It’s time for a little more of that special Schadenfreude
that we reserve for Megyn Kelly… a woman who had it all, who leaned in, and now
seems to have thrown it all away. Keep that in mind the next time you think
that leaning in is such a good thing. Keep that in mind the next time you use
your career to make a political statement.
Anyway, Kelly’s new morning show on NBC has been a bust. For
those who hired her and for Kelly herself, the news keeps getting bad. The Washington Post has the story:
Last
year, Kelly was a rising star on Fox News, earning national headlines for
her dogged questioning of presidential candidate Donald Trump. But her short
tenure on NBC’s “Megyn Kelly Today” continues to be challenging both for her
and the network.
The
show premiered on Sept. 25, and its ratings continue to tank.
The
fallout is so worrisome to the network that other “Today” hosts have
begun visiting Kelly’s show as if on a rescue mission, according to
the trade publications. Matt Lauer, Al Roker and Savannah Guthrie all recently
appeared. It could be “a strategic way to familiarize viewers with faces
they already know and boost viewership,” according to Variety.
How do Kelly’s ratings rate with those of her predecessors?
Rather poorly, as it happens:
Her
ratings aren’t even close to those of her predecessors, Tamron Hall and Al
Roker, compared to their show during the same time-slot last year. During
her debut week, Kelly’s show was down 12 percent in total
viewership from that time slot last year. The second week brought in 24 percent
fewer viewers, and the third week saw a 23 percent smaller audience, according
to Nielsen data obtained by Variety.
How is Kelly doing against the competition? Not very well
there, either:
Meanwhile,
the show’s biggest direct competitor, ABC’s “Live With Kelly and
Ryan,” has a healthy lead over Megyn Kelly. The ABC program drew 14
percent more viewers than Kelly during her first week and a robust 34 percent
more during her second, according to Nielsen data obtained by BuzzFeed News.
For all her caterwauling about wanting to spend more time
with her children, Kelly seemed to wanted to stick it to Fox News… and thus to
become a feminist heroine.
Unfortunately for her, it seems to have boomeranged. Anyone who
thought that Kelly would be a great fit for 9:00 a.m. should find another line
of work.
I don't watch morning TV; well, not network TV.
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ReplyDeleteIt does reminds me, what do they say in baseball? Oh, yes, "...the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer." Or we could go with Woody Allen's "70% of success is showing up."
ReplyDeleteCertainly the will to succeed or fail in the public eye takes a certain sort of courage. But I guess that needed courage is somewhat smaller after you make $10 million a year. You can bank a steep learning curves off of just a few years off that.
Probably its true - alpha men will live and die to make the most money because that's what they love, while most alpha women will never make as much because they don't worship money as the end-all, be-all of a good life.
Anyway for the rest of us who don't want to work so hard, we have our daily spite and ill wishes towards the undeserving once successful people to keep us company.