It’s tough being the next Oprah Winfrey, especially when you say you want to be the next Oprah Winfrey.
Megyn Kelly, who bailed from Fox News to make millions hosting her own show in the 9 a.m. hour on NBC, has hit a new low, according to the New York Post.
Her “Megyn Kelly Today” viewership slipped from 0.77 million on Monday to 0.54 million on Tuesday of last week, the Post reports.
“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.”
Kelly also appeared for the first time on MSNBC earlier this week.
“It’s unthinkable. You don’t see Matt [Lauer] or Savannah [Guthrie] on MSNBC … It’s not a good sign.”
The poor ratings are affecting other shows on the network. “Kelly’s lackluster ratings are also dragging down ‘Kathie Lee & Hoda,’ Page Six reported after Kelly’s hour of ‘Today’ was down 32 percent as compared to a year ago, while ‘Kathie Lee & Hoda’ fell 26 percent, and insiders are blaming that on Kelly’s ‘weak lead-in.’ “
Kelly’s had a few missteps in the early going. When she sat down earlier this month with Oscar-winner Jane Fonda, she asked the 79-year-old actress about her plastic surgery.
A clearly miffed Fonda said to Kelly: “We really want to talk about that now?”
Kelly also drew the ire of Will & Grace star Debra Messing in her very first show. Kelly called onto the stage a superfan from the audience, Russell Turner, to meet his television idols.
She asked Turner if he became both a lawyer and gay because of the show, which features an openly homosexual character. The superfan downplayed the question a bit, saying: “I look at Will Truman and I’m like, he has it made: lawyer, apartment in New York City and gay? Come on.”
Russell was whisked off the stage quickly, with Kelly saying, “I don’t know about the lawyer thing, but I think the Will and Grace thing and the gay thing will work out great.”
Messing said on Instagram afterward that she was only told it was a “Today” show appearance and didn’t know Kelly was hosting. She added: “Regret going on. Dismayed by her comments.”
