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Welcome, Chuck Todd, to the difficult job of hosting 鈥淢eet the Press,鈥� NBC鈥檚 long-running Sunday morning news show.

鈥淐huck will ensure that 'Meet the Press' is the beating heart of politics, the place where newsmakers come to make news, where the agenda is set,鈥� NBC News president Deborah Turness said in making the announcement.

By implication, the statement suggests that David Gregory, the show鈥檚 outgoing host, had failed to make it that 鈥渂eating heart.鈥�

Yet, even as Mr. Todd is being showered with praise as a genuine political-news junkie, here鈥檚 an important note of context: Whether hosted by Todd or Mr. Gregory or anyone else, Sunday morning shows aren鈥檛 the agenda-setting venue they used to be.

It鈥檚 not that shows like 鈥淢eet the Press鈥� and ABC鈥檚 鈥淭his Week鈥� have been vanquished, or that they ever stood monolithically as keepers of the public square. But they鈥檙e operating today in a climate of heightened competition and hyper-criticism, thanks to trends like the rise of online media and the fragmentation of TV audiences over the past decade and more.

With his acknowledged passion for politics, Todd may be able to lift 鈥淢eet the Press鈥� back to its former status as the solid ratings leader among the Sunday shows. That remains to be seen, but many media watchers are saying the change of quarterbacks was the right move for NBC.

Ms. Turness said Todd鈥檚 analytical skills and 鈥渋nfectious enthusiasm鈥� make him 鈥渢he perfect next generation moderator of this beloved broadcast.鈥�

Fox News media analyst Howard Kurtz agreed that 鈥渨hen it comes to politics, no one will accuse Todd of phoning it in,鈥� but added that 鈥渋t may be hard for anyone to turn around 鈥楳eet the Press.鈥� 鈥�

鈥淢eet the Press鈥� is TV鈥檚 longest-running show (launched in 1947) and was dominant on Sundays under host Tim Russert for much of the 2000s decade. The audience for 鈥淢eet the Press鈥� was about 4.7 million viewers per week at the end of the 2002-2003 ratings season, according to data tracked by the Pew Research Center鈥檚 journalism project.

By last year, that audience had fallen to 2.75 million.

In part, that reflects an ebbing overall audience for the Sunday shows of the three big networks 鈥� from 10.4 million per week down to 8.4 million per week over that 10 year period.

NBC lost market share to ABC鈥檚 鈥淭his Week鈥� with George Stephanopoulos, and especially to CBS鈥檚 鈥淔ace the Nation,鈥� hosted by Bob Schieffer.

In some ways, what鈥檚 notable is how Sunday viewership has eroded less in recent years than viewership for nightly news broadcasts. Pew surveys show a sharp rise since the early 1990s in the share of Americans who say they 鈥渘ever鈥� watch national nightly newscasts.

What鈥檚 changed for all traditional news broadcasts, though, is the proliferation of alternative media.

Increasingly, politics-only websites and broadcasts like the 鈥淒aily Show鈥� with Jon Stewart that blend news and entertainment have encroached on the turf of companies that once could lay some claim to the title of 鈥渁genda setter.鈥�

The traditional Sunday morning shows are still important venues for discussing the week鈥檚 news.

But now, hosts like Gregory appear to have a harder time breaking news, and they face an army of online critics ready to critique any failings.

Meanwhile, newsmakers like potential presidential candidate Hillary Clinton have plenty of ways to get a message out without needing to do a televised Sunday interview. Ms. Clinton鈥檚 book tour earlier this summer included a stop to answer questions from Jon Stewart, for instance.

Now Chuck Todd gets his turn.