Megyn Kelly, NBC News’ $15 million woman, had her show bumped on Monday in the wake of the mass murders in Las Vegas — and sources say it’s a bad sign.
After a rough first week, “Megyn Kelly Today” was pre-empted at the 9 a.m. hour so that Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie could continue anchoring news on the deadliest shooting in US history.
“It’s baffling why they didn’t have Kelly participate in the coverage,” one network veteran said. “They seem confused.”
While Kelly made it clear that she doesn’t want to talk about politics on her show, NBC News has said she will be part of the network’s election coverage.
Critics blasted Kelly’s show last week — one called it a “morning-show Bride of Frankenstein” — while Jane Fonda and Debra Messing took issue with the way Kelly handled their segments.
Al Roker and Tamron Hall had better ratings in the same time slot at this time a year ago.
Kelly, who did a lot of hugging the first week, is trying to repackage herself as a warm, relatable mom, “but she’s a hard-edged, elbow-throwing lawyer,” one TV insider said.
NBC News chief Andy Lack might be expected to shoulder some of the blame for the show’s rocky start, but as one source said, “Andy has nine lives.”