Megyn Kelly Today has had trouble attracting viewers since it debuted in September, causing NBC executives to consider moving it out of the popular 9 a.m. slot. Under this scenario, Megyn Kelly Today would be pushed back an hour and flip-flop with Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb’s hour of the Today show which would move forward by an hour to replace it. Page Six reports that when Kelly replaced Tamron Hall and Al Roker’s Today’s Take in October 2017, Gifford and Kotb’s ratings “took a huge hit.” At that time, Kelly was down 32 percent compared to the time slot’s viewership in the previous year. Page Six reports that Kelly’s low viewership dropped Gifford and Kotb by 26 percent, because the viewers who turned off Kelly’s show never returned for Gifford and Kotb’s 10 a.m. hour.
Some insiders think Kelly should play nice and accept the time swap.
“It’s the smart move,” said a source, according to Page Six. “At the very least that limits the damage already done to Hoda and Kathie Lee—maybe with a strong lead-in from ‘Today’ at 9 a.m., they’ll even pick up some of the viewers they lost since Megyn went on the air.”
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