The board of Fox News’s parent company, 21st Century Fox, will meet Thursday, when O’Reilly’s fate could be determined, according to people close to the situation. Although the board has no direct vote over O’Reilly’s employment status, its members could be influential with the Murdoch family, which controls the company and would have the final say.
CNN reported that exit talks were underway between O’Reilly and Fox, but O’Reilly’s camp said such discussions haven’t taken place.
O’Reilly’s contract — signed in March — has an “opt out” clause that would require Fox to pay him a fixed amount if invoked, making extensive negotiations unlikely and unnecessary.
The fact that Fox is allowing this conversation in the press without strong pushback tells you it's true. Luckily for Fox News they have a whole closet full of blowhards who can slide into that slot. Viewers are not tuning in for O'Reilly, per se. They are tuning in to hear Republican news. Give them only positive spins on their guys and blame everything that goes wrong on the other guys, and don't bother them with anything that doesn't fit that narrative, and everything will be just fine.
UPDATE: Ooh boy, it's worse than I thought. Drudge is already eulogizing O'Reilly...
O'Reilly has had tremendous run. Very few in the business get to decide when and how things end. Media is most brutal of all industries...
— MATT DRUDGE (@DRUDGE) April 18, 2017
LATE LATE UPDATE: It's ALL OVER. O'Reilly is a goner...
FULL STORY: Bill O'Reilly officially out at Fox News https://t.co/o55fTxrkdE pic.twitter.com/HdTAPtTErH
— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 19, 2017
