The O'Reilly Factor is a show on FOX News hosted by Bill O'Reilly that discusses political and social issues of the day, with both conservative and liberal guests. The show premiered in 1996 along with the FOX News Channel. It is the number one rated cable television news show, a title previously held by CNN's Larry King Live.

The show is well-known for its direct, confrontational approach, with O'Reilly often getting into heated arguments with guests. While he tends to turn some people away from his show with his brash attitude, he has also attracted millions of viewers with his distinctive, heavy-hitting interviewing style. He claims that his show is a "no spin zone" and that "the spin stops here," though many observers from both sides of the political spectrum consider O'Reilly (and his show) essentially conservative in viewpoint. O'Reilly ends each episode of The Factor by reading mail sent in by viewers, which is usually equally divided between those that like him and those that hate him. Commonly, both letters accusing O'Reilly of having a left-wing bias and letters accusing him of having a right-wing bias will be included in the batch. Despite the mix of views in the letters selected for on-air reading, columnists and news broadcasters routinely call him a conservative pundit. However, he denies this heavily, and considers himself an independent.

Flows

BusinessWeek magazine reported in March, 2004 that "O'Reilly generates an estimated $60 million a year for his outlets through ad and books sales, syndication fees, and merchandise sales."

External links

Articles

• BW Online | March 8, 2004 | The O'Reilly Factory
• media watchdog group's factual analysis of items on The O'Reilly Factor