Sinclair Pursuing TV Deals With Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity

Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity

Rumors that Fox News former “king of primetime” Bill O’Reilly could team up with longtime Fox News host Sean Hannity to launch a new conservative news media empire are lighting up social media, World Net Daily reports.

New York Magazine’s Gabriel Sherman claimed Sunday that the media heavyweights are considering joining forces with Sinclair Broadcast Group to lead the premier conservative-leaning news media platform in the post-Roger Ailes world.

O’Reilly, the Sinclair Broadcast Group and Sherman hadn’t returned WND’s requests for comment by the time of this report.

Sherman, an MSNBC contributor whom the Blaze reports is one of the most connected journalists covering Fox News, provided details about O’Reilly’s possible new endeavor on Joy Reid’s MSNBC show.

As I reported this morning on @amjoyshow, Bill O'Reilly has talked Hannity about teaming up to go to Sinclair Broadcasting, sources say.

— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) July 23, 2017

I'm skeptical though of an O'Reilly-Hannity alliance because the two had a lot of bad blood from their time at Fox News

— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) July 23, 2017

For Fox News, losing Hannity would be another in a long series of staff exits. In addition to O’Reilly, the news network has seen the losses of other major stars including Megyn Kelly and executives including founder Roger Ailes, who died earlier this year after his resignation from Fox News.

For Sinclair, luring in O’Reilly and Hannity would give the broadcaster even more programming to distribute among its stations. Existing Sinclair shows include "Full Measure," a weekly new program hosted by Sharyl Attkisson. "Full Measure" is broadcast to 43 million households in 79 markets on 162 Sinclair Broadcast Group stations, including ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW, MyTV, Univision and Telemundo affiliates.