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Megyn Kelly’s Departure Is a Big Clue About the Future of Fox News
New York Magazine ^ | January 2017 | Gabriel Sheman

Posted on 01/04/2017 4:50:12 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Megyn Kelly’s decision to jump from Fox News to NBC resolves one of the last unanswered questions of the Roger Ailes scandal: Would she stay or would she go when her contract ended? With her last show set to air on Friday, Kelly’s departure raises a new series of questions about how transferrable her talents are and where Fox News is headed now that the network has lost its biggest star and one of its few hosts with serious mainstream credibility.

For Kelly, the jump from a primetime perch at Fox to a multifaceted role at NBC carries a high degree of risk. She’ll be giving up the most loyal audience in cable news for new set of platforms that she’ll have to largely build herself. At NBC, Kelly will anchor an Oprah-like daytime show, launch a new Sunday night news magazine, and contribute to the network’s political coverage. The track record for talented anchors launching daytime programs hasn’t been good (see: Katie Couric, Meredith Vieira, Anderson Cooper), and no Fox News star has successfully crossed over to the mainstream before. But Kelly’s prodigious talents as a broadcaster, not to mention her canny media instincts, could help her defy the trend.

Sources close to Kelly told me today that her departure is an indication of just how unhappy she had become at Fox in the wake of her high-profile feud with Donald Trump and revelations she had accused Ailes of sexual harassment. Her relationships with Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity in particular had completely broken down, one Fox host told me. “Bill hated her,” the host said. As Kelly’s contract negotiations dragged on during her much-publicized book tour, things also grew strained with Rupert Murdoch, two sources said. One Fox insider told me Murdoch balked when Kelly asked for $25 million late in the talks. (A person close to Kelly disputed this, saying that said Kelly never asked for a specific dollar amount but that Fox had offered $25 million.)

Inside Fox News, staffers are speculating over who will replace Kelly. According to insiders I spoke with today, the consensus seems to be that the Murdochs will choose a woman to fill her 9 p.m. time slot. The leading internal contenders include Trish Regan, Shannon Bream, Sandra Smith, and Martha MacCallum. Two sources said Kimberly Guilfoyle is lobbying for the job.

The one thing Fox insiders are in agreement on is that whoever replaces Kelly will be a pro-Trump conservative. In the wake of Ailes’s ouster, some media observers speculated that 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch wanted to reposition Fox to the center, bringing it more in line with his moderate political views. But the selection of a pro-Trump host to fill Kelly’s slot would suggest that Fox is instead doubling down on its right-wing politics and planning to align itself with the new administration. After initially being hostile to Trump, Murdoch has made moves to curry favor with the president-elect. Fox insiders told me that Murdoch personally named pro-Trump anchor Tucker Carlson to replace Greta Van Susteren at 7 p.m.

Murdoch’s relationship with Trump has greatly improved since the depths of Trump’s battle with Kelly last year. “I really like Rupert Murdoch!” Trump told guests at Mar-a-Lago over the holidays, according to an attendee. “Roger Ailes was a friend of mine, but Fox’s coverage is so much better since he left.”

If Fox News’ politics ultimately solidify as more pro-Trump than they were during the campaign, that might be to the benefit of Murdoch’s business interests. According to a well-placed source, Trump has asked Murdoch to submit names for FCC Chairman. Murdoch, another source said, also wants conditions put on the AT&T-Time Warner merger, and he could lobby Trump to make that happen.

That Murdoch might choose to align his news network with Trump shouldn’t come as a surprise. Throughout his career, Murdoch has tended to support the officeholder in power, whether it was Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, or George W. Bush. He even flirted with endorsing Barack Obama in ‘08, but at the time backed off when Ailes complained.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bimbo; donaldtrump; foxnews; howardstern; kds; lingeriemodel; megynkelly; pavlovianreaction; rupertmurdoch
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1 posted on 01/04/2017 4:50:12 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
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To: 3D-JOY; abner; Abundy; AGreatPer; Albion Wilde; AliVeritas; alisasny; ALlRightAllTheTime; ...

For those not saying, “Megyn who???”

PING!


2 posted on 01/04/2017 4:50:48 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Hey, New Delhi! What the hell were you thinking???)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Gabriel Sherman is LOL funny! This story is a hoot!


3 posted on 01/04/2017 4:52:29 PM PST by jjotto ("Ya could look it up!")
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

‘One of it’s (FoxNews) few hosts with mainstream credibility’

Yeah, right. Nobody watches her on FoxNews now as she’s tainted meat (pun intended).


4 posted on 01/04/2017 4:54:37 PM PST by originalbuckeye ("In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." - George Orwell)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
She specifically tried to take out Trump during the first debate.

She thought she was so hot.

It failed, she failed, goodbye.


5 posted on 01/04/2017 4:54:51 PM PST by ForYourChildren (Christian Education [ RomanRoadsMedia.com - Classical Christian Approach to Homeschool ])
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To: jjotto

Hoot is right.

“...Kelly’s departure raises a new series of questions about how transferrable her talents are and where Fox News is headed now that the network has lost its biggest star and one of its few hosts with serious mainstream credibility.”


6 posted on 01/04/2017 4:55:03 PM PST by map
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To: jjotto

“... its biggest star and one of its few hosts with serious mainstream credibility...”

LOL...Check her ratings...LOL


7 posted on 01/04/2017 4:56:45 PM PST by JBW1949 (I'm really PC....PATRIOTICALLY CORRECT!!!!)
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To: map

I’ve never seen anything about her other than she is a rather hot-looking blonde person.


8 posted on 01/04/2017 4:57:12 PM PST by Nothingburger
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
no Fox News star has successfully crossed over to the mainstream before

"Mainstream"??? Like New York magazine, perhaps?

9 posted on 01/04/2017 4:58:24 PM PST by madprof98
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

NBC is “mainstream “ and Fox is “right wing”.

Got it?


10 posted on 01/04/2017 4:59:42 PM PST by samtheman (I REALLY hope Trump reads FR)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Trish Regan, Shannon Bream, Sandra Smith, and Martha MacCallum. Two sources said Kimberly Guilfoyle is lobbying for the job.

All excellent choices and listed in my order of preference, by chance.

11 posted on 01/04/2017 4:59:54 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
where Fox News is headed now that the network has lost its biggest star and one of its few hosts with serious mainstream credibility.

It's the mainstream that has credibility issues with the American people, not Fox.

12 posted on 01/04/2017 5:01:36 PM PST by A_perfect_lady
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Kelly will never make it.

America has signaled that it does not want to watch femino-nazis channel there urges to pu$$uy whip America
on prime time. The vote is i n against the Megyn Kellys of the media, and its thumbs down.

Maybe Kelly can later become and understudy of Martha Stewart.
But she is no journalist without the infrastructure that did her work FOR her at Fox. NBC can’t come close.


13 posted on 01/04/2017 5:02:14 PM PST by Candor7 ( Obama fascism article:(http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/barack_obama_the_quintessentia_1.html)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

Sharyl Attkisson, Jeanine Pirro, Laura Ingram, Michele Malkin

Just sayin.....


14 posted on 01/04/2017 5:04:52 PM PST by Cold War Veteran - Submarines
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
... and no Fox News star has successfully crossed over to the mainstream before. But Kelly’s prodigious talents as a broadcaster, not to mention her canny media instincts, could help her defy the trend.

"Prodigious" talents? "Canny" media instincts?

Good grief, did the author of NY Mag sleep with her, so as to shower her with unbridled praise (false praise)? She is neither smart nor canny. Her inane questions during the Presidential Debate confirmed that. She is a so-so celebrity, preening her self in a mirror without contributing to any news cycle. The one smart thing about her is her penchant for getting money; but then again so can a street whore.

15 posted on 01/04/2017 5:07:11 PM PST by roadcat
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To: originalbuckeye
She will be a bitter has been within two years. She's about to get a big reality check.
16 posted on 01/04/2017 5:08:12 PM PST by peeps36 (Obama = the skidmark on America's underwear.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

“”The leading internal contenders include Trish Regan, Shannon Bream, Sandra Smith, and Martha MacCallum. Two sources said Kimberly Guilfoyle is lobbying for the job””

Is Trish Regan the one with the pretty red hair...I’d pick her. The others have voices that would prevent me from going to FOX at that hour..worst of all choices would be Guilfoyle!


17 posted on 01/04/2017 5:09:21 PM PST by Thank You Rush
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To: Candor7

She’s 30 points lower on the cute scale than Katie Couric and still free falling to the bottom of the trust scale ...... and she’s just scaly .Turned my TV off in 08 when MSM lied Erkel Mugabe into power..... haven’t missed it a bit.


18 posted on 01/04/2017 5:12:37 PM PST by Squantos (Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet ...)
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To: ForYourChildren
That picture marks the beginning of the end for her.

Pride goeth before a fall.

19 posted on 01/04/2017 5:13:20 PM PST by AndyJackson
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
. . . where Fox News is headed now that the network has lost its biggest star and one of its few hosts with serious mainstream credibility.

Rubbish. This past election pretty much proved beyond doubt that there is no longer any such thing as "serious mainstream credibility."

20 posted on 01/04/2017 5:19:23 PM PST by Maceman (Screw the Party. Save the Country.)
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