NBC's "Megyn Kelly Today" ratings continue to face challenges after nearly a month on air while its top competitor, ABC’s "Live with Kelly and Ryan," enjoys a healthy lead.
The former Fox News anchor’s new talk show premiered Sept. 25 to largely negative reviews and continues to experience low viewership ratings, the Washington Post reported.
Her ratings don’t compare to that of her predecessors, Tamron Hall and Al Roker, witnessing a 12 percent decline in viewership from last year during her show’s debut week. The second week of "Megyn Kelly Today" saw a 24 percent drop in viewers from last year and the third week saw a 23 percent smaller audience, according to Nielsen ratings data.
Kelly’s ABC competitor drew 14 percent more viewers than Kelly during her first week and a scathing 34 percent more during the second week.
The network and "Today" franchise have begun to send other "Today" hosts to her show to save the sinking ship, according to the trade publications. Matt Lauer, Al Roker, and Savannah Guthrie have all appeared on Kelly’s show in the less-than-one-month period the show has been on air.
Kelly’s short time with the "Today" franchise has been riddled with issues.
During the first week, she asked a "Will & Grace" fan if he was homosexual because of the sitcom’s lead character, a gay lawyer. The comment enraged star of the show, Debra Messing. A few days later, she had an awkward exchange with Jane Fonda when she asked the 79-year-old actress about her plastic surgery.
As a result, the show is having problems booking celebrity guests, according to one publicist.
"I’m not booking anyone on her show," a publicist, who requested to remain anonymous, told Variety. "I literally haven’t pitched anyone even from right out the gate. The buzz that is out there is so bad."
An NBC spokesperson denied the report.