It’s been a bumpy couple of weeks for Megyn Kelly in her newest role as a morning TV host on NBC’s Today. During her first episode, she asked a homosexual fan of Will and Grace if he became gay because of the show, and during a discussion about gun violence, she awkwardly cut off Tom Brokaw while he was speaking out against the National Rifle Association. There have been many other head-scratching moments in the show’s short run, and it appears they are all adding up to one thing: low ratings.
According to Page Six, Megyn Kelly’s portion of Today is dragging the rest of the show down because of low ratings:
“Not only are ratings plummeting since Megyn Kelly joined the ‘Today’ franchise, but the numbers show Kelly’s lead-in has also affected Kathie Lee [Gifford] and Hoda Kotb’s show, which follows straight afterwards,” a source said.
“They’ve taken a huge hit with Megyn as their lead-in,” the insider added.
Kelly’s hour of “Today” is down 32 percent compared to a year ago. And “Kathie Lee & Hoda” is down 26 percent.
Another source went on to say that the format of Kelly’s show (news, commentary, human interest, interviews) doesn’t fit with the overall Today brand and the other hosts are concerned.
A source at NBC told Page Six that the fluctuations in ratings were expected and that the network fully supported Kelly (she appeared on MSNBC during an afternoon block after her show aired on the mothership this morning). Moreover, “Kathie Lee just took her to lunch today.”
(Via Page Six)