Bill O’Reilly On Fox News’ 14th Birthday: “Our Cable News Competition Has Been Destroyed”

Today is the 14th anniversary of Fox News’ launch, and Bill O’Reilly marked the occasion on the Factor tonight by playing an old clip of what was then the The O’Reilly Report – and taking some shots at the network’s competition (or lack thereof).

He recalled the early days of “very few cable clearances” for Fox News, but quickly noted that “now, we dominate television news in America.” He was much more humble, however, when revisiting his show from the early days, saying he was “kind of embarrassed,” and even admonishing himself with a, “How stupid was that?!” after playing a clip of an early debate. He then balanced that out too, with a clip of him faring much better in a different back-and-forth.

And of course, there were digs at MSNBC (without actually saying “MSNBC”). Most notably: “Our cable news competition has been destroyed. Ratings for liberal TV news are dismal.” He enunciated “destroyed” and “dismal” was particular flourish. Video of the segment below, complete with some off-camera taunting by Monica Crowley and an interesting remark about his 1996 hairstyle.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!