Megyn Kelly's Interview of Conspiracy Theorist Alex Jones Sinks in Ratings

Megyn Kelly's interview of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones gained meager ratings for NBC on Sunday (NBC photo).

LOS ANGELES – After much ballyhoo and controversy, the interview of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones by Megyn Kelly ended up dead last in the Sunday’s ratings among the major networks. Even a rerun of a game show beat out the interview of the crackpot right winger.

Just 3.5 million viewers watched this week’s airing of “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly” which came in dead last among the four major networks during the 7 p.m. time slot, Nielsen Media Research reported.

The show was not only lost out to a rerun of ABC’s “America’s Funniest Home Videos” which garnered 3.7 million viewers, but also by a rerun of “60 Minutes” on CBS which was seen by 5.3 million viewers, and by the U.S. Golf Open Championship coverage on Fox which was watched by 6.1 million viewers.

The interview with Jones was widely assailed by a variety of organizations and the media who feared Jones’ extremist views would get wide exposure to the public at large.

Jones, who leads the conspiracy website Infowars, has been disseminating outrageous, false stories such as those claiming the U.S. government was responsible for the  9/11 attacks as well as claiming that the parents of the 20 students gunned down at Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 had faked the massacre. Among his followers is President Donald Trump, who during the presidential campaign last year appeared on Jones’ radio show.

The controversy over the Jones interview cost Kelly a gig hosting a fundraising event by an anti-gun-violence organization founded by parents of children killed at Sandy Hook.