Megyn Kelly’s controversial interview with right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones received praise and support from media critics and journalists, but you wouldn’t know it based on the ratings.

The third installment of her NBC news magazine show Sunday with Megyn Kelly drew 3.5 million viewers and an average rating of 0.5 for adults in the 18-49-year-old demographic. This is down from the previous episodes that averaged a 0.7 rating and 4.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen data.

The show also played third fiddle to both the U.S. Golf Open Championship on Fox that garnered a 1.4 rating and 6.1 million viewers, and ABC’s rerun of America’s Funniest Home Videos with a 0.7 rating and 4.9 million viewers.

Kelly faced criticism and backlash for her decision to give a platform to Jones, who runs the website Infowars and who believes, among other conspiracies, that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that killed 26 people was a hoax staged by the Obama administration to advance its gun-control agenda.

Her decision to move forward with the interview caused many advertisers, including J.P. Morgan Chase, to pull out of the program, and sparked opposition from Sandy Hook survivors and victims’ family members.

RELATED: Advertisers Bail on Megyn Kelly Interview with Alex Jones

Jones also didn’t want the interview to be published, calling it a hit piece that misrepresented his views, and he leaked audio of it before the episode ran.

Kelly maintained the interview was important because Jones has the ear of President Trump and his theories are growing in popularity. She promised to “shine a light — as journalists are supposed to do” on his “revolting” assertions.

Kelly did just that, pressing Jones on lies posted to Infowars, calling him out for not answering questions, and conducting an all around tough interview that exposed his falsehoods.

But it doesn’t change that fact that when it comes to viewership, Sunday with Megyn Kelly has been on a downward trend since it premiered June 4. Critics have also said she was soft on Russian President Vladimir Putin in her opening-night interview.

Eyes have been on Kelly since she left her role as the host of a politics-based show on conservative network Fox in January, and moved to NBC to host the Sunday night newsmagazine show that focuses on investigative journalism. She’s also slated to take over a block of Today in the fall.

However, NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack never expected a huge win straight out of the gate.

“It’s not going to be perfect on day one, and we’re not going to be in first place on day two, but I’d rather be holding our cards than anyone else’s,” he told NBC affiliates before the show launched.

Debuting during the summer also allows Kelly time to find her stride, Les Rose, a professor at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School, told Forbes.

“It gives her a soft launch and time to figure it out,” he said. “Watch closely in the fall to see how patient the network is willing to be.”

READ MORE: Forbes, Variety

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