Megyn Kelly Settles For Less

The Murdoch family, which controls Fox News’s parent company, 21st Century Fox, had become so invested in Ms. Kelly as a franchise that they were prepared to pay her a salary of more than $20 million a year.

[...]Ms. Kelly had spoken with top executives at ABC News, CNN and in the syndication industry, as well as NBC News, but NBC remained largely under the radar as a landing spot. One person briefed on Ms. Kelly’s deliberations said that Mr. Lack won her over by starting the talks with a question about what she was seeking, instead of flatly offering possibilities.

He then came back with a deal that was tailored to her preferences. A daytime show would give her a schedule that would allow her to see her children off to school and to have dinner with them and her husband, Douglas Brunt, a novelist.

People briefed on the talks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, declined to disclose what Ms. Kelly’s new annual salary would be at NBC. Fox News rivals who sought to hire Ms. Kelly away, including NBC News, had indicated that they could not match the $20 million offer from Fox, the cable news leader for the last 15 years running.