Bill O'Reilly Signs Four-Year Deal With Fox News
Host of top-rated O'Reilly Factor signs deal estimated at $10-12 million a year
By Marisa Guthrie -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/22/2008 5:24:00 AM MT
Bill O'Reilly will be with Fox News for four more years. The right-wing firebrand who hosts the network's top-rated program The O'Reilly Factor, signed a new deal that keeps him at FNC at an estimated $10-12 million a year, according to the network.
"I decided to come back because under Roger Ailes, Fox News is a great place to work. And, if I retired, I know my friends in the elite media would miss me greatly," said O'Reilly in a statement.
O'Reilly joined Fox News in 1996 as the host of the O'Reilly Report. The program was took on it's current moniker two years later and has been the highest rated cable news show for 94 consecutive months. It currently averages more than 4 million viewers a night.
"Bill O’Reilly is the most prominent and influential name in all of cable news, and his contribution to the network’s success cannot be overstated," Roger Ailes, Chairman and CEO of Fox News, said in a statement. "After 12 years, The O’Reilly Factor maintains remarkable and consistent viewership growth, and has firmly established itself as the top-destination for newsmakers to reach a wide, diverse audience.”
But the work load of doing a nightly television show as well as a radio program is apparently wearing on O'Reilly, 59. He plans to give up his radio show, possibly early next year.
"I can't work 60 hours day. I'm going to have to make some kind of adjustments," O'Reilly told the New York Daily News. "Next year, it will happen. Right now we're still trying to iron that out."
The Radio Factor is syndicated to more than 400 stations on the Westwood One radio network and Fox News Talk. It's also available on XM Satellite Radio. The show averages more than 3 million listeners.
O'Reilly's deal with Fox News comes in the wake of a new contract for Sean Hannity and a recent deal with Glenn Beck, who will move to Fox News from CNN's Headline News this spring.
Obama on Fox News Beats Obama on MSNBC
09/09/2008Obama to Enter O'Reilly's 'No Spin Zone'
09/03/2008CNN shuttle coverage edges Fox News
02/04/2003
