Newswoman Megyn Kelly is set to start fresh
With new show, she says she wants to entertain, inspire and empower viewers
If it’s Sunday, it’s Megyn Kelly on NBC.
The former Fox News anchor told an audience of ad executives at the recent NBC upfront sales presentation at New York’s Radio City Music Hall that her new newsmagazine program, “Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly,” will premiere at 6 p.m. June 4. It will compete directly against CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
Kelly, who signed with NBC in January, was introduced on stage by “Today” co-anchors Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie and “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt.
Lauer described his new colleague as “someone who shares our values and will help make us even better tomorrow.” It was a public show of unity, as New York tabloid gossip pages have pushed the idea that Kelly is a “Today” co-anchor in waiting.
There are no such plans, but Kelly does have a morning program coming in the fall and airing at 8 a.m., following Lauer and Guthrie. NBC has yet to announce when Kelly will officially start her new daily morning show. The network canceled the 8 a.m. hour of “The Today” show to make room for Kelly, causing Tamron Hall to leave the network.
“I’ve spent enough time staring at the refrigerator, it’s time to do some news,” Kelly told the Hollywood Reporter last month.
Kelly said she wants to give viewers an uplifting experience in the morning, promising that her show will “entertain them, inspire them and empower them, we hope, to take on new challenges and help them settle for more in their lives.”
Kelly’s recent best-selling memoir is titled “Settle for More.”
Kelly’s book recounted repeated incidents of sexual harassment by the late former Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes during her early years in the company’s Washington bureau. Ailes died May 18.
She reported the incident to investigators who looked into Ailes’ behavior after former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment and retaliation suit against the executive. Ailes, who had denied all harassment allegations made against him, was forced out of the company last July. The company has been beleaguered by harassment allegations ever since.
Though Fox News made a strong bid to keep Kelly, who emerged as a breakout star on the top-rated cable channel, her remarks to advertisers indicated that she was eager to jump networks — a risky move that has not often worked in the TV-news business.
“I’m thrilled now to be able to anchor the kind of broadcasts that I always dreamed I’d be able to do, (that) I felt in my heart I was born to do,” she said.
So far, no guests have been announced, but sources confirm that Fox Sports reporter and “Dancing With the Stars” host Erin Andrews will be among Kelly’s first interview subjects. Kelly was spotted chatting with Andrews on the beach in Santa Monica, Calif., the day after her appearance at the network’s upfront presentation with advertisers.
Kelly also has said she is hopeful about landing a one-on-one interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin. She will travel to Russia in June to moderate a session during the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Putin is among a group of panelists that includes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern.
“The conversation will cover a wide range of global political and economic topics, including international trade agreements, cyber-security and the impact of rising military tensions,” according to a NBC spokesperson.
With a 7 p.m. time slot, NBC appears to be going after “60 Minutes,” the unstoppable news show that’s been an unbeatable news feature at CBS on Sunday nights for 50 years. Kelly will benefit from her show’s June launch date, as “60 Minutes” typically airs reruns between May and September.
“Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly” will run throughout the summer, but it will go off the air in place of Sunday Night Football in the fall and winter and the Winter Olympics, which NBC will air February.
Kelly left Fox News in January after 12 years at the network, reportedly turning down a $20 million-a-year offer to remain as the network’s highest-rated female star.
The move came in the aftermath of accusations she made in her book about being a victim of sexual abuse from Ailes, though Bill O’Reilly also reportedly played a large role in causing Kelly to leave the network.
Ailes’ son Zachary, 17, speaking at a eulogy for his father, appeared to issue a threat to Kelly and other former Fox News personalities who spoke out about sexual harassment at the network.
“I want all the people who betrayed my father to know that I’m coming after them and hell is coming with me,” Ailes said, according to New York magazine reporter and Ailes biographer Gabriel Sherman.