Posted on 05/20/2016 9:24:07 PM PDT by BlackFemaleArmyColonel
Megyn Kelly’s much-publicized broadcast special with Donald Trump was supposed to launch the Fox News star into the stratosphere of television anchordom. Instead, the widely panned show seems to have achieved the opposite result: It exposed the extent of her limited mainstream appeal. Kelly drew just 4.8 million viewers on Tuesday night, a number television executives say is a disappointment by any measure. Three senior executives I spoke with say an audience of 9 million would have been a success. "Not good for her at all," was how one insider put it.
In the days since, Kelly has been working to contain the fallout. She took aim at critics on her cable show Wednesday night by deploying an age-old Fox News tactic: claiming the backlash was a result of liberal media bias. But behind the scenes, she is said to be worried about the response. “She’s very upset with the show reaction, and in hindsight with how it was produced,” one Fox veteran told me.
The stakes for Kelly are high. As the Times recently reported, she’s in the final year of her contract and has been on a media blitz campaigning for a bigger job at Fox or another network. In recent interviews, she’s said her ambition is to be a combination of Oprah, Charlie Rose, and Barbara Walters. The special was essentially a public interview for her next job. But Kelly's chummy treatment of Trump may have damaged her brand as tough and fair-minded (this being Fox, the bar was pretty low). Worse, she cozied up to Trump at the very moment Rupert Murdoch decided Fox News will support the GOP front-runner. By lobbing softballs — or, as Times TV critic James Poniewozik described her questions, "airballs" — at Trump, Kelly came across like any other GOP cheerleader at the right-wing network.
The question for Kelly and her agents at CAA is where to go from here. Before the special, she had maneuvered herself into a position of significant leverage over her boss Roger Ailes and seemed poised to land either a new deal from Fox with a salary in the $25 million range or a plum job at another network. Industry sources said Ailes couldn’t afford to lose Kelly. Now her advantage looks smaller — a turn of events that surely pleases Ailes. According to one Fox insider, Ailes was heard “snickering” in a meeting yesterday when the topic of Kelly’s special came up in conversation. (Ailes's spokesperson Irena Briganti did not respond to a request for comment.)
For their part, Kelly's team doesn't seem eager to talk about the program. When I called her CAA agent Matt DelPiano to ask him about the special, he hung up.
Check with Brit. He probably has the scoop. Maybe it’s mean of me, but I’m glad to see this. Megan, Kristol, Beck and Levin, Perino, Gutfeld are all off my TV and radio. They aren’t worried about “conservatism”..or this country. Sadly, Rush has become just like them. Who’d have thunk it?
LOL. Nailed it.
It looks like she’s decompressing in the picture on the right. LOL?
Me too. Boycotting Megyn Kelly is too easy. She is becoming a better Kardashian than the Kardasians.
Hasn't she had a few kids? Porn is out of the question, no one want to see that................
When you have little or no other talent, you take your clothes off. Meh.
Arthur ! You put the “see” in Conspiracy :)
she has to be seething over these articles this week, and Ailes has to be licking his chops over the upcoming contract negotiations.
LOL!
She’s had some work done. She looks a lot different in these pictures compared to now.
Ailes would want the ratings more than seeing her value drop. If he’s snickering it’s to save his own ass.
See that man behind the curtain. No, it’s not Alfred Hitchcock, it’s Roger Ailes, he’s smiling ear to ear and eating an oversized SNICKER’S BAR right in front of Megyn. She pretends not to notice.
I haven’t seen anything this disturbing since the Zapruter film. ;-)
Hey, I’m watching RedEye right now.
Guest Host on Jerry Springer Show?
Now she has the BDSM look.
She’s already on #2, so #3 will be much older and filthy rich.
I was actually making a joke at her expense but forgot to include the picture. Now it looks like I was posting that om her support. :/
Move Greta back to 9 that was her time spot that Me Again stole
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.