I’m not going to thank every recipient of this email individually (I’ll do that in person), I do want to say I’m forever grateful to Chuck, my partner in this journey, for making me an offer I couldn’t refuse. It’s been an honor, my friend—and it’s been a privilege working with all of you. And the best part? The best part is there’s more to come.
John
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