The Chris Matthews Show Information

The Chris Matthews Show is a half-hour weekend news and political roundtable program produced by NBC News. It is taped in Washington, D.C., and nationally syndicated by NBC Universal Television Distribution. The program debuted on September 22, 2002.

The program usually airs on Sunday mornings before or after the Sunday morning talk shows, usually on NBC affiliates or their sister stations.

Chris Matthews serves as the program's moderator, and Matthews is joined each week by a rotating group of four journalists. Either Andrea Mitchell or Chuck Todd, both of NBC News, will occasionally sit in for him.

Although Chris Matthews is also the host of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, the two programs share no common staff outside of Matthews or editorial input, besides being recorded at NBC's Washington facility.

Program format

Each 30-minute program features an opening roundtable-style discussion segment, usually on a major news story of the week; a second discussion segment often focusing on presidential politics and occasionally on cultural topics; a third segment called 'Tell Me Something I Don't Know,' where the four panelists report to Matthews new information they have gleaned from their reporting.

During the program, Matthews will "take a look at the Matthews Meter," a survey taken by twelve of the show's regular panelists. The question will generally be of the yes/no variety, i.e., "Who stands to be the better debater, President Obama or Mitt Romney?".

In 2007, the show introduced the segment "The Big Question," in which Matthews asks the four panelists a Matthews-meter-type question. This segment closes the show.

Regular panelists

Reporters who regularly appear on the program include:

Andrea Mitchell, Kelly O'Donnell, and Pete Williams (NBC News); Gloria Borger (CNN); Katty Kay (BBC); Michele Norris (NPR); David Brooks, Helene Cooper and Elisabeth Bumiller (The New York Times); Clarence Page (Chicago Tribune); Major Garrett (National Journal); Gillian Tett (Financial Times); John Heilemann (New York); Howard Fineman (Huffington Post); Andrew Sullivan (The Daily Beast and Atlantic Monthly); Joe Klein (Time); Michael Duffy (Time); Kathleen Parker (Washington Post); David Ignatius ( Washington Post);and Dan Rather (HDNet).