Last week certainly wasn’t a good week for Megyn Kelly , who might have received a lot of compliments for asking Donald Trump about his “sexist” past, but was skewered by most of the Fox News audience. The backlash will most likely be reflected in next week’s rating results. But for this week, when averaging ratings on Zap2It , she fell behind Bill O’Reilly, even in the 25-54 age group she usually wins.
It is important to note the ratings average may not mean much in regards to Kelly’s overall popularity. Instead of doing her show on Thursday night, she participated in the Fox News Republican debate, which scored a record-breaking 25.14 million viewers. Bill O’Reilly, having the show before the actual debate, scored 6.58 million viewers. Still, Bill O’Reilly had an excellent week as his lowest night, Tuesday, brought in 2.92 million viewers.
Those who say Megyn Kelly is beating Bill O’Reilly in the 25-54 age group are wrong — at least this week. Even on the nights where there wasn’t a debate, Bill O’Reilly slightly won the advertiser-preferred 25-54 age group. Still, both of them continue sprinting far ahead of the others in the cable news race. One may wonder why CNN hasn’t cancelled Anderson Cooper’s show; he scored an average of 674,000 viewers a night, and that’s more than usual. However, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow continued with a solid average of 883,000 viewers a night, which is good — especially considering MSNBC’s normally very low ratings.
Rachel Maddow is developing a solid, dedicated audience — one that Megyn Kelly may lose. The backlash against Kelly from Fox Viewers has been swift and brutal, especially on Twitter.
@megynkelly Hasn’t tweeted since 08/07/15. I would hide in shame if I were her too. @FoxNews should fire Megyn Kelly.
— ‘Clear and Present Danger’ Howard Notelling (@BluegrassPundit) August 9, 2015
Commenters after a Breitbart article, who are usually very complimentary towards Kelly, really lost respect for her.
“Yep, about a month after Megyn got that new time slot she has turned into a smug smartass. I cant stand watching her sometimes,” writes Ron Hunt. He goes on to say he believes Megyn Kelly badgers her guests and never lets them speak.
“Smug smarta*s is correct….she was trying to imitate Maddow or auditioning for a job at MSNBC…..when she started her show she was a little more conservative and serious……..now everything is a smarmy remark as she flashes her fake eyelids,” says commenter sipius.
Meanwhile, Bill O’Reilly continued the week sounding off about his favorite topics: illegal immigration, Planned Parenthood, and Hillary Clinton. Perhaps it’s a good thing that Bill O’Reilly didn’t participate in the debate; he saved himself from the vitriol of Fox News viewers who think the station is losing its grip.
[Photos by Craig Barritt and Desiree Navarro / Getty Images]
