NBC’s newest talent Megyn Kelly’s first three shows have failed to beat reruns of 60 Minutes, and television executives are already reportedly wondering if NBC is going to cancel Kelly’s Sunday newsmagazine show after the football season.
CNN media reporter Brian Stelter, whose reporting on the establishment press is well-regarded, reported this week, “After three episodes of Megyn Kelly’s ‘Sunday Night,’ TV execs are asking: Will the newsmag come back after the fall/winter NFL season?”
Kelly’s show was scheduled to “have a limited run on NBC this summer” before returning to “a more regular schedule in the spring of 2018, after the conclusion of the Winter Olympics and Sunday Night Football.” But those plans may be in doubt after Kelly has failed to deliver NBC ratings.
The premiere of Kelly’s show drew 6.1 million viewers three weeks ago but still lost to a rerun of 60 Minutes. It has been all downhill since for Kelly. Her second show drew 3.6 million viewers and lost to reruns of 60 Minutes and America’s Funniest Home Videos. Her third show, which featured Kelly’s controversial interview with Alex Jones, was her lowest-rated show to date despite being the most hyped. It drew just 3.5 million viewers and again failed to beat reruns of 60 Minutes and America’s Funniest Home Videos.
When New York radio host Mark Simone suggested on Monday that NBC may be trying unload Kelly’s contract and even convince Fox News to take her back, a high-ranking Fox News source told Breitbart News that Kelly “would not be welcomed back” at Fox News.
Kelly’s terrible ratings may cost NBC millions since the network reportedly had been planning to charge primetime rates for commercials for Kelly’s daily one-hour morning show in the fall.
Variety noted that NBC’s move “put a new spotlight on how much the company is betting on Kelly,” but was “not without risk.”
“What if advertisers don’t see the value that NBC does in the non-prime inventory?” Variety asked. “And there is a danger that NBC could get higher deals, only to find viewership for a show is not what it guaranteed its clients.”
NBC News executives were reportedly already “freaking out” over the “ratings disaster” that is Kelly even before Kelly’s controversial interview with Alex Jones turned out to be her lowest-ratest show to date despite getting the most media buzz. A television executive even told CNN over the weekend that NBC’s “fundamental mistake” was thinking that Kelly was actually a “superstar.”
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