Former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly hinted at starting a competing network to his old home, saying Saturday that "I am starting my own operation."
On his "The Spin Stops Here" tour in New York on Saturday, O'Reilly was asked if he would start a new network to counter his powerful former home. He said a "bunch of people are looking to compete with Fox because there's a perception of decline," Newsday reports:
"But I am starting my own operation. We are going to do that," adding that his website, billoreilly.com, will beta test a half-hour newscast "where we will go into a studio and here it will look like 'The Factor.' ... It's basically an experiment to see how many people are going to want this service. That's coming and will be here before September in a robust form. But I suspect there will be another network maybe merging with us. There will be a network that rises up because the numbers for Fox are going down."
O'Reilly was forced out at Fox in April amid a swarm of sexual harassment allegations and reports that the network paid out $13 million to five women so they would not pursue legal action against him.
O'Reilly has denied the allegations and said there was an effort led to "destroy" his career. The former host of "The O'Reilly Factor" was a cable ratings champion for much of his two decades at Fox.