Megyn Kelly made her name feuding with Donald Trump in the 2016 election.
It’s been all downhill from there.
And now one report contains the numbers that could deliver the final nail in her career’s coffin.
NBC wooed Kelly with an astounding three year, $69 million contact.
She was a top rated Fox News host and NBC thought they won the services of a major television star.
That was not the case.
Kelly alienated conservatives by playing to the liberal media crowd and attacking Trump.
But liberals always saw her as the Fox News host who said Santa was white and promoted stories about the Black Panther Party patrolling polling stations in 2008.
She was an anchor without an audience.
And it shows in her tanking ratings.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
“Since joining “Today,” Ms. Kelly is averaging 2.4 million viewers an episode, 18% below what the hour was pulling in last season, according to data from Nielsen. The ratings have declined sharply for the past two months, dipping to a low of 1.9 million, after getting a lift from the network’s coverage of the Winter Olympics in February.
Among adults aged 25 to 54, the key demographic that the show targets, ratings are down 28% since last season.
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.”
Ratings aren’t Kelly’s only concern.
Her show’s bloated budget is straining NBC’s profit margins of the network’s powerhouse Today Show.
The Journal also reports:
“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.
The show also carries a much higher budget, including staff who work as Ms. Kelly’s stylist and publicist. Plus, NBC News spent nearly $10 million redesigning a studio for the show that it also has to rent…
…People familiar with the “Today” economics question how a show with new costs of more than $30 million a year can remain profitable. Others close to the show said it makes less than its predecessor.
An NBC News spokeswoman said Ms. Kelly’s show is profitable.”
Do you believe NBC will fire Kelly?
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