Alex Jones interview is yet another embarrassing hit to Megyn Kelly's ratings

Embattled former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly's fortunes continue to plummet in her new gig at NBC. Her latest attempt to juice up her ratings by interviewing controversial conspiracy theorist Alex Jones resulted in less than desirable viewership numbers.

According to Nielsen ratings, the Jones interview fell behind the U.S. Open golf championships, and also behind a rerun of "America's Funniest Home Videos" for the key demographic composed of 18-49 viewers. Last week, Kelly's interview with sportscaster Erin Andrews came second in viewers to a rerun of "60 Minutes."

Kelly had been criticized heavily for popularizing Jones, especially by the families of victims in the Newtown, Connecticut, massacre, since Jones had claimed the horrific attack was all an act by the government, and that the families were lying about the death of their children.

The controversy didn't help her ratings — this interview lost viewers in both the 18-49 demographic, and dropped in total viewers from an average of 4.9 million viewers from the first two installments, to 3.5 million viewers in this latest episode.

Although she tied in the demographic with "60 Minutes," her news competitor garnered many more total viewers.

In response to the interview, J.P Morgan Chase pulled its advertisements from NBC altogether until the episode aired. The chief marketing officer said that she was "repulsed" by Megyn Kelly's decision to give Alex Jones a platform on national television.

Media critics of President Donald Trump have seen great increases in their ratings, including the progressive news network MSNBC, and late night talk show host Stephen Colbert.

NBC and Kelly defend the interview by pointing out that Trump had helped publicize Alex Jones by appearing on his show during his presidential campaign.