[1] The O'Reilly Factor first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7, 1996, the same day the network launched.

[2] The O'Reilly Factor was generally pre-recorded, though on occasion it aired live if breaking news or special events were being covered (e.g., presidential addresses that occurred during prime-time and debate coverage).

[5] Guest hosts included: Eric Bolling,[6] Monica Crowley,[7] Greg Gutfeld,[8] E. D. Hill,[9] Laura Ingraham,[10] John Kasich,[11] Michelle Malkin,[12] Tony Snow,[13] and Juan Williams.

[15] In July 2009, Hal Boedeker blogged that The O'Reilly Factor peaked at 3.1 million viewers which was an increase of 37% from the previous year.

[17] In May 2014, The O'Reilly Factor still held this top position, but average monthly viewers were down to 2.1 million, with a median age of 72 years.

[18] In March 2015, The O'Reilly Factor remained at the number one spot on cable news ratings for its 60th consecutive quarter, experiencing 19% growth in viewership among individuals aged 25 to 54 years old.

[20] In the time during Bill O'Reilly's week-long vacation preceding his firing (in which Dana Perino guest hosted), the ratings dropped 26%.

A conservative commentator, she began boycotting the show in 2007 due to controversy involving remarks made against her by Geraldo Rivera over her position on illegal immigration.

[2] In the April 19, 2017 episode, Perino read a prepared statement about O'Reilly's dismissal equivalent to what the network had released earlier in the day.

[50][55] The termination of employment of the former host was a major feature of news coverage on both MSNBC and CNN; outside of the prepared statements, it was not mentioned on-air during the program and other regular topics were covered.

[55][56] O'Reilly was not given an opportunity to sign-off on-air, instead releasing a statement through his agency about the matter, while continuing to deny the sexual harassment allegations against him.