There’s one thing about Megyn Kelly’s move from Fox News to NBC that ought to alert news anchors all over the world. Kelly is famous for standing up to Donald Trump (and the allegedly roaming hands of her old boss, Roger Ailes). She’s no zealot. But what does that buy you in the TV world? Maybe a boost from $15m a year to something north of $20m. Certainly a leap in the dark from around 3 million viewers a night to an unquantifiable guesstimate on a daytime television magazine show. It’s enough to turn Lorraine, Sophy et al green with envy. But at least Megyn’s got a cast-iron reason for moving that no parent could question. She wants to spend more time with her children – and get paid royally for it.
Takeaway removes any news at 10
Think Saturday Night Takeaway meets James Corden’s Late Late Show. Then perhaps wonder what happened to ITV’s News at Ten. Answer, for at least a trial run of weeks early this year: it will be shunted to 10.30pm as The Nightly Show, Saturday’s rough Takeaway clone, goes Monday to Friday. More entertainment and audience-wooing in primetime. Less of Tom Bradby’s rather good impersonation of an American news anchor.
But one, ostensibly temporary move on ITV sets the tumbrils rolling elsewhere – notably on BBC2, where you can sense the old ambition to shunt Newsnight to 11pm to make space for a “fun”, audience-holding riposte. Which, if it transpires, may be the first test of Ofcom regulation, not to mention the will of the BBC’s unitary board.
What’s the point of running the biggest newsgathering operation on the planet if there’s no prime spot for explaining the news day by day? It’s bad enough when Syrian peace breaks out over Christmas and there’s no Newsnight to set it in context – but why nag on about one of your reasons to exist as a public service if reacting to every ITV twitch is still the name of the game?
