NBC's huge bet on Megyn Kelly seems to be floundering, according to a new report by The Wall Street Journal's Joe Flint.
NBC paid a hefty $69 million salary (over three years) to lure Kelly from Fox News, but since then "her ratings declines and higher production costs have been a drag on a critical franchise for NBC," The Journal reports.
Her daytime show “Megyn Kelly Today,” which airs at 9 a.m., has seen underwhelming viewership, and her Sunday newsmagazine has been downgraded to "occasional prime-time specials."
The Journal called Kelly's $23-million-a-year contract a "throwback to the golden age of broadcast news," but how does it stack up next to other top TV hosts today?
In August, Variety compiled the biggest estimated annual salaries of reality, news, and talk show hosts. There were newbies to the game like Mike Meyers and Jamie Foxx, and big hitters like Ryan Seacrest, Ellen DeGeneres, and Judith Sheindlin (you know her better as Judge Judy).
Here were the top paid hosts, as estimated by Variety last summer (excluding Megyn Kelly):
Note: Some of these figures below include fees for producing and back-end compensation.
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Mike Myers (“The Gong Show”) - $3 million
Jamie Foxx (“Beat Shazam”) - $ 3 million
Alec Baldwin (“Match Game”) - $3 million
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