David Gregory’s tenure at “Meet the Press” has suffered another blow after the show’s long-standing producer, Chris Donovan, quit after 12 years and defected to work for ABC rival George Stephanopoulos at “This Week.”
Donovan, who started at ABC last week, was fed up with embattled Gregory and the direction of “Meet the Press,” sources tell Page Six, which has sunk to third place in the ratings, behind CBS’ “Face the Nation” and ABC’s “This Week.”
One source said, “There is a tense atmosphere at ‘Meet the Press.’ Gregory is dismissive of the staff, and is often hard to reach or approach.
“He is famously the only host on Sunday morning TV who won’t pick up the phone to seal the deal to get a big guest. There’s nobody else on TV, and certainly on Sunday mornings, who thinks they are too important to do that. It is tough on the producers.”
Another source insisted that well-respected Donovan left for ABC for an opportunity to work as a senior producer across George’s shows “This Week” and “GMA,” plus news specials.
Donovan said, “I had an incredible run at ‘Meet the Press,’ and left only because I was given an amazing opportunity at ABC News. Any suggestion that I was mistreated is not true. I have a great relationship with David.”
Gregory also told Page Six, “I think the world of Chris Donovan, and I know, having spoken to him today, that he did not say nor does he feel what is being attributed to him.”
NBC has been doubling down to protect Gregory following a Washington Post report that NBC News hired a “psychological consultant” for him, who interviewed his wife and family to help him connect better with his audience.
After the report was widely picked up by other news outlets, Gregory fired back,“It’s a complete fiction,” during his weekly call to WTOP radio. “There was never any psychological consultant hired. That’s utter fiction, that’s gossip reporting gone wild.”
NBC News President Deborah Turness also criticized the media “chatter” as “vindictive, personal and, above all, untrue.”