Greg welcomes guests Nick Gillespie and Patti Ann Browne.
'The Kelly File' ratings surge is legit: Nielsen
MSNBC questioned its competitor's 100% ratings increase but the further investigation shows Fox's Megyn Kelly did crush MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.
Nielsen has conducted an investigation into the ratings for Megyn Kelly's new Fox News Channel show, "The Kelly File," following grousing by MSNBC chief Phil Griffin.
The investigation has revealed that the numbers for Kelly are accurate.
Last Tuesday, the day after its debut, "The Kelly File" doubled its audience, crushing "The Rachel Maddow Show," its MSNBC competition.
Griffin called for a probe, dubbing the ratings feat "impossible."
And here's further evidence that the domination is oh so real:
A new primetime lineup, coupled with the second week of the government shutdown, propelled Fox News into the top five ad-supported cable networks during the week of October 7. FNC placed fourth in both primetime and total day, averaging 1,905,000 and 1,170,000 viewers, respectively.
MSNBC placed 20th in primetime, with 803,000 viewers, and 18th in total day, with 503,000 viewers. CNN placed 32nd in primetime and 26th in total day, averaging 508,000 and 433,000 viewers, respectively.
Read 'em and weep, Phil.
MSNBC's Phil Griffin has been soul-crushed by Megyn Kelly's blockbuster primetime debut for Fox News this week. Rather than deal rationally with the new reality, the beaten, broken man is now calling out Nielsen:
Phil Griffin, president of MSNBC, says there's something fishy about Tuesday's ratings for the Fox News Channel, which were up significantly from a day earlier when Fox News debuted its new schedule. And he wants an investigation.
"...you guys should be doing some investigations; I have never seen it in all my years of cable -- same overnight, same everything. And they doubled their ratings in a day? It is impossible." Griffin continued, "I have never seen it. They did election-night numbers in the demo Tuesday."
The Nielsen numbers Griffin refers to include MSNBC beating Fox News on Monday in the adults 25-54 demographic at 7 p.m. and tying Fox News at 10 p.m.
At 9 p.m. on Monday, MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show beat Fox News' new The Kelly File, hosted by Megyn Kelly, by a slim 10,000 viewers in the key demo.
By Tuesday, though, Fox News was back to its dominant self, with 573,000 in the key demo compared with 261,000 for MSNBC between the hours of 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Perhaps most dramatically, Kelly's narrow loss to Rachel Maddow from a night earlier was significantly reversed, with Kelly drawing an audience of 623,000 in the key demo compared with Maddow's 291,000.
Nielsen has not yet responded to Griffin's remarks.
When the tranquilizers finally kick in and Griffin calms down, he might realize that FNC was likely more affected by Monday Night Football than MSNBC and, therefore, got a bigger bounce when those football fans returned to the network Tuesday night. Also, Megyn's debut on Monday was a smash hit by any standard and no doubt benefited from great word-of-mouth promotion the following day.
Also, sorry Kool-aid drinkers, Megyn Kelly has approximately 200% more charisma than Rachel Maddow. But hey, at least Rachel's job is secure...for now, anyway. Piers Morgan's job, on the other hand...not so much.
TV's Andy Levy hosts and welcomes guests Ellison Barber, Jesse Joyce and Buck Sexton.
Remember this?
Brought.
Megyn Kelly Blows Out The Competition On The First Night Of Her New Show
The debut of "The Kelly File," the new Fox News show hosted by rising-star host Megyn Kelly, blew out its competitors in the 9 p.m. ET hour Monday night, according to early ratings from Nielsen Media Research.
"The Kelly File" drew 2.1 million viewers on its first night, easily beating out CNN and MSNBC's 9 p.m. hours combined. Kelly's viewership grew 75% from the year-to-date average of former 1-3 p.m. time slot.
Kelly made a splash on the first night of her new show. Her first guest was Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who has led the charge to "defund Obamacare" in congressional budget battles. Her first question to him: "How does it feel to be the most hated man in America?"
According to the Nielsen Ratings, The Kelly File had 2,066,368 total viewers (289,264 in the age 25-54 demo), compared to Rachel Maddow's 997,466 total viewers (298,543 in the age 25-54 demo) and Piers Morgan's rather anemic 529,946 total viewers (144,602 in the age 25-54 demo).
As usual, the Fox News primetime lineup (8:00-11:00 PM) of O'Reilly, Kelly and Hannity crushed all competition:
- Fox: 2,059,053 average total viewers (318,547 in A25-54)
- MSNBC: 946,861 average total viewers (292,874 in A25-54)
- CNN: 519,786 average total viewers (145,193 in A25-54)
As The Daily Beast reviewer pointed out:
Megyn Kelly might be pretty, slim, and blonde in her sexy black cocktail dress, showing off a pair of spectacular gams under her see-through Plexiglas anchor desk, but for all those regular folks out in the real America, she is also warmly relatable.
Ailes has always had an eye for talent and the patience to develop it, and Kelly undeniably is a talented broadcaster. It's hard to disagree with Kelly's Fox News colleague Trace Gallagher, who came on to introduce the car-crash segment and offered his own instant Kelly File review: "Welcome to primetime. You look great, the set looks great, and it's gotta be exciting for you."
