Finally, some good news for Megyn Kelly. She’s taken quite a few hits for having low ratings on her 9 a.m. hour of Today , but things are changing for her at NBC. While reports implied her days could be numbered with the network, executives weren’t giving up. Four months into the show’s new third hour format, Megyn is attracting a bigger audience by consistently focusing on the current plague of sexual harassment.
USA Today reports that Megyn Kelly Today is seeing a steady ratings increase . The reason is largely due to Kelly regularly devoting time to the epidemic of sexual harassment. After Matt Lauer was fired for alleged sexual misconduct, Megyn invited her former colleague and his accusers to come on the show. It was seen as a controversial move and even one Megyn wasn’t so sure of doing herself, but it may have been the turning point she needed. Her focus on the issue of sexual harassment morphed into featuring three women on her show who’ve accused President Trump of sexual misconduct.
Nielsen revealed that Megyn Kelly’s hour of Today was showing slow signs of progress in ratings from mid-October into November among the core news viewing group of those between the ages of 25 and 54. In December, Megyn averaged 2.7 million viewers, an improvement over the 2.4 million viewers she had in September. Until December 3, Nielsen had Megyn Kelly Today viewership down 20 percent compared to the same hour last year (hosted by Al Roker and Tamron Hall), which had 2.4 million viewers.
The three women who have publicly accused President Trump of sexual misconduct on #MegynTODAY https://t.co/Pzceix3jRY pic.twitter.com/5knhojT0y4
— Megyn Kelly TODAY (@MegynTODAY) December 11, 2017
Megyn wanted to evade the world of politics on Today and have lighter subject matters, but that was before the avalanche of sexual harassment allegations against prominent men started. After Bill O’Reilly and Harvey Weinstein were accused of such wrongdoings, Kelly interviewed some of their accusers.
Megyn Kelly also shared her personal experiences of sexual harassment at Fox News by complaining about O’Reilly’s behavior via email to executives in spite of him saying no complaints had been made against him at the network. O’Reilly was fired from Fox News in April after an internal investigation by the network was conducted following allegations by numerous women.
Megyn Kelly is appealing to her audience by exploring the epidemic of sexual harassment and giving women a public platform where they can feel safe. The former Fox News journalist is new to this type of format and the viewers are also learning what it is they expect from the Today host. At this point, she’s gaining a lot more approval, and that’s great news for her and NBC.
