The ratings from Sunday are in, and it seems the American TV-viewing public would rather watch old blooper-filled home video montages than an interview with a conspiracy theorist.
On Father’s Day, ABC’s repeat episode of “America’s Funniest Home Videos” outperformed NBC’s “Sunday Night.” The show’s host, Megyn Kelly, is the subject of controversy because of interview subject Alex Jones, Entertainment Weekly reported Monday. “America’s Funniest Home Videos” attracted an audience of 3.7 million to Ms. Kelly’s 3.5 million.
Long-running CBS newsmagazine “60 Minutes” easily outperformed the former Fox News anchor’s show with 5.3 million viewers, even though the segments were hardly at attention-grabbing. The CBS program ran stories on first responders in war-torn Syria, chess-playing teens in rural Mississippi and small, cash-starved countries that are effectively selling citizenship for revenue.
Mr. Jones has insisted that the Sandy Hook school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, was a hoax. Parents of the victims of the mass shooting called on NBC to scuttle the program because it gave the radio host a platform to promote his controversial views.
NBC affiliate WVIT in New Britain, Connecticut, opted to not air the program out of respect for families of those slain in the December 2012 shooting rampage.
Mr. Jones apologized in May for peddling two other baseless conspiracy theories — one involving a D.C. pizza parlor and the other an Idaho-based yogurt factory — but he has not apologized for calling the Sandy Hook shooting a hoax and claims his views on the tragedy have been misconstrued.
As to the content of Ms. Kelly’s interview, The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday surveyed the reaction and found mostly positive reviews from media critics. Dan Abrams of Mediaite tweeted, “Watching @megynkelly interview with Alex Jones, I’m even more convinced that her piece wasn’t just ok to do, but important journalism.”
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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