Megyn Kelly was a well-respected, conservative firebrand during her time at Fox News. She worked her way up from an occasional guest on the O’Reilly Factor to the preeminent primetime anchor.
However, after tasting success and fame, it seems she wanted to be more than a popular commentator on a conservative network. She wanted to be accepted by the left-wing demographic as well. And so, she made a big money move to the liberal NBC network, where she was given multiple shows and opportunities to report to a broader audience. But what was supposed to be a dream move has been nothing but a nightmare for her, as it’s been one gaffe after another and bottom of the barrel ratings.
As reported at Page Six, the ratings for Kelly’s “Megyn Kelly Today” show slipped from 0.77 on Monday to 0.54 on Tuesday last week, despite a high profile guest with one of Harvey Weinstein’s accusers.
“It’s a possible all-time low for ‘Today.’ It may even be lower than her [Fox] cable show. [NBC News president] Noah [Oppenheim] and [NBC News and MSNBC chairman] Andy [Lack] are in big trouble,” a source told us.
Another source added, “That’s a big drop. They have to turn this around.”
Kelly also appeared for the first time on MSNBC earlier this week, which for someone of her “caliber” and salary is very strange.
“It’s unthinkable. You don’t see Matt [Lauer] or Savannah [Guthrie] on MSNBC … It’s not a good sign,” said the source.
But on Friday, an NBC insider insisted: “Megyn’s having a strong week. Her numbers are up double-digits versus last week,” and “NBC News anchors appear frequently on MSNBC,” which is pure damage control.
It’s incredible that the clowns at NBC ever thought she would be a capable daytime host, considering how obvious it was that such a format wasn’t her style. Her format at Fox, where she plays a stern and intelligent commentator that interviews people and holds their feet to the fire, was perfect. Not the couch interview style where she’s supposed to get along and play the amiable moderator to folks, like she’s David Letterman.
Plus, there was and is the sad reality that the Left hates her, and because most of the guests are leftists, they have an attitude and bone to pick with her. They have no intention of playing a cooperative guest or to give her the benefit of the doubt, instead, it’s almost like they’re trying to make her look bad.
To top it all of, she lacks any kind of likability factor. Her attempts to appear amicable and like a typical hostess seem so forced. Which is why her role at Fox was so perfect. She wasn’t supposed to be some super likable person, because guests don’t enjoy being questioned hard and called out for their hypocrisy and inconsistency. But she demanded respect, which is even more important.
Now, however, she lacks both, which is a dangerous combination. Leftists don’t respect her out of their innate distaste for anyone that disagrees with them and she’s just not that likable. With her numbers in the gutter, one wonders how long it’ll be before NBC does something drastic. At this point, the only thing saving her is the fact that her move was a high-profile, big money one, so the powers that be will give her more time than normal because they don’t want to look bad. But with numbers like she’s pulling, something’s going to be done sooner rather than later.
Source: Page Six