Megyn Kelly Leaves Fox News for NBC

 

Just in from NBC:

Megyn Kelly, one of America’s most prominent news anchors, will join NBC News, it was announced today by Andrew Lack, Chairman of the NBCUniversal News Group.

Kelly will become anchor of a new one hour daytime program that she will develop closely with NBC News colleagues. The show will air Monday through Friday at a time to be announced in the coming months.

As part of the multi-year agreement, Kelly will also anchor a new Sunday evening news magazine show and will become an important contributor to NBC’s breaking news coverage as well as the network’s political and special events coverage.

Details about both of Kelly’s news programs will be unveiled in the coming months.

“Megyn is an exceptional journalist and news anchor, who has had an extraordinary career” Lack said. “She’s demonstrated tremendous skill and poise, and we’re lucky to have her.”

Kelly gets an hour of daytime programming and a Sunday evening show in addition to various reporting duties — that’s a massive presence. So is this good news for NBC, bad news for Fox, or will their audience be glad to see her move on?

Update: Kelly just posted about the news on Facebook:

Over a dozen years ago I started at Fox News in a job that would change my life. Now, I have decided to end my time at FNC, incredibly enriched for the experiences I’ve had. I have agreed to join NBC News, where I will be launching a new daytime show Monday through Friday, along with a Sunday evening news magazine program. I will also participate in NBC’s breaking news coverage and its political and special events coverage.

While I will greatly miss my colleagues at Fox, I am delighted to be joining the NBC News family and taking on a new challenge. I remain deeply grateful to Fox News, to Rupert, Lachlan and James Murdoch, and especially to all of the FNC viewers, who have taught me so much about what really matters. More to come soon.

Happy New Year, and God bless.

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  1. PHenry Inactive
    PHenry
    @PHenry

    She has shown me that she is a much better fit at NBC.  Bye Bye!

    • #1
  2. Evan Pokroy Inactive
    Evan Pokroy
    @EvanPokroy

    The question is will she stick by her mostly conservative guns or will she be assimilated by the MSM Borg?

    • #2
  3. Michael Farrow Inactive
    Michael Farrow
    @MichaelFarrow

    I have found her turning more shrill lately.  She also seems to me more superficial in interviews then she had been before she got “loose in the saddle” at Fox. Perhaps it was all a metamorphosis from a Fox ‘conservative’ to MSM flack?

     

    • #3
  4. Austin Murrey Inactive
    Austin Murrey
    @AustinMurrey

    I don’t care?

    Honestly I think Megyn Kelly’s been vastly overrated, but that’s just me.

    I think of her as the female version of William Hurt from Broadcast News.

    • #4
  5. Douglas Inactive
    Douglas
    @Douglas

    And nothing of value was lost.

    • #5
  6. Eustace C. Scrubb Member
    Eustace C. Scrubb
    @EustaceCScrubb

    Going to the Celebrity Apprentice Network might make her feel closer to the Donald.

    • #6
  7. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Does this mean the rumored return of Brian Williams isn’t happening?

    Seawriter

    • #7
  8. JustmeinAZ Member
    JustmeinAZ
    @JustmeinAZ

    Yawn.

    • #8
  9. Jon Gabriel, Ed. Contributor
    Jon Gabriel, Ed.
    @jon

    I can’t remember the last time I saw her or any other prime-time cable news show. I occasionally tune in for breaking news, like on election night, but then I prefer to watch MSNBC for the schadenfreude.

    • #9
  10. Z in MT Member
    Z in MT
    @ZinMT

    Eh.

    It would be nice to see a total revamp of FNC; getting rid of Shepard Smith, OReilly, and Hannity.

    • #10
  11. Johnnie Alum 13 Inactive
    Johnnie Alum 13
    @JohnnieAlum13

    She’d been auditioning for a network gig for at least a year now. Good that she’s leaving fox. She was alright when she was a daytime host but since moving to primetime she’s been shrill.

    Fox has many other problems, and will be in a better position to fix them without Kelly. They have an old stiff lineup. O’Reilly is considering retirement. Tucker deserves a primetime slot.

    • #11
  12. Roberto Inactive
    Roberto
    @Roberto

    Ricochet Editors' Desk: So is this good news for NBC, bad news for Fox, or will their audience be glad to see her move on?

    Who cares?

    Seriously, how is this significant news in any fashion whatsoever?

    • #12
  13. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    Raiding network news talent rarely reaps the rewards executives hope for when they justify the contracts.

    Barbara Walters was a disaster for ABC until they pushed her back into the role of celebrity interviewer. Katie Couric as Dan Rather’s successor? An implosion.

    One of the few times a network switch benefited both journalist and network is when the idiots at NBC decided in 1981 that David Brinkley was too old at 61 to renew his contract. ABC snatched him up and Brinkley made This Week a Sunday morning force. Jack Welch, then head of NBC’s parent company, was so upset that he ordered the media buyers at GE to become This Week‘s primary sponsor.

    • #13
  14. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    I don’t understand the recent villification of Megyn Kelly.  I don’t care what anyone says, when I was in Iraq in 2005 and was lucky enough to get to Al Asad, I fell in love with her eyes.  I think she was also very smart, but I don’t really care.  Her eyes were big pools you could swim in.  She was what I was fighting for.

    • #14
  15. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Wonder how Fox feels after she promoted her book non-stop for weeks on her show. Then again, maybe she paid for those ads? (Don’t watch her–catch her the last 5 min. when my husband flicks channels before watching a 10pm show.)

    • #15
  16. livingthehighlife Inactive
    livingthehighlife
    @livingthehighlife

    EJHill (View Comment):
    Raiding network news talent rarely reaps the rewards executives hope for when they justify the contracts.

    I agree.  Good for her getting a fat contract (I assume it’s more money) and possibly a wider audience.

    Who’s Fox going to put in her place (not that I care because I haven’t watched Fox in years)?

    • #16
  17. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    I suspect Megyn is going to be disappointed. Not with the money, of course. I don’t think a lot of her Fox audience will be following her to NBC so I don’t think it will be much of a net gain for NBC although many of the “big” names are aging. If this signals an editorial change for NBC I think that would be interesting. But I doubt that is the case. More likely Megyn will adapt to NBC’s present editorial inclinations although I doubt she will see it that way.

    • #17
  18. Guruforhire Inactive
    Guruforhire
    @Guruforhire

    I have given up on the world, and so the only news i get is Ricochet, Instapundit, AoS, and local news if my wife forces me.

    If she tripped and fell into the rancor pit I wouldn’t know or care.

    • #18
  19. Matt Bartle Member
    Matt Bartle
    @MattBartle

    My wife TiVo’s her show on Fox, and I find it watchable.

    My real question about Megyn Kelly is – what did her voice originally sound like?

    I find it hard to believe that her current voice is natural – it sounds like she deliberately made it deeper to sound more authoritative.

    • #19
  20. goldwaterwoman Thatcher
    goldwaterwoman
    @goldwaterwoman

    Z in MT (View Comment):
    It would be nice to see a total revamp of FNC; getting rid of Shepard Smith, OReilly, and Hannity.

    O’Reilly has the #1 show of all the cable news shows, so it would be a non starter to get rid of him from a business point of view. Hannity is a lightweight but has a sizable following also. He is in bad need of an intelligent producer. I don’t know about Smith.  Tucker Carlson has brains and a cute personality. Fox should give him Kelly’s time slot and watch his ratings soar.

    • #20
  21. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    By the way, while Kelly is dominating the headlines there is almost total radio silence on Don Lemon’s drunken escapes on CNN on New Year’s Eve. Absolutely nothing from Broadcasting & Cable or TVNewsCheck. AdWeek had a blurb tagged “Events/Funny.”

    That a major television network would allow an obviously drunk anchor on the air and no one even thinks about calling CNN executives and questioning how that process worked tells one quite a bit about the state of TV news.

    • #21
  22. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    Guruforhire (View Comment):
    I have given up on the world, and so the only news i get is Ricochet, Instapundit, AoS, and local news if my wife forces me.

    If she tripped and fell into the rancor pit I wouldn’t know or care.

    Please clarify: Is “she” the aforementioned Ms. Kelly or your wife?

    • #22
  23. PHenry Inactive
    PHenry
    @PHenry

    EJHill (View Comment):
    Don Lemon’s drunken escapes on CNN on New Year’s Eve.

    You mean the rest of the nights he is sober?

    • #23
  24. livingthehighlife Inactive
    livingthehighlife
    @livingthehighlife

    EJHill (View Comment):
    That a major television network would allow an obviously drunk anchor on the air and no one even thinks about calling CNN executives and questioning how that process worked tells one quite a bit about the state of TV news.

    One little clip I saw had his cohost Brooke Baldwin looking like she wanted to do naughty things with him or anyone else that ventured too close.

    • #24
  25. HeartofAmerica Inactive
    HeartofAmerica
    @HeartofAmerica

    Evan Pokroy (View Comment):
    The question is will she stick by her mostly conservative guns or will she be assimilated by the MSM Borg?

    I’m not so sure that she is conservative and if she is, definitely conservative light.

    • #25
  26. She Member
    She
    @She

    Austin Murrey (View Comment):
    I don’t care?

    Honestly I think Megyn Kelly’s been vastly overrated, but that’s just me.

    I think of her as the female version of William Hurt from Broadcast News.

    Completely agree.  Years ago, I thought she was fresh-faced and natural.  Somewhere along the way she started to believe her own press releases, started to wear skimpier outfits, lost her self-awareness, and became about as appealing to me as Nancy Grace has always been.  With weirder (especially lately) hair.

    I won’t miss her.  Would love to see Jennifer Griffin or Catherine Herridge do more on Fox.  Maybe they’ll move Tucker Carlson up in the lineup.

    • #26
  27. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    I haven’t been this devastated since Jim Gilmore announced the suspension of his campaign.

    • #27
  28. livingthehighlife Inactive
    livingthehighlife
    @livingthehighlife

    Percival (View Comment):
    I haven’t been this devastated since Jim Gilmore announced the suspension of his campaign.

    That was the darkest day of 2016.  Or did that happen in 2015?  The trauma of that moment has devastated my memory.

    • #28
  29. Isaac Smith Member
    Isaac Smith
    @

    Percival (View Comment):
    I haven’t been this devastated since Jim Gilmore announced the suspension of his campaign.

    Brilliant.  I would give you a congratulatory thump on the back except I would probably break my hand, so a “like” will have to do.

    • #29
  30. goldwaterwoman Thatcher
    goldwaterwoman
    @goldwaterwoman

    She (View Comment):
    Maybe they’ll move Tucker Carlson up in the lineup.

    Yes!!!  He’s the smartest guy on Fox.

    • #30
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