Six days after the shooting rampage last month at Virginia Tech, the university's president appeared on one Sunday morning talk show—"Meet the Press."The segment was atypical for a network TV program that largely focuses on politics inside the Beltway. But it exemplified the ability of the program, led by longtime moderator Tim Russert, to get the sort of guests that will attract viewers as well as advertisers. That particular broadcast attracted 3.127 million viewers, besting its competitors on CBS and ABC by 11% and 21%, respectively, according to Nielsen Media Research.

"It's strong because they get the big interviews," said Sheree Johnson, senior VP-director of media services for Nicholson Kovac. "Anything that's happening in the news that week, they come up with the big player, the big guns. They get them first, and they do a nice job of promoting that. The C-level in particular are watching."

The longest-running program on network television turns 60 years old in November and shows no signs of slowing down. Viewers who can't sit down to catch the show at 9 a.m. Eastern on Sunday can view it online or listen to it as a podcast that afternoon, or wait and catch one of the two rebroadcasts that night on MSNBC.

Major advertisers during the telecasts include oil and telecommunications companies, financial services firms and companies that have corporate branding campaigns under way. Most of the commitments are for 52 weeks. New advertisers during the past year included Northern Trust and AIG, while existing advertisers Dow Chemical and AT&T increased their buys.

"It's not for a broad-based consumer-oriented advertiser," said John Kelly, senior VP of NBC News ad sales. "It's an hour audience. It tends to be male-oriented and upscale, and the environment is such that it lends itself to [the] more thoughtful image campaigns that are put forward."

Media buyers tout the advertising appeal of Russert, who has been moderator since late 1991 and who, they say, combines warmth with toughness. "There's so much power wrapped around him," said Vickie Szombathy, VP-media director at Starlink. "It makes it a strong vehicle."

"Meet the Press" runs only nine minutes of advertising during the show, eighteen 30-second spots, which explains why it's in a high sellout position. Could it run more?

"I don't think Tim would let us," Kelly said.