With advertisers gone and the protest movement against him growing more intense, Bill O’Reilly and Fox News are discussing his departure from the network, which could come as soon as the end of this week.
CNN’s Brian Stelter reported:
A well-placed source said Tuesday afternoon that representatives for Fox and O’Reilly have begun talking about an exit. But this prompted a denial from sources in O’Reilly’s camp.
Even one person close to O’Reilly, however, said he will probably not be back on “The O’Reilly Factor.”
The original well-placed source said an announcement about O’Reilly’s fate was likely by the end of the week.
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The protests are growing more intense, and Bill O’Reilly’s advertisers aren’t coming back. Unlike Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly doesn’t own his show, so the odds of his survival at Fox plummeted as soon his advertisers fled in droves.
Advertisers have learned from previous boycotts that the boycotters never go away, and if they try to sneak back to the targeted host, they will be punished with a wave of bad publicity.
If Fox News sends O’Reilly packing, it will be a titanic reshaping of the cable news landscape. Before Megyn Kelly left, the plan at Fox was to replace O’Reilly with their groomed next-generation face of the network. Now, there is no clear star in waiting to lead Fox News.
The end of the O’Reilly era could also mean the end of Fox News’s ratings dominance, but more importantly, a forced retirement for Bill-O would kick a disgusting sexual predator to the curb.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
