The Rise and Success of News Anchor David Gregory

People who have spent a lot of time watching the news should be familiar with David Gregory to some extent. After all, he was the host on one of the most prestigious news program that could be found on the TV landscape of the United States, meaning that he was in a position of considerable prominence. As such, it should come as no surprise to learn that there estimates of his current net worth that are around $12 million, though it remains to be seen how that figure will continue to change under his current circumstances.

How Did David Gregory Rise?

For those who are curious, Gregory was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. Later, he went to American University, which is a school situated in Washington, D.C. that puts a huge emphasis on public service, a sense of internationalism, and a more pragmatic kind of idealism. From there, Gregory graduated with a degree in International Studies, which combined with his time with the school’s campus TV station to put him on good footing for a career in journalism.

Soon enough, Gregory was a summer reporter for a TV station situated in Tucson, AZ. After a while, he became one of the NBC reporters responsible for covering George W. Bush’s presidential campaign in 2000, where he apparently managed to make quite a good impression on said individual. For proof, consider the fact that Bush nicknamed Gregory “Stretch” as well as “Dancing Man,” which were based on his height as well as his fondness for showing off his dance skills. On top of that, Bush actually threw Gregory a 30th birthday party on his campaign plane, thus further strengthening that sense of familiarity.

As such, it is no wonder that Gregory winded up becoming NBC’s White House correspondent, which was a position that he held until a very fateful day in December of 2008. In short, what had happened was that the much-respected host of Meet the Press Tim Russert died on the job at the age of just 58, which was a huge problem because NBC had no succession plans in place whatsoever. As a result, the NBC leadership at the time had to scramble to find a replacement, whether that meant promoting someone from within the ranks or hiring someone from somewhere else. Due to this, numerous candidates were considered, with examples ranging from Chuck Todd to Tom Brokaw. However, either the NBC leadership decided against these candidates or these candidates decided against NBC one by one. Due to this, Gregory became the one chosen to head up one of the most prestigious news programs in the United States, which in turn, meant that it was one of the most lucrative news programs in the United States as well.

How Did David Gregory Fall?

For a time, Gregory held steady. However, it wasn’t too long before he started running into problems, which can be blamed on a whole host of issues. One example would be what some people have called Gregory’s inability to connect with the viewers of Meet the Press on a personal level, which was particularly strange because he is famous for his off-camera camera. Another example would be the fact that NBC as a whole was running into problems at the time, thus putting even more pressure on Meet the Press, which was described as the crown jewel.

Initially, NBC leadership actually made an attempt to save Meet the Press’s numbers without booting Gregory from the show. One example would be the choice to bring on a wider range of guests than the show’s standard line-up, which actually backfired to an extent because it turned out that Gregory wasn’t as smooth and comfortable with the change as he would have been under optimal circumstances. Moreover, news came out about NBC’s efforts to revive the show, which happened to include the hiring of a psychological consultant to interview Gregory’s friends and family members for the purpose of getting a better understanding of the person that could be used for better viewer relationship building. Something that produced a fair amount of mockery when it came out. At the start, NBC chose to stand by Gregory, but as more and more time passed with Meet the Press in the news reporting spotlight, the relationship between the NBC leadership and Gregory deteriorated.

Eventually, NBC started looking for a replacement, though the process hadn’t finished up by the time that Gregory had learned about his upcoming ouster when NBC leadership refused to stand by him in public once more. Due to this, the two sides started negotiating over the terms of his exit, which was preempted by the news breaking out before their intended announcement. Still, the exit wasn’t wholly bad for Gregory, seeing as how he managed to get a $4 million payment in the process.

What Is David Gregory Doing Nowadays?

Since that time, Gregory has remained active here and there, though his public presence is much reduced compared to when he was the host of Meet the Press. For example, he has popped up on various TV networks to talk about politics and other matters, which remains something that he is knowledgeable about. Likewise, Gregory has written a book about his experience being ousted from NBC as well as the aftermath, which focused on the lessons that he learned from the whole mess. However, there are no current indications of Gregory securing another position of similar prominence sometime soon, which is perhaps unsurprising because being ousted in such a public manner is not the kind of thing that can be shrugged off without consequences.

Due to this, it will be interesting to see how Gregory’s net worth continues to change in the times to come. His ousting means that it seems reasonable to speculate that it won’t be seeing huge swings in the near future. However, no one can predict the future with perfect accuracy, particularly not when working with limited information.