By RYAN SENECAL
Contributing Writer
After a couple of weeks of media attention surrounding the Bill O’Reilly scandal, 21st Century Fox, the owner of the Fox News Channel, announced on Wednesday it had dismissed O’Reilly from the company.
His dismissal from the network comes after a story ran in The New York Times about the disturbing behavior O’Reilly showed to women in the workplace.
“The O’Reilly Factor” had aired on the network since Fox News Channel launched on October 7, 1996.
It is “tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims,” O’Reilly said in a statement on billoreilly.com. “I wish only the best for the Fox News Channel.”
After the announcement came Wednesday afternoon, many were left wondering what would happen to the primetime lineup; however, there was a plan in place.
“Tucker Carlson Tonight” will take over the 8 p.m. time slot. It’s his third move in the lineup.
He replaced Greta Van Susteren’s show at 7 p.m. and then moved to 9 p.m. in January when Megyn Kelly left the network. “The Five” will move from the 5 p.m. timeslot to 9 p.m. starting on April 24.
“The Five” is co-hosted by Kimberly Guilfoyle, Juan Williams, Bob Beckel, Eric Bolling, Dana Perino and Greg Gutfeld. Two of the hosts rotate every two to three days a week.
There will be a new show at 5 p.m. hosted by Bolling. He will be leaving “The Five” and Jesse Watters will take Bolling’s place on the show.
Details of Bolling’s new show will be revealed in the coming days but it’s scheduled to air on May 1.
Martha MacCallum, who has hosted “The First 100 Days” since President Trump took office, will host a show called “The Story with Martha MacCallum” at 7 p.m.
O’Reilly’s dismissal from the network comes about one year after the chairman and CEO, Roger Ailes, was forced out of his position due to sexual harassment claims that originally stemmed from former anchor Gretchen Carlson, who was fired from the network last June.
She claimed she was fired because she didn’t give into Ailes’ sexual advances.
Former co-host of “Outnumbered” Andrea Tantarous was quietly dismissed from the network in Spring 2016. She later filed a lawsuit claiming sexual harassment by both Ailes and O’Reilly.
I’m not going to tell the stories of the different accusations O’Reilly is accused of. It’s not fair to the victims.
I’ve read some of them on different news sites and it’s sexual harassment at its worst. Some of it even included racist comments to African-American employees.
But the problem is not just at Fox News Channel. It’s also a problem with corporate America. Men dominate positions of high power at corporations. These instances happen everywhere. It’s not just sexual abuse but also verbal abuse, which can be just as bad.
Many of these men are never disciplined because of the power they hold in a company. It could be happening at our places of employment and we may not even be aware of it.
Fox News gave O’Reilly too much power at the network. I think we can all see that. Obviously, the Murdochs will have to do something about power in the workplace.
At Fox News, we just saw the toppling of two of America’s most influential men in news and American politics, Ailes and O’Reilly.
The question we have to ask is if O’Reilly was dismissed because of the sexual harassment claims. O’Reilly’s show was losing revenue because advertisers were pulling their commercials from the 8 p.m. timeslot.
The O’Reilly Factor’s cancellation from Fox News is an event we will all remember. It was the number-one cable news show for about 15 years. Fox News is taking a big risk of losing that title and the pressure is on Carlson, who will be succeeding O’Reilly.
The reason why O’Reilly was so successful was because Conservatives felt like they finally had a voice in the media and the mainstream was alienating them.
This vision later became a cornerstone for many opinion shows on the network.
As for the future of the Fox News Channel, I believe it will still be on top of its competitors.
Those who watch cable news are pretty loyal to their station of choice, whether it be Fox News, CNN or MSNBC.
Conservatives in the media like Glenn Beck and Ben Shapiro are predicting this is the beginning of the end and the network will tumble quickly.
That’s a notion everyone seems to push when a big-name leaves Fox News. Only time will tell what is going to happen at the network.
