It is an old – and true – maxim in Public Relations that the single best thing is good publicity…and the next best thing is bad publicity.

Which brings us straight to Bill O\’Reilly.

O\’Reilly has been the single most watched cable news personality for well over a decade now, and remains way ahead of the competition to this day.

But in the last two or so weeks, he has been bombarded with Brian Williams-like accusations that he embellished his news career by claiming to be places where he wasn\’t – such as being in a war zone during the Falkland Islands battle between the UK and Argentina, witnessing Irish terrorist bombings in Belfast and witnessing nuns being murdered in El Salvador (O\’Reilly stands by the Falkland Island story but has “adjusted” his remembrance of the other two).

Is O\’Reilly telling the truth about personally being there for these events – as opposed to covering them as a then-newsperson but not actually witnessing them?  To me it seems clear that – whether due to faulty memory, or because he lied to make himself look more impressive – he was not. 

So how has it affected him?

Work-wise, there isn\’t any effect.  Fox has not suspended O\’Reilly – presumably because his ratings are so high, coupled with the fact that, unlike Brian Williams, he functions as a commentator rather than a newsman – so, in this phase of his professional life, that kind of accuracy is less meaningful (remember:  this is not my opinion, it is what I imagine Fox\’s rationale to be).

But what about ratings?  Has The O\’Reilly Factor taken a major hit over this?

Uh….no. 

According to Lisa de Moraes\’s article at deadline.com:

TheFoxNews Channelhost last night logged his biggest audience of 2015 to date – 3.3million viewers. He also averaged 590,000 viewers in the news demo.That\’s 166% bigger than the crowd he clocked same night last year,and 100% better in the demo viewers.

O’Reilly\’sratings appears to be inversely related to the pelting he\’s undergone about claims he made regarding his involvement coveringmajor news events in the past.

Forthat first full week, TheO\’Reilly Factoraveraged 3.381 million viewers, and 590,000 in the demo – a 25%jump and 41% demo pop.

Meanwhile,Anderson Cooper\’s numbers at CNN  for the week – 530,000viewers and 209,000 demo viewers – are up a lesser 16% and 6%,respectively. And Chris Hayes\’ MSNBC crowd for the week in thetimeslot – 767,000 and 168,000 respectively –  are down, aslight 2% in total viewers, but a noticeable 28% in the news demo.

And before you sneer out something like “Oh, well, that\’s just those gullible buffoons who watch Fox News”…..let\’s keep in mind that a rise in ratings occurs when people who weren\’t watching decide to tune in.

Despite the memory lapses and his continually talking over guests – even bullying them – it seems that there is nothing, at present, which can dislodge Bill O\’Reilly from his perch at the top of the cage. 

Bad publicity. Sometimes the second best thing ain\’t that bad at all.