The Economics Of Firing Bill O’Reilly

April 20, 2017 in Daily Bulletin

Bill O’Reilly, the famous news personality, has been ousted from Fox News due to multiple sexual harassment allegations. Michelle Castillo looked at some of the numbers involved:

  • O’Reilly brought in $325 million in ad revenue alone last year.
  • In return he had a contract worth $20 million a year – meaning Fox News made a 1,500% return on investment on him.
  • In that context it becomes clearer why Fox News helped pay some of the $13 million to settle the harassment lawsuits.
  • After the settlements came to light most major advertizers deserted the show, making it difficult for Fox to justify the economics of keeping it on air.
  • Some have predicted that Fox could lose up to $100 million a year because of the O’Reilly saga.
  • Others disagree, saying that the network is not reliant on individual personalities. When Megyn Kelly – another famous news personality – left, the network’s ratings actually went up.
  • Shares in Fox News’ parent company dropped less than 1% on the day of the announcement.

Read more on MSN.