Megyn is making a career-killing move, and it couldn’t happen to a more deserving person.
Apparently, she will anchor some sort of daytime program and a Sunday night magazine for NBC. If it’s an afternoon talk show, she will join the long list of female TV personalities (including Katie Couric and Jane Pauley) who thought they could inherit Oprah’s crown and earn a huge paycheck. Pauley lasted a year and Couric was done by the end of her second season. If you afternoon show doesn’t involve Baby Daddy/DNA testing or involve some sort of courtroom, it won’t work.
On the other hand, if they give her an hour after the “Today” block or the early afternoon, she’ll get killed by the Price is Right or the CBS soap operas. True, audience levels have dropped, but there’s a reason CBS has been #1 in daytime for 30 years, and Megyn won’t change that.
As for the Sunday magazine show, it has to air in the early evening (due to NFL coverage in the fall) and that puts it up against “60 Minutes.” NBC has tried more magazine shows in that time slot than I can remember, and none have had more than marginal success. Hers will be no different. And don’t look for her pop up on “Today” or “NBC Nightly News,” except to promote her other programs. There’s a pecking order at every network, and being the new “star” on the block only gets you so far.
The daytime show runs a year, tops, and the magazine won’t last much longer. Look for her debut on MSNBC in about 18 months, if she decides to remain at the network. Otherwise, she’ll be collecting her buy-out and begging CNN for a job.
Not long ago, NBC lured Josh Elliott away from Good Morning America with a promise to make him a star as well. He lasted barely a year and is now reading the news on CBSN.
One final note: in her departure note, Kelly failed to mention Roger Ailes, the man who gave her a chance, despite a wafer-thin TV resume at the time. Megyn is feckless, tactless and classless. She’ll fit in well at NBC, until low ratings send her packing.
One more benefit...since her salary will be in the $15M range, plus all the production and promotion costs, it will waste that much more of NBC's money that they won't have available to spend on their indoctrination and fake news operations.