Sinclair Broadcast Group, which runs conservative opinion segments during the local newscasts on the TV stations it owns, said it is not interested in hiring former Fox News Channel host Bill O’Reilly.
Speaking during Sinclairs’ third-quarter earnings call Wednesday (Nov. 1), Sinclair president and CEO Chris Ripley said O’Reilly had reached out to Sinclair.
“He did approach us, which is where I suspect a lot of these stories are coming from, but we do not have any interest in hiring him,” Ripley said.
O’Reilly was terminated by Fox News after it was disclosed he had paid millions to settle a number of sexual harassment complaints.
Related: 21st Century Fox Says Bill O'Reilly Won't Return
There were reports Sinclair would hire O’Reilly for a show that would air either on the stations or on a cable news network is it contemplating launching.
Sinclair's net income was $30.6 million, or 30 cents a share, in the third quarter, down from $50.8 million, or 54 cents a share.
Revenue fell $3.3% to $670 million.
"We exceeded our third quarter adjusted operating income expectations previously provided, that excluded the acquisition of Bonten Media which closed in September of this year," Ripley said. "Despite challenges in the quarter, including Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the loss of certain technical school advertisers versus last year and mainly transaction-related one-time charges, Sinclair stations continued to deliver. In the quarter, we grew our share of our markets' revenues, excluding political, versus last year. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, our expectation is for pro forma core advertising revenues, including Bonten, to grow mid-single digit percentage points over the same period last year."
