Following a less-than-stellar start with the network as her limited-run Sunday night newsmagazine disappointed in the ratings and was pulled two episodes shy of its initial 10-episode run, NBC insiders are reportedly sweating as Megyn Kelly’s morning show gets ready to debut.
With the former Fox News anchor’s Today’s Take set to premiere on Sept. 25th, The Daily Beast reported that those at the network are worried that her soft ratings and history with Fox could mean that NBC’s morning audience will reject her outright:
Yet, according to network insiders, her new role is prompting “questions internally about who her audience is exactly” as well as a sense of “total panic” concerning the intense media scrutiny that will unavoidably attend the launch of Megyn Kelly Today, to say nothing of the need to publicly vindicate NBC News Chairman Andy Lack’s $17 million gamble (reportedly her eye-popping annual compensation) when he wooed her away from Fox.
It was not a good omen for Kelly’s daytime prospects when Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly posted disappointing numbers, was reportedly pulled from its limited summer run July 30 two episodes short of the expected 10, and attracted unwelcome controversy with the Alex Jones segment, notably protests from the relatives of the Sandy Hook Elementary School victims (including 20 young children killed in a mass shooting that Jones had called a hoax).