David Gregory Renews ‘Meet the Press’ Contract

David Gregory has renewed his contract with NBC News to serve as the anchor of television’s most venerable Sunday morning political discussion show, “Meet the Press.”

NBC made no announcement of Mr. Gregory’s new deal, but he revealed the news in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday. NBC confirmed that Mr. Gregory has agreed to a new contract, described only as “long term.”

That would also describe his previous deal, which ended in December. That was a four-year contract which began six months after the death of the previous permanent anchor of the program, Tim Russert. (Tom Brokaw served as a temporary host in the interim.)

Mr. Gregory’s tenure - he is the 10th anchor in the show’s 66-year history â€" has been considered successful, though he has not enjoyed the position of ratings dominance that Mr. Russert achieved on the show.

Over the last year or so, “Meet the Press,” which averages just under three millionviewers, has often ranked behind CBS’s “Face the Nation” in the rankings of the Sunday morning shows. NBC always points out that the CBS show continues to count only its first half hour in the ratings, while the programs on the other networks are all rated for a full hour. “Face the Nation” has less than a full complement of national stations for its second half hour and so eliminates those numbers from the competition.

Mr. Gregory has conducted several news-making interviews in recent months, including one with President Obama in December. He was highlighted in several clips last week when he engaged in a briefly contentious exchange on the show with Sen. John McCain, who was making his 76th visit to “Meet the Press” - more than any other figure in its history.