Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly: Ratings Are So-So

NBC's Megyn Kelly got off to the modest start in the ratings race with her Sunday night news magazine debut, finishing third in total viewers behind ABC's NBA Finals pregame special and a rerun of "60 Minutes" on CBS.

Kelly fared better in the key 18-49 demographic that advertisers covet most, coming in second.

According to Nielsen data, "Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly," which included an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, drew a 0.8 rating in the demographic and 6.1 million total viewers at 7 p.m.

Kelly's direct competition, “60 Minutes," drew a 0.6 rating in the demographic but totaled 6.6 million viewers.

"60 Minutes" is expected to be in repeats for most of the summer.

ABC's coverage of the NBA Finals rematch between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors, featuring a pregame special with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, easily topped NBC and CBS, delivering 8.2 million total viewers and a 2.7 rating in the demographic.

Kelly did perform decidedly better than NBC's average in the time slot last summer, up 33 percent from 2016 in the 18-49 demographic and 69 percent in total viewers.

The 46-year-old one-time attorney was signed by NBC in January for a reported annual salary of $17 million per year.

She left Fox News after a 13-year run at the network that included her being the second-highest rated program in cable news in 2016, only behind the now-ended "O'Reilly Factor."

Reviews of Kelly's interview with Putin mostly ranged from tepid to snarky.