Back Face the Nation Danish Face the Nation French Face the Nation ID Face the Nation Italian フェイス・ザ・ネイション Japanese Face the Nation NB Face the Nation Portuguese Face the Nation SH Обличчя нації Ukrainian 面對國家 Chinese

Face the Nation

For other uses, see Face the Nation (disambiguation).
Face the Nation
GenrePublic affairs/political talk program
Created byFrank Stanton
Directed bySheldon Schwartz[1]
Presented byMargaret Brennan (for past moderators, see section)
Narrated byJohn Hartge
Jim Bohannon (substitute)
Theme music composerEugene Clines and Richard Einhorn (1983-1992)

Score Productions (1992–2002)
Peter Fish (2002–2018)

Man Made Music (2018–present)[2]
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons64
Production
Executive producerMary Hager
ProducersAnne Hsu, Avery Miller, Deanna Fry
(senior producers)
Elizabeth Campbell,[1] Jake Miller
Production locationsCBS News Washington Bureau, Washington, D.C.
Camera setupVideotape; Multi-camera
Running time30 minutes (1954–2012)
60 minutes (2012–present)
Production companyCBS News
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseNovember 7, 1954 (1954-11-07) –
present
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Face the Nation is a weekly news and morning public affairs program airing Sundays on the CBS radio and television network. Created by Frank Stanton in 1954, Face the Nation is one of the longest-running news programs in the history of television.

Typically, the program features interviews with prominent American officials, politicians, and authors. Margaret Brennan has been the moderator of Face the Nation since 2018, though former host John Dickerson substituted during Brennan's maternity leave in spring and summer 2021.[3][4] Upon Brennan's return to the program in September 2021, its title was changed to Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.[5]

The show's full hour is broadcast live from the CBS News Washington, D.C., bureau at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time, though some stations delay or abbreviate episodes to accommodate local and sports programming.[6]

In 2017, Face the Nation's audience was the largest of all Sunday public affairs programs, with an average of 3.538 million viewers. NBC competitor Meet the Press closely competed for the title in 2018, besting Face the Nation's audience for several months.[7][8]

  1. ^ a b "Face the Nation - About Us". CBS News. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
  2. ^ ""Face the Nation" Theme Song" – via SoundCloud.
  3. ^ "About Us". Retrieved 2018-03-01.
  4. ^ Brennan, Margaret [@margbrennan] (September 9, 2018). "I will not be in the @FaceTheNation chair next week" (Tweet). Retrieved 2022-02-08 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ "Margaret Brennan Sets Return to CBS' 'Face the Nation' With a New Title and Outlook". The Hollywood Reporter. September 10, 2021. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  6. ^ "Why Face the Nation Is Only Rated for Its First 30 Minutes". Ad Week. October 29, 2015. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
  7. ^ "Sunday Show Ratings: Sept. 16". Ad Week. 19 September 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
  8. ^ "Sunday Show Ratings: Q4 2017". Ad Week. 4 January 2018. Retrieved 2018-03-02.