Via the Examiner. Come on, people. Hes kidding! Hes a kidder.
I mean, I think hes kidding.
Of course, this wouldnt be the first time hes floated the idea of OReilly returning to the network, like Napoleon escaping from exile to rule the empire once again. From July:
And it also wouldnt be the first time one of them has tried to recruit the other, assuming this 2017 report from Gabriel Sherman is true:
As I reported this morning on @amjoyshow, Bill O'Reilly has talked Hannity about teaming up to go to Sinclair Broadcasting, sources say.
Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) July 23, 2017
Hannity was at least half-joking with his comments in July. Was he also half-joking this week when he said this, or are we now down to quarter-joking?
OReilly, 70, appeared on Hannitys radio show, which is not a Fox property, on Tuesday, and teased his interview with President Trump, which aired on his show later in the day. The former Fox host was discussing the amount of hate he thinks the president receives and then commented, You and I, we can identify because weve been attacked for more than 20 years, each of us has.
Twenty four to be exact, Hannity corrected. By the way, I keep offering you, go back on Fox, and
Yeah, and why do I want to do that? OReilly interjected. So I can have security guards go with me everywhere like I used to?
No, so that you take the number one slot, Hannity replied. I can tell you its easier being number two because well end the well end the year again number one in all of cable, and with that comes all the crap associated with it.
Hes just being chummy with OReilly, I think. If anything, this was probably just a backhanded way for Hannity to remind everyone that hes number one now. Im tired of being the biggest name in cable news, the most-watched host on the most-watched network. Take this terrible burden from me, Bill.
The problem with joking about bringing OReilly back, though, is that it overlooks the fact that he left the network for a very particular reason. Just as it also overlooks the fact that others who have left Fox under difficult circumstances havent enjoyed the same second chance Hannity imagines for OR, whether jokingly or not. Three women who split with Fox after being sexually harassed chimed in yesterday to remind the world that an accused harasser seems to be more welcome at the network than victims of harassment are:
Im a little surprised not to see Lis Wiehls name on that statement too, but she does have 32 million reasons to stay out of it.
Another reason to doubt Hannitys seriousness: There are no vacancies in Foxs primetime line-up right now so where would The OReilly Factor 2.0 air? A daring play would be to give him Shep Smiths old slot at 3 p.m., which is vacant at the moment, and trust that Fox viewers will carve out time for him mid-day. OR wont do the same ratings that he did at 8 p.m. but hell do well; the median age of Foxs audience is 65, so there are plenty of viewers who are home and retired with time to watch in the afternoon. Seeing a pro-Trump stalwart like OReilly replace an anti-Trumper like Shep would be gratifying to many Fox watchers too, including the one in the White House.
If Fox wanted him on in the evenings, though, I suppose they could slot him in at 11 p.m. and offer OReilly as a nostalgic alternative to the unwatchable liberal dreck currently airing as late-night comedy on the broadcast networks. Or they could put him at 7 p.m. and present The Factor as a lead-in to the other pro-Trump heavy hitters in the line-up after 8. But theres a wrinkle: Scheduling OReilly at 7 or 11 would mean replacing one of the networks most well-known women news anchors, either Martha MacCallum or Shannon Bream, respectively. Fox would take a savage PR beating for bringing OReilly back under any circumstances, but in light of what hes accused of, bringing him back at the expense of a woman newscaster who worked hard for years to land her own show would make it twice as savage.
Theyre not bringing him back.