Although he has been widely depicted as a domestic abuser and serial sex harasser, Bill O’Reilly remains a hot TV property.
Conservative media outlets are circling the former Fox News Channel ratings king in the hope of creating a potent competitor to Fox News Channel.
“Bill O’Reilly has been nothing short of a powerhouse in cable news. We have received thousands of requests to add Mr. O’Reilly to our team,” Charles Herring, CEO of San Diego-based One America Network, told MediaBlast in an email.
He added: “I’m sure several national cable news networks have expressed strong interest in Mr. O’Reilly, and One America News is no exception, but we have no further comments at this time.”
Sources tell Mediablast that O’Reilly is also being pursued by executives at Sinclair, a huge right-leaning broadcaster.
Sinclair owns 170 TV stations, including Chicago’s superstation WGN, and struck a $3.9-million deal this month to buy Tribune media and its 42 stations.
The family that controls the company — four brothers: David, Robert, Frederick and J. Duncan Smith — are reportedly considering a plan to transform wide-reaching WGN into a conservative all-news network to compete with Fox.
A rep for O’Reilly did not return calls for comment. But O’Reilly has made no bones about his desire to keep his voice out there — and may also be mulling the launch of his own media outlet, much as Glenn Beck started The Blaze after he left Fox in 2011.
Fox forced O’Reilly out after The New York Times revealed that he and Fox News had paid $13 million to settle claims by five alleged abuse victims. The disclosure prompted more than half of his advertisers to bolt from “The O’Reilly Factor.”
O’Reilly has denied all the accusations leveled against him. A week after losing his job with a $25-million payoff, he addressed his exit on his podcast — a far-lower-profile platform.
