As the sharp-tongued host of the insanely popular political commentary show The O’Reilly Factor, Bill O’Reilly has never been shy about voicing his opinions, and that’s exactly why Fox wants to keep him around.
The 63-year old had just signed a multi-year extension on his contract with Fox News Channel for an undisclosed amount, and the fact that the show boasts 4.5 million viewers and was the most-watched cable news program for over ten years probably has something to do with it.
“Bill’s immense talent, intellect and raw convictions are an extremely rare combination in television and exemplify why ‘The O’Reilly Factor’ has been the number one program in cable news for more than a decade,” Fox News Channel chairman Roger Ailes said.
Although O’Reilly has garnered quite a bit of negative attention in the media over the years for his views and the way he expresses them, he is clearly regarded as an invaluable member of the Fox team, and they don’t plan on letting him go anytime soon.
Fellow political reporter Jon Stewart has a long-standing rivalry with O’Reilly, although their arguments tend to end good-naturedly more often than not. Looks like Stewart will have plenty of time to get in a few more debates.
