Remember when Megyn Kelly was a star?
It wasn’t that long ago. Last year at this time Ms. Kelly was on top of the world, with the highest-rated prime time cable news show on TV, and Fox News Channel offering her a major fortune with the possible intention of keeping her right where she was (more on this further on).
Well, Kelly didn’t stay at FNC. She migrated to NBC, for the tidy little tariff of $23 million dollars a year. And NBC dumped its well-rated 9AM co-hosts to give that coveted post-Today slot to Kelly for her new show.
And how is that working out?
From Jon Levine’s article at thewrap.com:
While (November) isn’t over yet, Kelly is on track to deliver historically low numbers for the critical November sweeps period. In fact, if things stay where they are, Kelly will log the lowest sweeps numbers of any periodsince NBC’s “Today” franchise first claimed the 9 a.m. hour in 2000. And we’re not just talking about the advertiser-coveted 25-54 demographic or total viewers — we’re talking about both the key demo and overall audience members. The dismal ratings appraisal even holds up when looking at adults 18-49.
Numbers reported Monday, when analyzed by TheWrap, reveal that Kelly has averaged just 699,000 daily viewers month-to-date so far among the 25-54 year-old demographic. Among 18-49 year-olds, the numbers shrink further with just 548,000 average daily viewers. Overall, the show logged 2.296 million viewers on average. All three of those metrics represent steep declines and a continued gradual drop-off that has persisted for the nettlesome 9 a.m hour since it’s turn-of-the-century launch.
Everyone who thinks those numbers are worth $23 million dollars a year, raise your hands.
I don’t see many hands.
Earlier, I noted that NBC outbid Fox for Megyn Kelly’s services. There have been reports that Fox simply could not match the $$$ NBC offered. But it has also been suggested that Fox intentionally offered enough to give legitimacy to its offer but not enough to match what NBC would counter with…so that FNC could look like a rejected suitor instead of like a network happy to see her in its rear view mirror – which, with Kelly tanking and Sean Hannity leading the pack in her old time slot, I assure you is the case.
Which of the two is it? You decide. But do take into account the broad smiles over at Fox headquarters…versus the cringing and grimacing in Peacockland as Ms. Kelly’s already-meager numbers continue to drop.
