Bill O'Reilly is officially out at Fox News.
The firebrand political commentator, who built his career on straight talk and news without
spin, had his contract terminated while he was on vacation in Europe.
The news came not long after more than 50 advertisers pulled their ad buys for his program
The O'Reilly Factor, after multiple women revealed they'd been sexually harassed by
the host.
"And, you know I'm just sitting there minding my own business and he walks past and says,
hey hot chocolate"
O'Reilly had spent more than 20 years of his career as a broadcaster on the Fox News Network,
where he amassed a sizable following of fans and was also author or co-author to nearly
two dozen books.
The cancellation of The O'Reilly Factor leaves the anchor rudderless at a time when he stands
at the height of his popularity, as the sexual harassment revelations that forced him out
the door appear to have done little to darken his reputation with fans.
O'Reilly clearly has options, as well as a generous payout on his way.
So what's he going to do next?
Here are some possibilities.
More literary killings
Bill O'Reilly has written enough books to fill a shelf and then some.
And even if he were to be banished from TV forever following his Fox News ouster, he
would still be a writer with titanic success.
Two books with his byline were at the tops of bestseller lists at the start of April,
the month his firing came down.
And his books come in many varieties, from historical thrillers to memoirs, fiction,
and books aimed at young readers, and his publisher Henry Holt has committed to sticking
by their literary star.
Given the grim subject matter of some of his texts, he'll obviously derive plenty of inspiration
from this incident.
"He had to find a substitute drug, planning and carrying out the executions of those people
who had humiliated him."
Another small screen platform
One thing that's likely not in the cards for O'Reilly is a lateral move to another major
broadcast network.
In addition to the antagonistic relationship Fox News has with CNN and MSNBC, the sexual
harassment allegations that made him impossible to employ at Fox News make him equally unemployable
to everyone else on that level.
That leaves a different option — a smaller news network, one that's either independently-funded,
or funded by advertisers who don't care.
There is precedent, particularly in the conservative arena that O'Reilly calls home, like Glenn
Beck's outfit The Blaze, or the One America News Network.
But joining one of these scrappy media underdogs may be unnecessary, given O'Reilly's immense
name recognition.
Hanging a shingle
At the time of O'Reilly ouster, he was still hosting the most popular cable news show bar none.
A fan base that large and passionate, that was getting larger up through his final days
at Fox News, leaves so many of the ingredients in place for him to create his own media platform.
Such an arrangement may be a perfect outlet for the sort of straight-up talk O'Reilly's
fans trust and adore, unbeholden to advertisers, shareholders, or anybody else with an opinion
other than his.
"And now the bigger picture.
We are living in a very dangerous world."
And what could a platform like that look like?
Well, there's always radio, where conservative political talk of O'Reilly's sort has had
a history of success.
Or, this being the future and all, there's even the idea of podcasting, or YouTube.
Personalities not half as well-known as him have done the same with less support.
And O'Reilly is not slowing down on his "No Spin News" podcast anytime soon.
Taking the stage
O'Reilly has made a bid in recent years to get a touring stand-up act going.
Alongside comedian Dennis Miller and TV personality Jesse Watters, O'Reilly's tour, The Spin Stops
Here 2017, still has shows booked around the country throughout the year.
With an abundance of free time on his hands now, could these sellout shows become more
frequent?
"We'll do it live.
We'll do it live, f*** it."
O'Reilly already makes money on the side from lucrative speaking engagements which easily
and often command fees in the realm of $100,000.
The work would serve the purpose of keeping his voice in the conversation.
He spent over two decades building a brand behind a desk, and now he can spend all his
time taking that brand on the road — if he wants to.
Not gone for good
Let's face it: the least likely thing Bill O'Reilly would do next is retire completely.
Before his exit was confirmed, and as the scandal of his sexual harassment allegations
was still brewing, he retained the services of Mark Fabiani.
Fabiani is a notoriously adept crisis manager, which is not the sort of move one would expect
from someone throwing in the towel.
Coupled with his response to the news of his firing, in which he said the news was "tremendously
disheartening" but based on "unfounded claims," it leaves an impression that O'Reilly is taking
his firing gracefully but not happily, with unfinished business to attend to.
With his Fox News days now officially in the past, the planning stages for his next step
may be already underway.
But what will that step be?
It's possible not even O'Reilly himself knows yet.
Whatever it is, after the way he was forced out at Fox News, it won't be a surprise if
it's something that, going forward, keeps his voice beholden to nobody but himself.
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