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Simmons and HBO, A Perfect Match

Jason Barrett

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Bill Simmons and HBO are a perfect match. As reported by the Washington Post a couple of days ago, Bill Simmons and HBO have come to an agreement. The multi-year deal is for exclusive rights for many of HBO’s platforms. This includes a television show, podcasts and features. Also, Simmons will continue to write. How HBO implements this remains to be seen, but a clone of Grantland, Simmons’ creation, may be in the works.

Bill Simmons, the self-proclaimed “Sports Guy” was not retained by ESPN as his contract is nearing its end. The mastermind behind much of Grantland’s success has not published anything on the website, nor appeared on any of the sports network’s television programming since May. It was widely speculated that both sides were making attempts at coming to terms with a contract extension, but those talks fizzled as Simmons’ star faded in the eyes of the ESPN brass.

Not too many people shed tears over the Bill Simmons and ESPN divorce. ESPN is the undisputed leader in sports broadcasting, while Simmons, a talented professional, was destined to land on his feet. In a matter of months, HBO came in and swooped Simmons up.

Bill Simmons and HBO is a perfect match.

If you have ever read a Bill Simmons-penned article on Grantland, the first thing that stands out is the edginess and emotion. One of his strongest traits is that a Bill Simmons piece is littered with passion. That passion carried over on ESPN television and some people cringed. His passion for the Boston Celtics is worth noting.

Over paper, virtual paper that is, he comes across as a fan. Fans do not mince words when heaping praise or expressing disappointment. To say that Bill Simmons is a person without a filter is an understatement. That, coupled with his desire for wanting more creative control on his projects, led to a debate within ESPN’s management regarding if he was worthy of that responsibility. No personality at ESPN yields that type of power. If Bill Simmons was granted that cache, it would have opened the door for others who would want similar control.

With HBO, he should have creative control over many of his projects. What made Bill Simmons interesting on ESPN is the fact that he was allowed to be himself for a long time.

HBO likes edgy.

Adding Bill Simmons to their stable is similar to when they pegged politically-based comedian Bill Maher to host Real Time with Bill Maher. Maher had been left dangling by ABC, a Disney owned company just like ESPN. Maher was the host to Politically Incorrect. He was deemed to be too controversial for the network. HBO on the other hand saw a gem in Maher. The rest is history.

For Bill Simmons, freedom will be a wonderful tool. HBO will give him the opportunity to speak his mind while not having to apologize for it. Freedom is a gift that is seldom realized today in the media industry. There are several reasons why his relationship with ESPN dissolved after 14 mostly successful years.

It was the journalistic freedom that led to the development of Grantland and the critically acclaimed documentary series 30 for 30. They are staples in the sports world and will continue to be for years to come. He now has the chance to strike gold twice. And this time it will be with a network, a pay for television network which will allow him to exude all of the passion he chooses to.

One of Simmons’ favorite targets, one of them being NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will no longer be safe from his wrath. It is hard not to forget the tirade regarding Commissioner Goodell and his handling of the Ray Rice case. During the since-deleted podcast, Simmons went off on Goodell. He was suspended by ESPN for his rant. There would be no such suspension at HBO.

The gloves are now off. He can proceed in being no holds barred. That is just what HBO likes. Bill Simmons and HBO are perfect for each other.

Credit to The Inquisitr who originally published this article

Sports TV News

ESPN Sees Larger Than Average Audience For Big City Greens Classic

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ESPN aired Tuesday night’s New York Rangers and Washington Capitals game. DisneyXD and Disney Channel aired an alternate broadcast that included players being 3D animated to resemble the cast of Disney Channel’s popular cartoon Big City Greens. It turned into a ratings win for the networks.

The alternate broadcast featured players animated in real time to mimic what was happening on the Madison Square Garden ice. Players were equipped with special chips in the padding to aid the animation, and special pucks were used to ensure a smooth transition from video to computer-animated graphics.

An average of 589,000 viewers tuned into the game on ESPN. Meanwhile, nearly 175,000 watched the broadcast between Disney Channel and DisneyXD.

The figure for ESPN represents its largest NHL broadcast since a November 1st broadcast featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins.

The combined total for the broadcast — 765,000 — outdrew the World Baseball Classic broadcasts but did not top the NCAA Tournament’s First Four round that was broadcast on truTV.

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Sports TV News

Greg Gumbel: I’m Lucky That I’ve Never Been Fired

“I worked for some people who didn’t like me, I’ve worked for some people I didn’t like. It’s a strange business, there’s no doubt.”

Ricky Keeler

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Greg Gumbel

This week, it was announced that Greg Gumbel will no longer be a play-by-play announcer for the NFL on CBS after working on CBS’s NFL coverage every year since 1998. Gumbel has had an illustrious career and he takes pride in the fact that one thing has never happened to him.

Gumbel was a guest on the Tell Me A Story I Don’t Know podcast with George Ofman (Part 2 from an interview back in September) and he told Ofman that while he has never been fired before, but he doesn’t think broadcasters should be embarrassed when they get fired because of what the business is.

“It’s the nature of the business. I honestly think I’ve been extremely fortunate in that I’ve never been fired in a business that is known for firings. Being fired in this business is no shame, no embarrassment because it’s a subjective business. Because this guy at this network likes my work, it doesn’t mean that this guy at that network does. It’s extremely subjective and if you can buy that and understand it the way it is, then it shouldn’t bother you at all.

“It’s never happened to me. If it had, it would not have surprised me. I worked for some people who didn’t like me, I’ve worked for some people I didn’t like. It’s a strange business, there’s no doubt.”

Gumbel has been the host of CBS’s NCAA Tournament coverage for the last 25 years and he knows it’s a job that he is very grateful to have.

“I know there are people who would give their right arm to be sitting there next to Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis on Selection Sunday or sitting next to Kellogg, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley when the tournament begins to talk about what we’ve just seen or what we are going to see. I am never, ever going to take for granted the fact that I have been very fortunate to be able to do that.”

One thing Gumbel tries to avoid whenever he is on air is the mispronunciation of someone’s name because he knows how it feels to have his name distorted accidentally by some people.

“Pronunciations are important to me. There’s been a lifetime of people who may not completely mispronounce my name, but distorting it a little bit from time to time. I never want to do that to an athlete. If I ever mispronounce an athlete’s name, I hear it from his family, I hear it from the school or the team and I apologize for it as soon as I can. I don’t think that is something light or should be taken for granted.”

Toward the end of the interview, Gumbel was asked by Ofman when he will know it will be time to end his career.

“Other people have given it more thought than I have. I think when that time comes around, it will hit me over the head more than I will think about it. There are people who ask me why I still do what I do. The very bottom line is I love it, I enjoy it.”

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Sports TV News

Diamond Sports Group Misses Arizona Diamondbacks Rights Payment

It is believed that the missed rights payment by Bally Sports Arizona triggers a clause in the contract that reverts the television rights back to the Diamondbacks and Major League Baseball.

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Last week, Diamond Sports Group — operator of the Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks — claimed it had paid every rights fee it was contractually obligated, except for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

At the time, the company said it had a grace period until it needed to make a payment. That payment was due by Thursday, March 16th at 11:59 PM. That time has come and gone, and the company failed to deliver its fee.

It is believed that the missed rights payment by Bally Sports Arizona triggers a clause in the contract that reverts the television rights back to the Diamondbacks and Major League Baseball.

The Diamondbacks are not the only team affected by the situation. Bally Sports — which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this week — has also reportedly entered a grace period with the San Diego Padres. According to a report from Sports Business Journal, that grace period ends on March 30th, baseball’s Opening Day.

Previous reporting claims that contract is one the network hopes to get out from under. The company loses a reported $20 million per season on its television deal with the Padres. The Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians are the other two baseball franchises the network holds the rights to that it hopes to terminate deals for.

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