Bill O'Reilly to sign off from radio show

Conservative U.S. talk show host Bill O'Reilly plans to give up his syndicated talk radio show early next year.

Fox News Channel announced the change Friday, but said O'Reilly would maintain his popular TV show The O'Reilly Factor.

The Radio Factor is heard across the U.S. on more than 400 radio stations and reaches up to three million listeners. It began in 2002.

O'Reilly, 60, said the workload of both a radio and TV show is too much and he plans to step down in the first quarter.

"It is with great regret that I've come to the decision to leave the Radio Factor, but with the success of The O'Reilly Factor, I can no longer give both TV and radio the time they deserve," he said in a statement.

He said he will continue to write a weekly newspaper column and maintain his website.

In the lead-up to the presidential election, O'Reilly had little good to say about Barack Obama or his wife, Michelle. However, he eventually had Obama on the program.

O'Reilly is considered one of the most influential talk show hosts in the U.S.

His blustering — some say bullying — style has been famously parodied by satirist Stephen Colbert.