What's next for O'Reilly? A smaller soapbox

Now that Bill O'Reilly is out at Fox News, talk has begun about where the cable TV heavyweight and best-selling author might land for his inevitable comeback.

Wherever that turns out to be, the conservative host will have a less-amplified megaphone. At Fox News, O'Reilly hosted the top-rated cable news show on the most-watched cable news channel.

But the tarnish from multiple accusations of sexual harassment will likely cause major broadcast and cable networks to shy away.

"He is radioactive in terms of any other news network," said Mark Feldstein, a broadcast journalism professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a former journalist at NBC. "He is certainly not going to go to any of the big three or CNN or MSNBC."

O'Reilly had planned to return to The O'Reilly Factor on Fox next week after a two-week vacation taken amid an exodus of advertisers over reports of harassment allegations made against him. But parent 21st Century Fox dropped the conservative TV host Wednesday as new accusations arose.

Related:

Bill O'Reilly ousted at Fox after sexual harassment investigation

Having recently signed a new million multi-year contract worth more than $20 million annually, O'Reilly, 67, likely expected to work for a few more years. He called the development "tremendously disheartening" and described the allegations as "completely unfounded" in a statement released Wednesday.

O'Reilly is expected to be paid one year, or about $20 million to $25 million, of the expected four-year contract, CNN and The Hollywood Reporter reported Thursday, citing unnamed persons familiar with the situation. A spokesperson for 21st Century Fox declined comment.

When a non-compete clause, expected to run at least six months, runs out, O'Reilly would be free to take to the air again. If a major broadcast or cable channel is out of the question, O'Reilly could get to work sooner and he can survey many other media outlets as a route for his return, said Feldstein, based on his knowledge of typical broadcast contracts.

O'Reilly's lawyer and his agent did not return calls seeking comment for this article.

Among the possible new homes: Newsmax Media, a conservative media company with a TV network (on cable and online), website, magazine and newsletter; One America News Network (OANN), a conservative TV network on DirecTV and several cable systems; and Sinclair Broadcast Group, the Baltimore, Md.-based TV operator with 173 stations and other properties such as the Tennis Channel.

Sinclair has been known for producing conservative programming that is distributed to its TV stations. Earlier this week, it hired Boris Epshteyn, a special assistant to President Trump, as chief political analyst.

“They’ve got big enough coverage that they can take him and syndicate him around the country," said Andrew Tyndall, TV news analyst of The Tyndall Report, a research firm.

Newsmax or OANN would have to evolve "into a vehicle that was powerful enough to carry him," Tyndall said, because O'Reilly, by himself, "is a bigger force than all of these other outlets put together."

If O'Reilly is willing, Newsmax would be "a really good fit" for him, said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, which follows the talk radio business. "It is conservative and could use that one extra superstar component that O’ Reilly could offer to make it the complete package," he said. "(O'Reilly) might have to take a cut in immediate salary, but he could play a role in being part of a building process on a platform that is already off to a good start within the conservative media community and enjoy solid 'ground floor' positioning in the process going forward."

Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy told CNNMoney on Wednesday, "I'd love to talk to him."

But Harrison doesn't rule out O'Reilly's return on a competing network. Any would "be interested in finding a place for him in their programming line-ups or at least exploring the possibility," he said. "But that would only be after lengthy discussions and concessions.  O’ Reilly is, indeed, damaged. He is not, however, irreparably broken." 

If nothing else, O'Reilly could also return to radio — he hosted The Radio Factor on air from 2002 to 2009 — but he would probably prefer TV, "because his talents are more suited to TV than radio," Harrison said. "He does a lot of his talking with his face and he could probably make more money in TV than radio."

Another strategy could be following the lead of another top-rated Fox News alum Glenn Beck, who founded The Blaze, a network carried on DirecTV, cable and online, after leaving Fox in 2011. That would allow him to "try to start up his own business and be the boss," Feldstein said.

Whatever O'Reilly's plans, Feldstein said, "I don’t see him going quietly into the night and just retiring."

Read more:

How Bill O'Reilly's ouster will dent Fox News

Controversy has always hovered over O’Reilly’s career

The final tipping point for O'Reilly and Fox was plain old money

Roger Yu contributed to this report. Follow USA TODAY reporter Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider and Roger at @ByRogerYu.