Megyn Kelly's Ratings Fall to Olbermann-In-His-Mom's-Basement Levels

The former Fox rising star is now doing brief appearances on... MSNBC.

I suppose this is to help get viewers from MSNBC. And maybe to get some extra work out of her to justify her $23 million/year salary.

But it's just sad.

A big get with Harvey Weinstein accuser Lauren Sivan wasn's big enough to pull Megyn Kelly out of her ratings slump.

Her "Megyn Kelly Today" viewership slipped from 0.77 ratings points on Monday to 0.54 ratings points on Tuesday of last week.

"It's a possible all-time low for 'Today.' It may even be lower than her [Fox] cable show. [NBC News president] Noah [Oppenheim] and [NBC News and MSNBC chairman] Andy [Lack] are in big trouble," a source told us.

Another source added, "That's a big drop. They have to turn this around."

Some people project warmth and humanity; some project intelligence. Some project both and some, like Hillary Clinton, project neither.

Megyn Kelly projected intelligence (and ambition, and drama) on Fox. But she never projected warmth or humanity. She would sometimes try to show her "lighter, playful style" by making a cutesie joke or having some friendly banter with Christ Stirewalt or whatever, and I'd always think: "Ew. Stop that. Go back to asking questions."

She might be the nicest sweetest person in the world and a woman who oozes empathy -- it's theoretically possible -- but she just doesn't project that. At all. It comes off phoney fakey, like the head cheerleader, who's never said a word to you before, suddenly asking you how your day's going at the time that, oh yeah, she's running for senior class president.

She seems very calculated, which isn't always a bad thing, but it makes her attempts to seem "relatable" and "fun" purely transactional -- some media coach has told her she's missing the Warmth Card in her TV Presentation Game, so she's trying the Make a Cute Face and Giggle maneuver and Tell Dana Perino You Love Her Shoes gambit.

Her persona as a spotlight seeking, confrontation craving prosecutorial ice queen worked for her. It seemed real. Maybe because it was real.

And it wasn't a bad persona at all -- I liked it.

Her attempt to refashion herself as Just a Workin' Mom Like You and America's Sweetheart doesn't seem to be her at all.

Speaking of MSNBC phonies, they hunted down the staffer who leaked that embarrassing tape of Lawrence O'Donnell and had him fired.

I guess that's pretty understandable.

Now I hope they'll understand when Trump starts firing his insubordinate leakers.

posted by Ace at 04:31 PM

| Access Comments