(some reports have the advertiser boycott now at 18!!)
But “The O’Reilly Factor” remains cable news’ most-watched show
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Eleven advertisers have withdrawn support from Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor” after Saturday’s explosive New York Times exposé that revealed $13 million has been spent on sexual harassment settlements involving host Bill O’Reilly.
Four automakers, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, and Mitsubishi have all pulled their adds from the show along with pharmaceutical maker GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi Consumer Care, Allstate, and T. Rowe Price, Untuckit, Constant Contact and Ainsworth Pet Nutrition, according to NBC News.
Research firm Kantar Media told NBC News that “The O’Reilly Factor” made $446 million on advertising from 2014 to 2016. O’Reilly, the most-watched personality in cable news, has denied all claims.
“I’m vulnerable to lawsuits from individuals who want me to pay them to avoid negative publicity. In my more than 20 years at Fox News Channel, no one has ever filed a complaint about me with the Human Resources Department, even on the anonymous hotline,” O’Reilly responded in a statement.
Paul Rittenberg, EVP of Advertising Sales at FOX News, said in a statement obtained by TheWrap on Tuesday, “We value our partners and are working with them to address their current concerns about the O’Reilly Factor. At this time, the ad buys of those clients have been re-expressed into other FNC programs.”
While advertisers back away, viewers are staying put. On Monday night, “Factor” was the most-watched show among all of cable news, averaging 3.7 million total viewers and 645,000 among the ad-friendly demographic of adults age 25-54. O’Reilly was up 24 percent compared to the same day last year and nine percent compared to last Monday.
READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE AT TheWrap.com
Cue the retirement.
I had a snarky gloat comment the other day. Going forward, I expect some of these advertisers will return to the fold if Billo makes at least a semi-heartfelt apology. Then again, he and Fox may simply agree to rip up his just-renogiated contract, freeing him to join up with old boss Roger Ailes (himself under a murky cloud of harassment allegations) for a new media web venture.
I used to chuckle at Sean Hannity’s radio asides that he never went into one on one meetings with women and that he studiously avoided tax-avoidance strategies that might make him a target of the IRS. Maybe O’Reilly should have a chat with Sean.