Williams To Host "Meet The Press" Sunday

"NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams will host the next "Meet the Press" but the network hasn't chosen a permanent replacement for Tim Russert, an NBC News spokeswoman said Thursday.

NBC News will announce the guests for the show with Williams on Friday, spokeswoman Allison Gollust said.

Tom Brokaw was the host Sunday, two days after Russert died of a heart attack. The show was a tribute to its longtime host.

Brokaw joked about jockeying for the job while speaking at Russert's memorial service in Washington on Wednesday. He noted the leaders of politics and journalism who were in the audience, with the largest contingent those who think they should be Russert's successor on "Meet the Press."

The MSNBC cameras cut to a shot of Steve Capus in the audience, the NBC News president who will be making that decision.

NBC News reporters David Gregory and Andrea Mitchell are considered possible permanent choices, along with "Hardball" host Chris Matthews. Williams, anchorman of "NBC Nightly News," could do it but that would make for a tough schedule. There is also some sentiment toward having Brokaw, the longtime nightly news anchor, do the job temporarily.

It's an important decision for NBC, since "Meet the Press" was a clear leader in the Sunday morning talk show ratings, chiefly on the strength of Russert's personality. The show reportedly makes more than $60 million in revenue for the network and often had a waiting list for advertisers.

NBC also needs to find someone who will fill Russert's role as Washington bureau chief.

By David Bauder