Megyn Kelly off to Underwhelming Start

This time last year, Megyn Kelly’s star was on the rise. By the time of the November election, Kelly was, arguably, the highest profile pundit on the planet. Her abrupt departure from Fox after, let’s be honest, a caustic relationship with then-candidate Trump, was both expected and filled with questions.

Kelly had made a name for herself as a slanted-but-less-so talking head on Fox News. Viewers loved her … until she had the temerity to act like a journalist when addressing candidate Trump. Fox viewers railed at Kelly’s treatment of Trump, and from that moment on, her days seemed to be numbered at the nation’s number one news network.

But, despite the contention, there was still some surprise when Kelly bolted the network for a new job at NBC News. Maybe it was because many fans had turned on her. Maybe she saw the writing on the wall at Fox, soon to be embroiled in harassment scandals. Maybe she just thought the move was the best one for her career. Whatever her reasons, expectations were high, and attention was piqued when Kelly was set to, finally, take her place in the anchor chair for NBC, on a show tailored just for her brand, “Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly.”

Kelly told reporters to expect her newsmagazine show to be “cutting edge” and to tackle issues with a perspective and fervor other networks could not match. And, right out of the gate, Kelly had a shoo-in interview: Vladimir Putin.

And, despite getting high marks for her conduct during and the content of that high-profile interview, the ratings were not as kind to Kelly as some hoped they would be. Critics were also quick to point out that, despite a few gimmicky segments, the show really didn’t bring much new to the table. And “new” is something Kelly will have to bring.

The biggest commodity she has going for her right now is people wondering where she really lands on the “left to right” political scale. Fox viewers tend to see things from one side or the other, but many NBC News viewers like to believe they’re more “centrist” than other networks, even when they might lean center left.

Brand identity is vital in TV news these days. Kelly’s brand identity is under consideration and, from some circles, in outright dispute. So, she has an opportunity here to establish a brand identity apart from Fox. Her first show didn’t offer much in the way of that. Sure, she thrived in the hard-punching prosecutorial role that got her in trouble with Trump fans, but there needs to be more “there” there if Kelly wants to distinguish herself and draw an audience away from other Sunday night news shows.

Robert Gillings is an award winning writer, producer, actor architectural designer, philosopher and financial consultant.