William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. (born September 10, 1949) is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news program on American television.
O'Reilly is generally considered a conservative commentator, though some of his positions diverge from conservative orthodoxy and he characterizes himself as a "traditionalist." Prior to hosting The O'Reilly Factor, he served as anchor of the entertainment program Inside Edition. O'Reilly is the author of eight books, and hosted The Radio Factor until early 2009. Over the years, O'Reilly's print and broadcast work has drawn both praise and criticism.O'Reilly's early television news career included reporting and anchoring positions at WNEP-TV in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he also reported the weather. At WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas, O'Reilly was awarded the Dallas Press Club Award for excellence in investigative reporting. He then moved to KMGH-TV in Denver, Colorado where he won a Local Emmy Award for his coverage of a skyjacking. O'Reilly also worked for KATU-TV in Portland, Oregon, as well as TV stations in Hartford, Connecticut (WFSB-TV), and in Boston, Massachusetts (WNEV-TV).