Posted on 05/03/2002 11:59:37 AM PDT by Elkiejg
Fox News Channel star Bill O'Reilly is not going into radio alone.
O'Reilly — who will host The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly beginning May 8 — will share the mike with "some very bright women" for the first few months of the show.
And if he likes one, she may become a permanent co-host, he suggested yesterday.
"We're going to bring in the feminine point of view," he said. "We're going to give them a shot and see how it works for us."
O'Reilly said he has invited Sen. Hillary Clinton to be his first co-host — but had not heard back yet.
The show will air from 3 to 5 p.m. on WOR Radio in New York and KABC in Los Angeles among others — pitting O'Reilly against his Fox colleague Sean Hannity, whose show airs at the same time.
"I told Hannity it's my job to make his life as miserable as possible in all areas," O'Reilly joked with reporters yesterday.
"It's a lot of fun in this business to go up against the best; we're going to do our program and he'll do what he does," O'Reilly said. "It's just healthy competition and all the pros know that.
"Nobody is brooding about it. I'll mock him and he'll mock me. It will be a very interesting scenario."
Elsewhere around the country, O'Reilly will be going up against Rush Limbaugh in most markets.
The Post reported last November that O'Reilly was preparing to launch a radio version of his top-rated TV show, The O'Reilly Factor.
"We didn't target anybody to go up against," O'Reilly said. "I talked to [Limbaugh's brother and agent] David Limbaugh for a good half hour and told him that if Rush had any problem with this, if I'm giving him any angst at all . . . and he said Rush had no problem at all.
"If we're half as successful as he is, we'll be pleased."
O'Reilly's radio show will originate from a radio studio at Fox News Channel. He says the show will include listener phone calls and e-mails.
O'Reilly also said his radio show will be "a natural extension" of his nightly TV show.
"It's not going to be a political show — we're going to take the hottest story from The O'Reilly Factor and get everybody in the country and work to get in their views," O'Reilly said.
"It's a melding of radio and TV in the best possible way with immediacy," he said. "It's going to be an entertaining, informative two hours. We'll keep it moving quickly — and we're not going to take ourselves all that seriously."
Westwood One president Joel Hollander said he hopes "to have close to 100 affiliates" for O'Reilly's show by May.
"We really expect this to spread pretty quickly," Hollander said.
Fox News Channel is owned by News Corp., which also owns The New York Post and foxnews.com
Click <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,51692,00.html> here </a> for a list of Stations Carrying the Radio Factor With Bill O'Reilly. <p>
But now that he's busting his buttons, look for a “cross-fire” type radio show.
Maureen Dowd would fit right in. Dingy broad.
O'Reilly is solidifying into a block of media wood... a whore with no loyalties.
He was never a lit bulb, just a guy who would attack an issue.
He filled a purpose, but now it's up and up. I wish him well in his new endeavors.
We conservatives will suffer from this watering of talk radio. Be assured, O'Rielly wants money...
from anybody! He'd follow Hillary to the Whitehouse as a speachwriter.
O'Reilly will be competing against Hannity in the northeast in the tri-state area. He's going to be on WOR radio 710 from 3-6 (Bob Grant's old time slot). Grant is moving to 6:00 pm.
Hillary Clinton on a News Radio Show where call ins may ask uncomfortable questions, NEVER!!! Nor will she allow Billy to join NBC. Too dangerous.
While O'Reilly can be very interesting, he is far more effective on TV than radio.
Heard Drudge this AM on CSPAN. He's still upset that O'Reilly lied to him about the radio show on Drudge's Radio Show.
Drudge has reported that many stations are being paid to carry O'Reilly. WMAL in DC turned down an offer of $200,000
Rush will not eat him for brunch. Rush's daily show of Bush-bashing is BORING AND REPETITIOUS.
O'Reilly will do well against Rush because he has a variety of interests, and he is passionate about them. He also has a sense of moral outrage about the injustices in our society. Plus he is willing to give our president a chance, unlike Rush Limbaugh.
The Rush show is UNLISTENABLE ever since he took it upon himself to trash President Bush for three hrs a day every day.
Not a very intelligent comment on your part. O'Reilly will bring competition to Rush who is on a downward slide.
Heard Hannity this afternoon quote DEBKA and he stated it was a 'reliable news source'...LOL!
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