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Will HBO Land Bill Simmons?

Jason Barrett

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While there are lots of potential landing spots for Bill Simmons, there hasn’t been much talk yet about which companies have actually made solid pitches to him. It looks like HBO has entered that camp, though, and it sounds like acquiring Simmons might be a big part of the network’s strategy going forward. Lacey Rose of The Hollywood Reporter wrote a big cover story on HBO that went live online Wednesday, and Simmons was important enough to be mentioned on the cover and make the online title, “HBO’s Real-Life Game of Thrones: The Fight to Stay Rich, on Top and Score Bill Simmons.” Most of the piece is more aimed at those curious about HBO’s changing business model (particularly with their new over-the-top HBO Now service that doesn’t require a cable subscription) and their various programming strategies, but the part on Simmons will definitely interest sports fans:

On June 21, HBO will add a pair of testosterone-fueled new editions — Dwayne Johnson’s sports dramedy Ballers and the Jack Black-Tim Robbins political half-hour The Brink — along with a second installment of the drama juggernaut True Detective. And the network will ramp up from there, with plans for more of the addictive Robert Durst docuseries, a not-yet-announced 1970s porn drama from The Wire’s David Simon and, if all goes as planned, a platform for ESPN cast-off Bill Simmons. While HBO executives are staying mum, multiple sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the network is in talks for a major multipart deal with the biggest media personality in sports (more on that later). …

[HBO programming chief Michael] Lombardo won’t rule out other talk shows, too, particularly if the right personality comes along. Though he’s tight-lipped about names on his wish list, he acknowledges the soon-to-be available Jon Stewart would hold appeal. “Trust me,” he says, “I’ve already had a very polite conversation.” Considerably more likely is Simmons, whom the network is said to have made a big play for after his unceremonious booting from the more corporate ESPN. Such a move would be straight out of the HBO playbook, which famously provided a creative reprieve for former ABC flameout Bill Maher many years earlier. Though Simmons is said to have several suitors, insiders say con­versations at HBO have focused on a TV show — something Simmons is believed to want — along with heavy digital extensions that make the prolific personality tailor-made for the HBO Now era.

A talk show for Simmons would certainly be an interesting step. At first glance, that seems a little outside the box, but it’s not really that different from the televised podcasts he did at Grantland or the more recent Grantland Basketball Hour on ESPN. That also might fit with Simmons’ apparent desire to have a big TV presence, and it might be free-form enough to work well for him. It might turn into important content for HBO, too; as we’ve discussed before, Simmons has an incredibly loyal fanbase, and that’s largely a young fanbase who might well follow him to HBO, especially in an era where HBO Now is available without a cable subscription. It’s notable as well that HBO is much better than many of its competitors at allowing you to watch programming whenever, through services like HBO Go and HBO Now. That might be a good fit for someone who’s coming in from a column/podcast world where his audience engages with his content when it works for them.

Given Simmons’ involvement with ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentaries, work on HBO’s sports documentaries also might be a natural fit for him. HBO Sports president Ken Hershman wouldn’t comment on Simmons when AA’s Ben Koo asked about him earlier this month, and HBO’s 2011 decision to close its in-house unit might make it more difficult to find a role on that side for Simmons, but HBO regularly features content from filmmakers like Peter Berg who have worked with Simmons before, and involving Simmons in analyzing outside pitches, deciding which ones to pursue and potentially even working with the filmmakers would only seem logical. It’s notable that Simmons has made several comments in the past about how HBO’s dominance of the documentary space inspired his work with 30 for 30 and convinced him to challenge them. Simmons is strongly opinionated, and his past criticisms of HBO’s recent documentary direction might not go over well with everyone, but he might also be able to bring a fresh perspective and some of what he learned from 30 for 30 to help HBO recapture a larger slice of the sports documentary market.

The biggest question about a potential Simmons to HBO move may be what happens to his written and podcast content. If he has a regular talk show and is involved in documentary production, perhaps that’s enough work for him, and perhaps it means he doesn’t feel the need to crank out columns or podcasts. If he did want to keep doing those, though, there doesn’t seem to be a natural fit for them at HBO, and that might work against them compared to a company like Turner that could use written and podcast content as well as TV content. Something to keep in mind here is that HBO doesn’t always need to have talent work with them and only them, though; it’s possible to imagine a deal where Simmons does work for HBO and someone else, or where he runs his own website on the side with perhaps some venture capital funding. There are lots of questions still to be answered about any potential Simmons-to-HBO deal, but this is certainly an interesting possibility, and it sounds like one that not only might work out for both him and the network, but one that’s also being actively explored by both. We’ll see if anything comes of this, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on.

Credit to Awful Announcing who originally published this article

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John Anderson Announces Retirement from SportsCenter on ESPN

“I don’t really know what’s quite next, I have some things in the fire. But SportsCenter will not be it.”

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Photo of John Anderson
Credit: Mediaite

Longtime SportsCenter anchor John Anderson has announced that when his contract comes up at the end of June, he will no longer be doing SportsCenter for ESPN. Anderson, who joined ESPN in 1999 does plan to continue covering certain events, but after 25 years he believes it is time to stop doing ESPN’s flagship show. Anderson spoke on his podcast, The Inside Wisconsin Show and prior to the episode’s release tomorrow, a clip was released:

“My contract runs out at ESPN at the end of June,” Anderson said. “I have decided that that will be the end. I’m going to leave the company. I’m going to sort of retire from ‘SportsCenter.’ I’m going to get to do a few track-and-field things, I’m going to get to continue to do the Boston Marathon and the New York Marathon – which I love – and some NCAA track meets and some SEC stuff.

“I am incredibly excited about that. It’s been a good run…I feel like it’s been a good run. The operation has changed. I don’t know that it’s passed me by, but it’s taken its toll and I still want to be able to do the best shows that I can, and I don’t know that if in years 26 or 27 I have the stamina to do it again.  

“So, I’m done…I don’t really know what’s quite next. I have some things in the fire. But SportsCenter will not be it.”

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Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo: NFL Streaming Games ‘Gets Obscene’

“They’ve got a Wild Card game on Amazon Prime Video, which means you can’t switch with the remotes.”

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Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo
Courtesy: Cindy Ord, Getty Images for SiriusXM

The National Football League has announced that the Philadelphia Eagles opening matchup taking place from San Paolo, Brazil against an opponent to be determined for the 2024 season will stream exclusively on Peacock. Even though the game will be exclusive to Peacock – thus requiring fans to subscribe in order to watch – it will also be broadcast on an over-the-air network in the local markets of the teams involved in the game. Christopher ‘Mad Dog’ Russo is not a fan of this decision by the league.

During his “What Are You Mad About?” segment on Wednesday morning’s edition of First Take on ESPN, Russo expressed his indignation towards the game being exclusively streamed by Peacock. Within his discourse, he presented a hypothetical scenario of an Eagles fan who continues to spend money to see the team at Lincoln Financial Field and how they would not fly down to Brazil to see the game. Russo continued by saying that the fan would then miss the game without having Peacock so the NFL is able to drive more revenue.

“It’s hard to get Peacock; I don’t want to get Peacock, alright?,” Russo said. “I want to watch the game normal. Give me [Joe] Buck and [Troy] Aikman, give me the CBS crew, [Tom] Brady’s going to do it. Give me something! Don’t put the Eagles 9,000 miles away and then put them on a cable thing on Peacock which you’ve got to subscribe to so NBC can make more money.”

NBC Sports will broadcast an opening night game during Week 1 on Thursday, Sept. 5, along with a Sunday Night Football contest on Sunday, Sept. 8. Within its stretch of primetime football matchups, which also includes a Saturday night Big Ten Conference game, the Friday night NFL game seems to be the only one exclusive to Peacock. The streaming platform is coming off a strong performance for its exclusive Wild Card round playoff matchup, drawing an average of 23 million viewers and becoming the most-streamed NFL game in history.

This past season of Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video garnered a 24% increase in viewers compared to its first season, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. These metrics demonstrate that the broadcast property averaged 11.86 million viewers per game during the 2023 NFL season. The OTT streaming platform also presented the inaugural NFL game on Black Friday, which averaged 9.61 million viewers.

Prime Video will reportedly have the exclusive rights to an NFL playoff game next season, and it has continued building out its sports content vertical. The company has reportedly been exploring a potential media rights deal with the National Basketball Association as its national television contract is nearing expiration. The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Discovery are currently in the midst of exclusive negotiating windows with the NBA that conclude on Monday, April 22, after which Amazon will be able to bid.

“They’ve got a Wild Card game on Amazon Prime Video, which means you can’t switch with the remotes,” Russo said, referring to the reported agreement for next season. “I know the NFL prints money – I understand how big they are, but boy this gets obscene.”

“One-hundred percent right,” First Take host Molly Qerim added. “I cannot stand having 8,000 different apps. It needs to be streamlined. It’s annoying – you have to remember all these passwords. I don’t have Peacock; I don’t want Peacock. I completely agree with you.”

ESPN NBA analyst Tim Legler proceeded to convey the dedication of Eagles fans in showing up to the stadium and watching their team. Russo agreed with him that Eagles fans will travel down to Brazil since they pack stadiums and fervently support their team. Off of that point, ESPN NFL reporter Kimberley A. Martin explained that she believes the devotion and zeal from the fanbase is part of the reason why this is a shrewd decision by the NFL.

“This is genius,” Martin said. “You do put the Eagles – that type of team – because they’re going to buy it.”

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NCAA Women’s Championship Round 2 on ESPN Up 121%; Iowa-West Virginia Hits 4.9 Million Viewers

ESPN and ABC posted their four most-watched Women’s March Madness second-round games ever, with Iowa/West Virginia averaging 4.9 million viewers

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Graphic of the NCAA Women's basketball tournament

The women’s college basketball hot streak continues with the second round of the NCAA Women’s Championship on ESPN averaging 1.4 million viewers all weekend. Viewership was at its highest for Caitlin Clark’s final game in Iowa when her Iowa Hawkeyes defeated West Virginia, which amassed a staggering 4.9 million viewers and peaked at 6.4 million.

ESPN and ABC achieved their four-most watched second-round games on record this season. Outside of Iowa/WVU, the matchup between UConn and Stanford averaged 2.1 million viewers, the LSU/Middle Tennessee matchup garnered 2 million viewers, and the Kansas/USC tilt averaged 1.8 million viewers. This matches its first-round coverage, which also set marks for its most-viewed games ever.

According to ESPN’s VP of research Flora Kelly, Iowa/WVU’s 4.9 million viewers would have beaten every Women’s National Championship game from 2005 to 2022:

ESPN is no doubt excited for a potential Elite 8 matchup between Iowa and LSU, a rematch of last year’s national championship game. That game averaged 9.9 million viewers, shattering the previous record for a women’s college basketball game on any network. All it needs is an Iowa win over Colorado and an LSU win over UCLA to make their dream a reality. A potential Iowa/South Carolina national title game could surpass even that.

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