Once a rising star at Fox News, Megyn Kelly transferred over to NBC and hosts Megyn Kelly Today, which airs in the third hour of the Today show. However, it has placed her out of her element and the ratings continue to fall.
Popular host Hoda Kotb appeared on the show on Thursday, when an impromptu dance party happened. It is one of the most awkward 22 seconds you will ever see.
You can see Kelly trying to remain upbeat and not let her face fall.
Other Today hosts have appeared on the show and some experts believe it’s a way to prop up her ratings. But the Hoda appearance did nothing but bring embarrassment to those who watched it.
Kate Arthur at BuzzFeed found that the ratings for Megyn Kelly Today has lower ratings for the third hour of the Today show compared to when Al Roker and Tamron Hall cohosted the hour last fall:
Despite a huge marketing push for Megyn Kelly Today, the show was down 12% in total viewers in Week 1 (2.9 million for Roker and Hall versus 2.5 million for Kelly), 24% in Week 2 (2.9 million versus 2.2 million), and 23% in Week 3 (2.9 million versus 2.3 million). Worse are Kelly’s ratings in the key demographic for news, adults 25 to 54: Week 1, down 25%; Week 2, down 38%; Week 3, down 33%. (Oct. 9 was Columbus Day, during which daytime shows traditionally get a bump, and Kelly drew a .8 in the 25-to-54 demo that day, tying her highest rating since the show’s premiere. For the rest of the week, she drew .5s and .6s.)
NBC wanted to use Kelly to compete with ABC’s popular Live With Kelly and Ryan. Obviously, that hasn’t happened:
In Megyn Kelly Today’s first week, Live beat it by 14% among viewers and 17% in the 25-to-54 demographic. In the second week, the gap widened, with Live besting Megyn Kelly Today by 34% among viewers and 60% in the demo. (Syndicated shows have a one-week lag in delivering ratings, so Week 3 comparisons are not yet available.)
To make matters worse, Kelly’s hour has put a dent in the popular fourth hour hosted by Hoda and Kathie Lee Gifford:
It’s down both in total viewers and among 25- to 54-year-olds compared to the same weeks last year. In last year’s demo ratings, Today’s third hour (with Roker and Hall) drew a .8 in the first two weeks of the season and a .9 in the third week, handing a strong lead-in to Kathie Lee and Hoda. Megyn Kelly Today has drawn a .6, .5, and .6 during the same weeks, which leaves Today at 10 a.m. struggling to hold on: The results are double-digit declines when compared to the start of the 2016 season.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY