Tim Russert's wake is not until Tuesday, but there's already speculation about who will replace the NBC News stalwart as host of Meet The Press. Russert also served as NBC News' DC bureau chief and as a political correspondent on Today, NBC Nightly News and MSNBC, but no one believes a lone replacement will be able to match that hectic schedule. For the Meet The Press gig, the Times came up with the following shortlist, which includes the sure-to-be-controversial option of CBS Evening News host Katie Couric:

  • Couric has experience hosting morning television from her time at Today and, as with Russert, she was noted for her strong interview skills, at least prior to her disastrous tenure atop the Evening News.
  • Brian Williams could host both the Nightly News and Meet The Press, as Bob Schieffer once did with the equivalent shows at CBS.
  • David Gregory, NBC's chief White House correspondent, has his own show on MSNBC (he replaced Tucker Carlson) and is the lead substitute for Matt Lauer on Today, so he has some of Russert's versatility. Famously confronted then-White House press secretary Scott McClellan over the delayed release of information about Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting accident.
  • Andrea Mitchell, the chief foreign affairs correspondent, anchors MSNBC Live.
  • Chris Matthews, the MSNBC Hardball host, famously looked up to Russert, and whose love was famously not reciprocated. When the Times magazine asked Russert about rumors he considered Matthews a loose cannon, he denied them, but added, "we do different things." That quote will surely not be forgotten mid the hunt for Russert's Meet The Press replacement.
  • Joe Scarborough of MSNBC was also mentioned by the Times, but seems an unusually partisan option.
  • Keith Olbermann, host of MSNBC's Countdown, would also be seen by some as an overly opinionated host. The New Yorker revealed today that he was once considered for Katie Couric's job at the CBS Evening News. The same story, however, also quoted Russert saying the following about Olbermann: "What cable emphasizes, more and more, is opinion, or even advocacy. Whether it's Bill O'Reilly or Keith Olbermann or Lou Dobbs, that's what that particular platform or venue does. It's not what I do."
  • NBC political director Chuck Todd has also been mentioned.

Beyond who might seize the brass ring of Meet The Press lies the question of whether it's worth grasping for in the first place. Russert was hugely energetic, but, as Couric has discovered, it is especially tough to succeed on a news show when the societal trend lines are working against you — and the Times' David Carr provides anecdotal evidence in a separate article this morning that this is precisely what is happening with Meet The Press.

[Times, TV Newser]