NBC Bet $69 Million on Megyn Kelly Then Viewers Vanished

[question everything]

Megyn Kelly was supposed to bring star power to NBC News and a bigger, broader audience of morning viewers to its “Today” show franchise. Instead, the three-year, $69 million bet to woo Ms. Kelly from her conservative prime-time perch at Fox News is backfiring.

Since taking over the 9 a.m. hour of the lucrative morning show in September and rebranding it “Megyn Kelly Today,” Ms. Kelly has struggled to make the shift to daytime broadcast television, with its delicate balance of soft features and hard news. Her ratings declines and higher production costs have been a drag on a critical franchise for NBC.

“I need to introduce myself to people who don’t know me or know some bastardized version of me that they’ve gotten from a website or a TV show,” Ms. Kelly said in an interview. “There are definitely some who only know me through some caricature they learned about on ‘The Daily Show.’ ”

Some of NBC’s affiliate TV stations are unhappy with the drop in viewers, and staffers on other NBC News shows have been grumbling about Ms. Kelly’s lofty budget. Hollywood publicists started steering their A-list talent away from the program when a feud erupted with Jane Fonda after Ms. Kelly asked the actress on-air about her plastic surgery.

(snip)

In addition, Ms. Kelly’s Sunday night newsmagazine, which premiered to disappointing ratings last summer, has been reduced to occasional prime-time specials.

(snip)

The turmoil during Ms. Kelly’s first year at NBC—along with the high-profile exits of NBC’s Matt Lauer and CBS’s Charlie Rose due to sexual-harassment allegations—have shaken up morning TV news, underscoring the big risks of high-stakes wagers on celebrity news personalities.

(snip)

Ms. Kelly’s ratings are also hurting the 10 a.m. hour of “Today” with Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford, according to Nielsen data. That hour of the show, which focuses on lighthearted lifestyle and celebrity news, is down 6% in viewers and 19% among adults 25-54.

The performance of “Megyn Kelly Today” has allowed its chief rival, Walt Disney Co.’s syndicated chat show “Live with Kelly & Ryan,” to more than double its lead over NBC in that hour to 747,000 viewers.

(snip)

The “Today” franchise is key to NBC News and its parent NBCUniversal, a unit of Comcast Corp. “Today” generates more than $500 million in revenue and profits of more than $100 million annually, people close to the show said. It is the most successful and important program on the network and is the main profit center for NBC News.

“Megyn Kelly Today” is vastly more expensive for NBC than its predecessor, which was more clearly an extension of the “Today” show with shared resources. The combined salaries of previous hosts Al Roker and Tamron Hall were less than half of Ms. Kelly’s $23 million-a-year payday, according to several people familiar with the matter. Ms. Kelly declined to comment on her salary.

(snip)

Other ungainly moments have taken place with celebrities, most prominently with Jane Fonda. Ms. Fonda took offense at Ms. Kelly asking about her plastic surgery during an interview about a new movie with her and Robert Redford. Ms. Fonda made jokes and mocked Ms. Kelly several times after that, including on a different “Today” segment, prompting Ms. Kelly to launch a Fox News-style attack on Ms. Fonda.

“This is a woman who is synonymous with outrage. Look at her treatment of our military during the Vietnam War. Many of our veterans still call her ‘Hanoi Jane’ thanks to her radio broadcasts, which attempted to shame American troops,” Ms. Kelly said on her show in January.

The “Hanoi Jane” rant, as it became known, was seen as an extreme overreaction inside “Today.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/nbc-bet-69-million-on-megyn-kellythen-viewers-vanished-1524667220

[underpants]

1. They misread the old Fox geezers dozing off after O'Reilly while looking at her legs

Last edited Wed Apr 25, 2018, 04:08 PM - Edit history (1)

Plus she doesn't even drink wine like Hoda and Kathie Lee so the stay home moms feel like they are drinking their morning glass of wine alone

[Wwcd]

5. Hillarious but true!

Kelly really thought no one watching NBC would recognize her PAST!

She should lose about 99% of her superior attitude about herself, also.

Yuk

[Me.]

2. The Revenge Of Tamron Hall's Ghost

she had great ratings and Andy Lack booted her for Kelly. He was trying to do a Faux overall on MSNBC and found to his disappointment that a progressive slant has boosted the ratings to the sky. Time for him to go

[RockRaven]

3. You don't get to

spend years pushing dishonest right wing propaganda on behalf of damaging and immoral policies and politicians, and then expect everyone to forgive and forget because you're at a different network in a different time slot with a different schtick. You harmed this nation, it's people, and the world. You cannot make that go away.

[question everything]

7. Indeed you don't. And welcome to DU

Interesting that you found this group which is far from the main highways here (GD, LBN, Lounge..)

[Wwcd]

4. Here's your problem Ms Kelly:

Ms. Kelly said in an interview. “There are definitely some who only know me through some caricature they learned about on ‘The Daily Show."
By this statement she wrote off a big percentage of possible viewers who at one time, may have given her a chance.

This is your other problem:
And some only know you through your long presence on FOX NEWS.

Well..and you just suck.

[old guy]

6. No matter what you do, no matter how hard you try,

you cannot make a race horse out of a jackass.

[left-of-center2012]

8. Here in Albuquerque, at 10 A.M.

I choose between "The View" or "People's Court".
I rarely watch anything, anytime, on NBC.

[Sherman A1]

9. Darn the luck

On the few occasions I have had the TV on to The Today Show in the morning and Megan Kelly came on after it. I immediately turned it off. I will simply not allow that mean spirited, ugly person's face in my home.