Megyn Kelly debuts 'The Kelly File': How did she do?
Monday marked the 17th anniversary of the cable news channel that has dominated the ratings for so long that it hasn鈥檛 changed its primetime lineup in over a decade.
Until now.
Shepard Smith and Megyn Kelly, anchoring Fox News鈥� new shows amid its new schedule, greeted the new era with futuristic new sets, a stated emphasis on journalism and social media and way too much information about Bob Beckel鈥檚 sex life.
Fox News unveiled its biggest schedule shakeup in years Monday, showing off its new Shepard Smith-run Fox News Deck and the oft-mocked 55-inch iPad-esque (for the record, they鈥檙e believed to be $8,000 Microsoft Perceptive Pixels) tablet desks his team of information specialists used to scour the internet for breaking news.
Smith hosted the new 鈥淪hepard Smith Reporting鈥� from the Deck at 3 p.m., where he showed off some of his fancy new tech toys before retiring back into the Deck, on call for any news that may break throughout the day.
Smith was absent from the 7 p.m. hour; his 鈥淔ox Report鈥� has been replaced by 鈥淥n the Record with Greta Van Susteren,鈥� moved from 10 p.m., which shifted 鈥淗annity鈥� up to 10 p.m. 鈥淭he O鈥橰eilly Factor鈥� stayed in its top-rated 8 p.m. home, leaving 9 p.m. for Megyn Kelly鈥檚 鈥淭he Kelly File.鈥�
There鈥檚 a lot of pressure on Kelly to own this time slot 鈥� Fox News has no intention of slipping in the ratings now after years at the top, and Kelly鈥檚 show is part of its push to incorporate its news side into its opinion-dominated prime-time lineup.
Kelly seemed to relish the challenge. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 it like to be the most-hated man in America?鈥� she asked her first guest Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, pointing to a poll where the Republican congressman very low favorable rating.
Cruz avoided the questions he didn鈥檛 want to answer and stuck to his talking points for several minutes 鈥� and Kelly, for the most part, let him do it. She鈥檒l have to challenge politicians more if she wants her program to truly show both sides of an argument, as she claimed on her recent 鈥淥鈥橰eilly鈥� appearance.
An interview with the family of the woman shot and killed when she drove her car through White House barriers on Thursday gave a much better sense of the news-rather-than-opinion take the show will have on the day鈥檚 events.
And then things got weird. The cast of 鈥淭he Five鈥� showed up to greet Kelly (sans Greg Gutfeld, probably because he was taping Tuesday morning鈥檚 鈥淩ed Eye鈥�) and discuss Miley Cyrus, which lead to a discussion about Bob Beckel鈥檚 sex life (鈥渟ex over 40 gets better and he has a lot of it,鈥� reports Andrea Tantaros) and Kimberly Guilfoyle鈥檚 colonoscopy (鈥測ou have to do it, it鈥檚 for your own health,鈥� Kelly said) and Kelly鈥檚 鈥渂eached whale鈥� moment while she was giving birth to her son, among other things.
A later segment let Kelly do what the former litigator has always felt most comfortable with: report on legal matters. 鈥淜elly鈥檚 Court鈥� looked at what possible case the man who was run over by an SUV driving away from a gang of motorcycles might have against the driver, with lawyers representing either side of the argument.
Kelly finished the show urging viewers to tweet at her, telling them she planned to incorporate a lot of social media into the show (she even found time to tweet during a commercial break). That鈥檚 a big part of what Smith is doing as well.
It鈥檚 an experimental time for a network that hasn鈥檛 had to try anything new in years. Roger Ailes has said he鈥檚 certain Fox News is on the cutting edge of how news will be delivered in the digital age. Then again, he also told TVWeek in 2005 that CNN鈥檚 then-new TV screen walls on 鈥淭he Situation Room鈥� showed CNN had given up on 鈥済etting the ratings with their programming, so they鈥檝e decided to get the ratings with their walls.鈥�
In the end, Fox News鈥� ratings will show if its audience is turned off by change or if it鈥檚 ready to try something new 鈥� something it hasn鈥檛 had to do in a long time.
