Whose star is rising on the political talk shows?
The Sunday morning TV talk shows are one of the main venues political types go to hawk their views. The five main shows — "Meet the Press" (NBC), "State of the Union" (CNN), "Face the Nation" (CBS), "This Week" (ABC), and "Fox News Sunday" — have hosted more than 9,000 guests since January 2009. Some guests have appeared just once. Others, such as Sen. John McCain, are omnipresent, appearing dozens of times over the past half-decade.
But the shows — and political movements — are constantly looking for new faces. Thanks to data collected by American University researchers, and cleaned and published by The New York Times's Derek Willis, we can pinpoint some rising stars of TV punditry.
Using the American U./NYT data, BuzzFeed News looked for guests that met all three of the following criteria:
- Guest has appeared at least five times this year (through August 3, the most recent Sunday in the dataset).
- Guest has appeared more times this year than any other year since January 2009.
- Guest's appearances this year account for at least one-third of appearances since 2009.
Five guests qualified, almost all of a conservative persuasion. Without further ado, the trendiest Sunday morning show guests, ranked by percentage of appearances since 2009 that have come in 2014:
1. S.E. Cupp — Five appearances in 2014, out of eight since 2009
Cupp, a co-Host of CNN's "Crossfire," was one of the top contenders for the open "conservative" host slot on The View. It went to Nicolle Wallace. She fits a fairly unique profile in mainstream television: she is young, female, and libertarian.
2014 Appearances (Through August 3):
- This Week, Feb. 9
- This Week, April 20
- State of the Union, April 27
- State of the Union, June 22
- This Week, July 27
2. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) — Eight appearances in 2014, out of 13 since 2009
Kinzinger, a Republican, represents Illinois's 16th District. MSNBC's "practical European socialist" Lawrence O'Donnell loves "superhero" Kinzinger. "He is the Republican Cory Booker, of sorts." Kinzinger is a young, hawkish Republican — an alternative to Sunday show regulars like McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham.
2014 Appearances (Through August 3):
- This Week, Jan. 12
- This Week, March 2
- This Week, May 11
- Meet the Press, May 18
- Face the Nation, May 25
- Meet the Press, June 1
- State of the Union, June 15
- This Week, June 22
3. Nia-Malika Henderson — Five appearances in 2014, out of nine since 2009
Henderson, a Washington Post reporter, is set to join "Meet the Press" as a regular panelist soon. As a reporter, Henderson isn't a pundit, but she also represents a different profile of person than often appears on the Sunday shows: She's young, female, and a person of color.
2014 Appearances (Through August 3):
- Meet the Press, Jan. 19
- Face the Nation, April 27
- Meet the Press, June 29
- Face the Nation, July 13
- Meet the Press, July 27
4. Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) — Five appearances in 2014, out of 10 since 2009
Cole, a Republican, represents Oklahoma's 4th District. He is the House deputy majority whip, meaning he is part of the party's leadership.
2014 Appearances (Through August 3):
- State of the Union, Jan. 26
- This Week, Feb. 9
- This Week, March 23
- This Week, June 8
- This Week, July 27
5. Gov. Rick Perry — Six appearances in 2014, out of 18 since 2009
Perry, the Republican governor of Texas, is the only member of this list to appear as a guest on all five Sunday morning shows this year. After his failed presidential run in 2012, Perry had a quiet 2013, but made an aggressive return to national media this year.
2014 Appearances (Through August 3):
- State of the Union, Feb. 23
- Meet the Press, May 4
- This Week, July 6
- Face the Nation, July 13
- Fox News Sunday, July 13
- State of the Union, August 3
Note: The data and code behind this list can be found here.