# Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)
**Bill O'Reilly** (full name William James O'Reilly Jr.; born 1949 in New York City) is an American conservative political commentator, author, and former television and radio host, best known for anchoring the Fox News Channel program *The O'Reilly Factor* from October 1996 until his dismissal in April 2017[1](https://unvis.it/www.britannica.com/biography/Bill-OReilly) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0971123/bio/). Before joining Fox, he worked in local television, reported for [CBS News](https://www.edgepedia.org/cbs-news) and ABC News, and anchored the syndicated program *Inside Edition*[3](https://www.foxnews.com/story/bill-oreillys-bio.amp). Since leaving Fox amid sexual harassment allegations, he has continued as a podcaster, columnist, and regular [NewsNation](https://www.edgepedia.org/newsnation) commentator[4](https://theweek.com/politics/the-fox-news-stars-whose-reigns-ended-badly-roger-ailes-bill-o-reilly-glenn-beck-tucker-carlson).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name and birth | William James O'Reilly Jr., born 1949 in New York City, to Winifred Angela (Drake) and William James O'Reilly[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0971123/bio/) |
| Education | B.A. in history, Marist College, 1971; M.S. in broadcast journalism, Boston University, 1976; M.A. in public administration, Harvard Kennedy School, spring 1996[5](https://online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=1990_1418) • [6](https://www.creators.com/author/bill-oreilly) |
| Signature program | *The O'Reilly Factor* on Fox News Channel, October 1996 to April 2017, first aired as *The O'Reilly Report*[7](https://www.nexttv.com/news/star-factor-qa-bill-oreilly-289886) • [8](https://thedesk.net/2026/03/bill-o-reilly-fox-red-seat-podcast-do-it-live/) |
| Ratings standing | Nielsen Media Research rated *The O'Reilly Factor* the No. 1 cable news talk show on television for five straight years[6](https://www.creators.com/author/bill-oreilly) |
| 2017 departure | Dismissed in April 2017 after a New York Times report of $13 million in settlements with five women; a further $32 million settlement with analyst Lis Wiehl had been reached in January 2017[9](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fox-bill-oreilly-settle-claims-231704371.html) • [10](https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-oreilly-76-steps-away-from-show-due-to-mystery-illness/) |
| Post-Fox outlets | *No Spin News* podcast and web show, weekly appearances on NewsNation, and the 2026 podcast *We'll Do It Live*, produced from a Fox-owned studio in partnership with Red Seat Ventures.[11](https://www.axios.com/2017/12/15/bill-oreilly-will-host-podcast-monday-1513301782) • [12](https://www.newscaststudio.com/2026/03/10/bill-oreilly-well-do-it-live-podcast/) |
| Measured media bias | Ad Fontes Media rates his content "Strong Right" on bias (17.36 on a scale of −42 to +42) and "Mixed Reliability/Opinion" (28.58 on a 0–64 scale)[13](https://adfontesmedia.com/bill-oreilly-bias-and-reliability/) |
## Early life and education
O'Reilly grew up in the Westbury section of [Levittown](https://www.edgepedia.org/levittown) on [Long Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/long-island), in what his [Fox News](https://www.edgepedia.org/fox-news) biography describes as a modest house with his father, mother, and sister; he began working in his early teens mowing lawns, which grew into a house painting business[3](https://www.foxnews.com/story/bill-oreillys-bio.amp). He attended private Catholic schools[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0971123/bio/).
At Marist College in [Poughkeepsie, New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/poughkeepsie-new-york), he studied history, punted for the football club, and wrote for the school newspaper; he also studied abroad at the [University of London](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-london) and played semi-professional baseball before graduating with a bachelor's degree in history in 1971[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0971123/bio/) • [5](https://online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=1990_1418). He then taught high school for two years in Miami, Florida, before earning a master's degree in broadcast journalism from [Boston University](https://www.edgepedia.org/boston-university) in 1976[3](https://www.foxnews.com/story/bill-oreillys-bio.amp) • [5](https://online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=1990_1418).
## Broadcast career before Fox
O'Reilly entered television news with a [Scranton, Pennsylvania](https://www.edgepedia.org/scranton-pennsylvania), position once his master's degree was complete, later working in Dallas, Denver, Portland, Oregon, Hartford, and Boston.[3](https://www.foxnews.com/story/bill-oreillys-bio.amp) He received an Emmy Award at KMGH-TV in Denver for a report on skyjacking, and a second Emmy during a tenure anchoring his own program on WCBS-TV in New York starting in 1980[3](https://www.foxnews.com/story/bill-oreillys-bio.amp) • [14](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/22596/bill-oreilly/).
As a CBS News correspondent he covered the wars in [El Salvador](https://www.edgepedia.org/el-salvador) and the [Falkland Islands](https://www.edgepedia.org/falkland-islands), among other assignments[3](https://www.foxnews.com/story/bill-oreillys-bio.amp). He joined ABC News in 1986 as a correspondent on *World News Tonight*, appearing on the program more than one hundred times over three years and winning two National Headliner Awards[3](https://www.foxnews.com/story/bill-oreillys-bio.amp). In 1989 he joined the nationally syndicated *Inside Edition* as senior correspondent and backup anchor; within three weeks he took over the anchor chair from [David Frost](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-frost), and during his six years the show ranked among the highest-rated "infotainment" programs in America[3](https://www.foxnews.com/story/bill-oreillys-bio.amp). In 1995 he left to enroll at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, receiving a master's degree in public administration[3](https://www.foxnews.com/story/bill-oreillys-bio.amp).
## The O'Reilly Factor, 1996 to 2017
[Roger Ailes](https://www.edgepedia.org/roger-ailes), chairman and CEO of the then-startup Fox News Channel, hired O'Reilly to anchor an 8:00 p.m. program when the network launched in October 1996[3](https://www.foxnews.com/story/bill-oreillys-bio.amp) • [15](https://www.matermedia.org/bill-oreilly). The show originally aired as *The O'Reilly Report* and was renamed *The O'Reilly Factor* the following year[7](https://www.nexttv.com/news/star-factor-qa-bill-oreilly-289886). O'Reilly described the program's concept as watching "all of those in power, including and especially the media, so they don't injure or exploit the folks, everyday Americans"[16](https://vbn.aau.dk/ws/portalfiles/portal/215420808/Peters_Truthiness_Factor.pdf).
The show's on-air persona was confrontational. A Washington Post profile of 2000 described the "Pounce," an aggressive move O'Reilly performed six or eight times an hour, and credited his "tough-guy shtick" with making him cable TV's ascendant talk star after four years on the little-watched network[17](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/12/13/the-life-of-oreilly/b9cd54fb-3edd-4e68-a489-2e990e3a7bca/). [The New Yorker](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-new-yorker) wrote in 2006 that "O'Reilly dominates cable news as much as Walter Cronkite dominated network news during his heyday, if not more so," a judgment prompted by his feuds, his relentless promotion on Fox, and the nightly parody of him on *The Colbert Report*, where [Stephen Colbert](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-colbert) played an exaggerated conservative host modeled in part on O'Reilly's style[16](https://vbn.aau.dk/ws/portalfiles/portal/215420808/Peters_Truthiness_Factor.pdf). Nielsen rated the program the No. 1 cable news talk show for five straight years[6](https://www.creators.com/author/bill-oreilly), and a Time assessment in 2017 called him the network's star, a commentator rather than a newsman whose persona Fox had broadcast "with no issue"[18](https://time.com/4746612/bill-oreilly-fired-fox-news/).
## Books
O'Reilly's first book, *Those Who Trespass* (1998), was a novel about the world of broadcast journalism[5](https://online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=1990_1418). His book *The O'Reilly Factor*, a quasi-memoir described by the Washington Post as "a quasi-memoir and rant," spent five weeks at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list[17](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/12/13/the-life-of-oreilly/b9cd54fb-3edd-4e68-a489-2e990e3a7bca/), and *Culture Warrior* also topped that list[6](https://www.creators.com/author/bill-oreilly). Later titles include the children's book *Give Please a Chance*, written with James Patterson in 2016, and *Old School* the following year[19](https://www.biography.com/movies-tv/bill-oreilly). His 2025 book *Confronting Evil: Assessing the Worst of the Worst* became a bestseller[10](https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-oreilly-76-steps-away-from-show-due-to-mystery-illness/).
## Sexual harassment settlements and the 2017 ouster
On April 1, 2017, the New York Times reported that O'Reilly and Fox News had paid a total of about $13 million to five women who had worked or appeared on his show, to dissuade them from pursuing litigation or speaking publicly; the largest single settlement was $9 million, paid to former producer Andrea Mackris over a lawsuit filed in 2004, in which O'Reilly claimed no wrongdoing[9](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fox-bill-oreilly-settle-claims-231704371.html) • [20](https://time.com/4757734/timeline-sexual-harassment-allegations-fox-news/). A further Times report in October 2017 revealed a $32 million settlement reached in January 2017 with Lis Wiehl, a Harvard Law School graduate who had appeared on his show as a legal analyst since 2001[21](https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2017/10/21/reilly-got-new-contract-after-big-settlement/YIiHRm5NUc6eHLydR5EkUI/story.html). A month after that settlement, Fox renewed O'Reilly's contract, raising his yearly salary from $18 million to $25 million[10](https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-oreilly-76-steps-away-from-show-due-to-mystery-illness/).
The April 2017 report triggered an advertiser exodus from the program; at least 13 advertisers pulled ads within days[22](https://time.com/4725976/bill-oreilly-fox-news-sexual-harassment/). Fox fired him in April 2017[10](https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-oreilly-76-steps-away-from-show-due-to-mystery-illness/). O'Reilly has denied wrongdoing, calling the 2017 dispute an instance of "journalistic assassination" and saying it was "tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims"[10](https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-oreilly-76-steps-away-from-show-due-to-mystery-illness/).
## Post-Fox media career
Soon after his dismissal, O'Reilly resumed speaking to audiences through his podcast *No Spin News*, which returned on December 18, 2017, at 7 p.m., his first address to listeners after the ouster[11](https://www.axios.com/2017/12/15/bill-oreilly-will-host-podcast-monday-1513301782). The show later evolved into a web program for the conservative network The First[10](https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-oreilly-76-steps-away-from-show-due-to-mystery-illness/), and he has maintained his profile through newsletters, video streams, and weekly appearances on the NewsNation cable channel[23](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/04/conservative-digital-media-traffic/678055/). His official YouTube channel, carrying No Spin News highlights, had about 1.12 million subscribers as of January 2026[24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofvxLgH3d1I).
**Recent developments.** In January 2026, at age 76, O'Reilly announced on his website that he was stepping back from hosting to deal with an unspecified "malady"; he later disclosed a four-day hospitalization for what he described as "a hereditary condition involving internal bleeding," and returned to his show within a week[25](https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/journalism/bill-oreilly-illness-no-spin-news/) • [26](https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/journalism/bill-oreilly-return-hospital-minnesota-shootings/). In March 2026 he launched a new weekly podcast, *We'll Do It Live*, the name borrowed from one of his most infamous on-air lines, produced from a Fox-owned studio in partnership with Red Seat Ventures, with comedian Rob Schneider as the first guest[12](https://www.newscaststudio.com/2026/03/10/bill-oreilly-well-do-it-live-podcast/) • [27](https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/journalism/bill-oreilly-podcast-well-do-it-live-rob-schneider/). He remains a regular conservative voice on NewsNation, where his interviews with host Chris Cuomo have drawn attention, including a January 2026 on-air shouting match about Iran's enriched uranium inventory[10](https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-oreilly-76-steps-away-from-show-due-to-mystery-illness/) • [28](https://www.thedailybeast.com/chris-cuomo-and-bill-oreilly-clash-explodes-into-shouting-match-its-my-show/).
## Assessment of bias and reliability
The Ad Fontes Media analyst panel, which rates content with one left-leaning, one right-leaning, and one center-leaning analyst per panel, gives Bill O'Reilly an overall bias score of 17.36, labeled "Strong Right," and an overall reliability score of 28.58, labeled "Mixed Reliability/Opinion OR Other Issues"; on the reliability scale of 0 to 64, scores above 36 are generally good and scores below 24 are generally problematic[13](https://adfontesmedia.com/bill-oreilly-bias-and-reliability/). Individual samples of his website content have ranged widely, from a reliability score of 33.33 for one "Message of the Day" item to 16.67 for a political column[13](https://adfontesmedia.com/bill-oreilly-bias-and-reliability/). According to Media Bias/Fact Check, BillOReilly.com shows a moderate-to-strong conservative slant, and its pieces frequently depict progressives and Democratic officeholders as extreme while backing right-of-center stances on immigration, crime, government, education, gender matters, and foreign policy.[29](https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/billoreilly-com-bias-and-credibility/)
## References
1. [Bill O'Reilly biography, Encyclopaedia Britannica](https://unvis.it/www.britannica.com/biography/Bill-OReilly)
2. [Bill O'Reilly Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0971123/bio/)
3. [Bill O'Reilly's Bio, Fox News](https://www.foxnews.com/story/bill-oreillys-bio.amp)
4. [The Fox News stars whose reigns ended badly, The Week](https://theweek.com/politics/the-fox-news-stars-whose-reigns-ended-badly-roger-ailes-bill-o-reilly-glenn-beck-tucker-carlson)
5. [O'Reilly, Bill, Salem Press Biography Reference](https://online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=1990_1418)
6. [About Bill O'Reilly, Creators Syndicate](https://www.creators.com/author/bill-oreilly)
7. [Star Factor: Q&A with Bill O'Reilly, Next TV / Multichannel News](https://www.nexttv.com/news/star-factor-qa-bill-oreilly-289886)
8. [Bill O'Reilly returns to Fox with new podcast "We'll Do It Live", TheDesk.net](https://thedesk.net/2026/03/bill-o-reilly-fox-red-seat-podcast-do-it-live/)
9. [Fox, Bill O'Reilly settle claims with five women, Reuters via Yahoo Finance](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fox-bill-oreilly-settle-claims-231704371.html)
10. [Bill O'Reilly, 76, Steps Away From Show Due to Mystery Illness, The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-oreilly-76-steps-away-from-show-due-to-mystery-illness/)
11. [Bill O'Reilly will host podcast Monday, Axios](https://www.axios.com/2017/12/15/bill-oreilly-will-host-podcast-monday-1513301782)
12. [Bill O'Reilly launching 'We'll Do It Live' podcast from Fox-owned studio, NewscastStudio](https://www.newscaststudio.com/2026/03/10/bill-oreilly-well-do-it-live-podcast/)
13. [Bill O'Reilly Bias and Reliability, Ad Fontes Media](https://adfontesmedia.com/bill-oreilly-bias-and-reliability/)
14. [Bill O'Reilly, Penguin Random House author page](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/22596/bill-oreilly/)
15. [Bill O'Reilly, Mater Media Speaker Series](https://www.matermedia.org/bill-oreilly)
16. [The Truthiness Factor, Peters, Aalborg University](https://vbn.aau.dk/ws/portalfiles/portal/215420808/Peters_Truthiness_Factor.pdf)
17. [The Life Of O'Reilly, The Washington Post (2000)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/12/13/the-life-of-oreilly/b9cd54fb-3edd-4e68-a489-2e990e3a7bca/)
18. [Fox News Will Survive Without Bill O'Reilly, Thanks to Bill O'Reilly, Time](https://time.com/4746612/bill-oreilly-fired-fox-news/)
19. [Bill O'Reilly Biography, Biography.com](https://www.biography.com/movies-tv/bill-oreilly)
20. [A Timeline of Sexual Harassment Allegations at Fox News, Time](https://time.com/4757734/timeline-sexual-harassment-allegations-fox-news/)
21. [Bill O'Reilly agreed to extraordinarily large settlement in harassment case, The Boston Globe](https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2017/10/21/reilly-got-new-contract-after-big-settlement/YIiHRm5NUc6eHLydR5EkUI/story.html)
22. [Bill O'Reilly: Fox News Sexual Harassment Claims Draw Fire, Time](https://time.com/4725976/bill-oreilly-fox-news-sexual-harassment/)
23. [Right-Wing Media Are in Trouble, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/04/conservative-digital-media-traffic/678055/)
24. [Highlights from BillOReilly.com's No Spin News, January 20, 2026, YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofvxLgH3d1I)
25. [Bill O'Reilly Steps Back With Undisclosed Illness, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/journalism/bill-oreilly-illness-no-spin-news/)
26. [Bill O'Reilly Returns From 4-Day Hospital Stay, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/journalism/bill-oreilly-return-hospital-minnesota-shootings/)
27. [Bill O'Reilly Sets New Weekly Podcast With Rob Schneider as First Guest, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/journalism/bill-oreilly-podcast-well-do-it-live-rob-schneider/)
28. [Bill O'Reilly Interview Explodes Into Shouting Match, The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/chris-cuomo-and-bill-oreilly-clash-explodes-into-shouting-match-its-my-show/)
29. [BillOReilly.com Bias and Credibility, Media Bias/Fact Check](https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/billoreilly-com-bias-and-credibility/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Broadcasting and journalism › Broadcast organizations and stations › Broadcasters as people › Broadcast journalists and news presenters › American broadcast journalists and news presenters › Fox News journalists and anchors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license