Megyn Kelly Still Looking For An Executive Producer On NBC

Megyn Kelly has reportedly yet to hire an executive producer (i.e., showrunner) for either of her new gigs on NBC.

In the fall, the ex-Fox News Channel star is taking over the 9 a.m. Eastern, Monday-through-Friday slot for NBC, which may or may not be part of the Today franchise but will compete with Live with Kelly and Ryan syndicated on ABC.

She also will anchor a TV news magazine show in direct competition with CBS 60 Minutes to be called Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly. The show premieres on June 4 (and will air outside of the NFL football season) featuring an interview with Erin Andrews of Fox Sports.

According to media industry insider website FTVLive, no one is rushing to work for Megyn Kelly despite her high-profile status, however.

“NBC and Megyn Kelly would like you to believe it’s because there are just so many great people lining up for the job, that it’s hard to choose. But, sources tell FTVLive it is quite the opposite. ‘They have approached some big names and they have all said no,’ a source tells FTVLive.”

As alluded to above, NBC execs still haven’t decided whether Megyn Kelly’s daytime show will be rebranded or remain under the Today umbrella. The same goes for the 10 a.m. hour with Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford, the New York Daily News reported. “They’ve got to figure this out soon. They’re running out of time,” an anonymous network source told the Daily News.

Kelly will travel to Russia early next month to moderate a session at a business forum in St. Petersburg, where Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to be on the dais as part of what she apparently hopes will be a precursor to a sit-down interview for her news magazine.

Despite a big-money contract on the table from the Murdoch family to continue as anchor of The Kelly File in prime time, Megyn Kelly famously left Fox News in January for the NBC gig. May 1 was her first official day on the job. FNC has revamped its entire prime-time schedule since then with the departure of Kelly and Bill O’Reilly, and prior to that, Greta Van Susteren.

Lifestyle, in part, played a role in the switch: No longer working every night, the NBC schedule gives Megyn Kelly more time to spend with her three young kids. Enhanced journalistic prestige was likely an element in her decision, too. Kelly will also serve as the anchor on NBC during big news events. A former corporate lawyer, Kelly, 46, joined Fox News in 2004.

Some Megyn Kelly critics contend that when the ambitious media star famously challenged Donald Trump during the August 2015 GOP presidential debate over his past disparaging comments about women (“only Rosie O’Donnell,” the future president famously quipped), it was more about careerism and auditioning for another network — which turned out to be NBC — than a legitimate journalistic inquiry. That exchange prompted a long-running feud during the election campaign, although Kelly says that she and the president have since buried the hatchet.

Last week, NBC News President Andrew Lack downplayed expectations for Megyn Kelly’s ratings on NBC. “It’s not going to be perfect on Day One, and we’re not going to be in first place on Day Two — but I’d rather be holding our cards than anyone else’s,” he told NBC affiliates in a meeting, Variety reported.

Some media observers have expressed uncertainty as to whether Megyn Kelly will thrive in the new time slot(s) and wonder, in particular, if her talents will seamlessly transform to more lifestyle- and celebrity-driven content, such as an already filmed interview with the Kardashians. Also, there is some question as to whether Megyn Kelly is too Fox, as it were, for the NBC audience, and in turn, whether the NBC platform will prove to be a draw or not for her former Fox following.

[Featured Image by Dennis Van Tine/STAR MAX/IPx/AP Images]