The rental of Megyn Kelly NBC was a mistake for the network



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Some things do not go together: Brussels sprouts and chewing gum; cats and canaries; Megyn Kelly and NBC News.

In each of these cases, the incoherent mixture should be obvious, but NBC has, in any case, misunderstood how the combination of Kelly's views, especially on race relations, would go against the positions more conventional NBC. Andrew Lack, the chief information officer of the network, decided to convince Kelly to leave her prime time TV show on Fox News almost two years ago and insert it into the role Main in the 9 o'clock slot for the hit show Today, its hit show.

Lack, who was not alone in the media chasing Kelly, may have been blinded by a disease well known to television directors: the glamorous glare. This is the effect that sometimes emanates from a burning radio talent. This can result in a temporary loss of vision.

The events of recent months, especially last week, seem to indicate that the vision has been restored, although the cost of this fix – $ 69 million – can be considered a bit expensive. This is not good news for Lack, it's just to assume.

The ending of the tragedy that has surrounded Kelly since the day she arrived at NBC seems to be upon us. The network has officially canceled its show Friday, hoping it will no longer play any role in the network.

Lack's experiment – to make Kelly, who had been seductive on Fox News solo, try to emulate Oprah Winfrey by playing warmly and wisely in front of a studio audience – quickly move from misbegotten to miserable. The ratings were worse, the critical appraisal was scathing, internal dissension at NBC News about the move was widespread, and then there were those moments when the nails encountered paintings:

Comments that sounded like shame on the body; guests who went insane (Jane Fonda, Debra Messing); persistent clumsiness in performance; and the occasional smell of what might well be called racial insensitivity. Last week, Kelly was sharply criticized for firing as a deaf-and-deaf person as "politically correct" for the idea that African Americans offend black-faced whites. But she had a documented record of such insensitivity, having, during her days at Fox News, accused some members of the black community to have a "thuggish mentality".
And, of course, there was his famous insistence that Santa should never be interpreted by a black artist because he is – although fictitious – definitely white. You might argue that this could be a risk to hire someone who cares so much about Santa's race.

NBC apparently ignored these concerns when she landed Kelly for an estimated $ 23 million a year. The shoulder shrug included the decision to replace her with two black anchors, Tamron Hall and Al Roker, who earned far less money (and got better odds, as things worked out well).

Lack has certainly had a long and successful career in the information field and still has a number of top-notch assets, including the increase in MSNBC audiences, as well as the status of Today and NBC Nightly News, for which he has done well. play. But for a time, he seemed seduced by the idea of ​​extending the call of NBC News to followers of the new regime in Washington. For example, Hugh Hewitt, a conservative radio host, had a show on MSNBC, which later became a Liberal fortress, and Megyn Kelly, whose views occasionally strayed out of the Fox News story, moved to the neutral territory of 9 o'clock today.

These two gambits have now sunk. At least, Hewitt's sour note in MSNBC's musical score, which would otherwise have been left-leaning, did not result in a win in lottery tickets.

How bad was the mistake of hiring Megyn Kelly? There is sharp discord within the press staff, bad grades, racist remarks and a check that could fund the full list of one. Small market baseball team, it is probably an error with a small chance to go unnoticed.

If past is a prologue, and it is usually in the TV industry, it could all play a role in future NBC News leadership decisions.

This probably does not help that another recent decision regarding NBC News talent did not work well either. Shortly after hiring Kelly, Lack asked to let Ronan Farrow go, just before his job won numerous awards, including a Pulitzer for his reports on the sexual irregularities of many media.
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