Bill Simmons Lands at HBO With Multi-Platform Deal - Weekly Series Starting In 2016

[ralph_i_el]

http://blogs.wsj.com/cmo/2015/07/22/bill-simmons-lands-at-hbo-with-multi-platform-deal/?mod=e2tw
http://www.quickmeme.com/img/db/db10103aef5ed40fee8f3b422810bf58d5b0649441dd93c4ae 2dfc207ee9a2ba.jpg

[Castor Troy]

any chance of a "Bill Don't Lie" type show? loved that and Cousin Sal

[RightToCensor]

http://media.tumblr.com/e16dd16f4de841b391f118f72714a54e/tumblr_inline_nbat9kBEXc1satqni.gif

[Rolando]

:applause: Nice one Bill.

I knew he wasn't done. Bye Bye Espn... Hello HBO. He'll have more freedom there.

[ralph_i_el]

Wish he could take Grantland with him

[The_Pharcyde]

Wish he could take Grantland with him
i dont think so

i think that is all espn
and even if he does... all the actual guys who work with grantland are under the espn umbrella contractually

[Springsteen]

Wish he could take Grantland with him

A lot of the writers have one foot out the door seeing as ESPN has shown no direction with what to do with the website since they fired Bill. Don't be shocked if you see a few Grantland alumni on this new thing.

[bigkingsfan]

Lets hope for some nudity.

[SwishSquared]

A lot of the writers have one foot out the door seeing as ESPN has shown no direction with what to do with the website since they fired Bill. Don't be shocked if you see a few Grantland alumni on this new thing.I would love to see Zach Lowe jump ship. Simmons' best pods with were with guys like Zach or Voulgaris. I also really liked their email exchanges, like the trade deadline diary ones.

Do you know which writers are supposedly gearing up to leave?

[Thorpesaurous]

I'm a big fan and am pretty hopeful about this landing spot.

I read a big part of this is to help HBO get back to the dominant spot in terms of Sports Documentaries, which they always cornered the market on until 30 for 30 broke.

I don't see much of an opportunity for writing here yet, but maybe they'll finance a website for him.

[highwhey]

Wish he could take Grantland with him
Same

[MP.Trey]

ESPN stays taking those L's.

[Thorpesaurous]

They just dropped Colin Cowherd too, who I wasn't a fan of, although I have to admit he'd been growing on me.

ESPN seems pretty set in their direction to become a hype man network with no real opinions on anything.

[FKAri]

I really like Simmons but I thought people hated him on this board. ESPN is going the way of mtv.

[Hey Yo]

They just dropped Colin Cowherd too, who I wasn't a fan of, although I have to admit he'd been growing on me.

ESPN seems pretty set in their direction to become a hype man network with no real opinions on anything.
Colin chose to leave and sign with Fox Sports. Read that ESPN did make him a nice offer but he still decided to leave.

[triangleoffense]

HBO is now BHBO (boston home broadcasting)

[highwhey]

HBO is now BHBO (boston home broadcasting)
Nice

I see thru entourage they also had ties to mark wahlberg.

[highwhey]

I really like Simmons but I thought people hated him on this board. ESPN is going the way of mtv.
I don't understand why anyone would hate him...except for trolls of course. Bill Simmons is the man :rockon:

[Foster5k]

To me, Bill Simmons is a question mark. He writes good. His podcast were somewhat entertaining and informative. He did a decent job on television, not a great job. All in all, he was a valuable asset for ESPN.

Then again, I can't really say I miss Bill Simmons on ESPN. I think that is the bigger picture. ESPN evaluated the situation and decided Bill Simmons wasn't worth whatever he wanted. Not to mention, the casual fan doesn't even know who he is.

ESPN ratings won't drop because Bill Simmons is gone. HBO ratings probably will not go up by that much either. Bill Simmons is good. He just isn't that good.

[StephHamann]

Hope he keeps making Podcasts and not only a 1 hour TV show once a week.

[Marchesk]

I don't understand why anyone would hate him...except for trolls of course. Bill Simmons is the man :rockon:

He exhibited dat hard core Celtic bias against Wilt in his book to prop Russell up.

[highwhey]

To me, Bill Simmons is a question mark. He writes good. His podcast were somewhat entertaining and informative. He did a decent job on television, not a great job. All in all, he was a valuable asset for ESPN.

Then again, I can't really say I miss Bill Simmons on ESPN. I think that is the bigger picture. ESPN evaluated the situation and decided Bill Simmons wasn't worth whatever he wanted. Not to mention, the casual fan doesn't even know who he is.

ESPN ratings won't drop because Bill Simmons is gone. HBO ratings probably will not go up by that much either. Bill Simmons is good. He just isn't that good.
Bill Simmons created Espn's popular documentary "30 for 30" series. He also spearheaded Espn's "Grantland". Not to mention his analysis was the only worthwhile read in the entire ESPN website. The guy was the heart of ESPN for true sports fans.

Just like Thorp said, without Simmons they're going to become a hype man network. Aka...thrash.

[highwhey]

Espn is trash for being a safe haven to the likes of Chris Boussard and his "sources" while severing ties with the man that ran all the good stuff at espn.

[Foster5k]

Bill Simmons created Espn's popular documentary "30 for 30" series. He also spearheaded Espn's "Grantland". Not to mention his analysis was the only worthwhile read in the entire ESPN website. The guy was the heart of ESPN for true sports fans.

Just like Thorp said, without Simmons they're going to become a hype man network. Aka...thrash.
As stated, I think Bill Simmons was a valuable asset. However, he just wasn't that valuable. He was good. He just wasn't that good.

When i say that good, I mean he isn't going to sway ratings either way. ESPN will be pulling in the same numbers next year as it did with Simmons.

ESPN is a machine. One man doesn't change much. It's plug and play.

I also highly doubt HBO's ratings will see a significant increase with Bill Simmons.

[ImmortalNemesis]

https://usatthebiglead.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/bill-simmons-fist-pump.gif

https://usatthebiglead.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/bill-simmons-fist-pump.gif

https://usatthebiglead.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/bill-simmons-fist-pump.gif

[SwishSquared]

As stated, I think Bill Simmons was a valuable asset. However, he just wasn't that valuable. He was good. He just wasn't that good.

When i say that good, I mean he isn't going to sway ratings either way. ESPN will be pulling in the same numbers next year as it did with Simmons.

ESPN is a machine. One man doesn't change much. It's plug and play.

I also highly doubt HBO's ratings will see a significant increase with Bill Simmons.You have an interesting take on this matter, but the only NBA personality who could swing TV ratings is Barkley. That means everybody else doesn't really matter, which might be true for TV ratings, but could lessen the fanfare of people who loyally check a site (though likely not affect revenue/profits in any way).

Simmons, by social media popularity, is one of the biggest non-athlete personalities in pro sports. By that measure, bringing him on would hopefully convert some twitter followers into paying customers (especially with the rest of HBO's offerings). I actually think if he sticks to his Grantland-style work (Birdmesters, The Job Interview, season previews, etc.) it would make for great content for HBO's streaming properties.

ESPN has so many resources that it does break quite a bit of news, so maybe they're satisfied with that type of coverage, click-bait articles, TV broadcast rights, and a few great writers who don't stir the controversy pot (Lowe, Strauss, Haberstroh, etc.).

It should be noted that ESPN lost like 3.2M subscribers over the past year and could be shedding expensive talent in hopes that doubling down on snapping up broadcast rights will help them increases prices for those that remain subscribers. The increased cost of content acquisition has easily outpaced their revenue from subscribers.

Great writing and analysis content alone doesn't generate enough revenue, as we saw from Grantland (although imo only a few contributors were worth regularly reading). To Simmons' credit, 30 for 30 garnered ESPN lots of critical acclaim for producing some actual original programming that had solid, informative content.

[Foster5k]

You have an interesting take on this matter, but the only NBA personality who could swing TV ratings is Barkley. That means everybody else doesn't really matter, which might be true for TV ratings, but could lessen the fanfare of people who loyally check a site (though likely not affect revenue/profits in any way).

Simmons, by social media popularity, is one of the biggest non-athlete personalities in pro sports. By that measure, bringing him on would hopefully convert some twitter followers into paying customers (especially with the rest of HBO's offerings). I actually think if he sticks to his Grantland-style work (Birdmesters, The Job Interview, season previews, etc.) it would make for great content for HBO's streaming properties.

ESPN has so many resources that it does break quite a bit of news, so maybe they're satisfied with that type of coverage, click-bait articles, TV broadcast rights, and a few great writers who don't stir the controversy pot (Lowe, Strauss, Haberstroh, etc.).

It should be noted that ESPN lost like 3.2M subscribers over the past year and could be shedding expensive talent in hopes that doubling down on snapping up broadcast rights will help them increases prices for those that remain subscribers. The increased cost of content acquisition has easily outpaced their revenue from subscribers.

Great writing and analysis content alone doesn't generate enough revenue, as we saw from Grantland (although imo only a few contributors were worth regularly reading). To Simmons' credit, 30 for 30 garnered ESPN lots of critical acclaim for producing some actual original programming that had solid, informative content.
Agreed for the most part. :D

[outbreak]

Lets hope for some nudity.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IL6aa2c-oA8/UP-4FW5cA7I/AAAAAAAAD_o/keScZQM-UdI/s1600/Glen+Davis+Tongue.gif

[AirFederer]

He exhibited dat hard core Celtic bias against Wilt in his book to prop Russell up.
Little OT here, but why would a guy with 11 rings need proping up for against a (losing, mostly) arche rival?

[triangleoffense]

Simmons real talent lies in his humor.. he's got that boston/east coast wit.

[triangleoffense]

This is true.
OMG how dare u steal my sacred avatar!

[highwhey]

OMG how dare u steal my sacred avatar!
I was bored :oldlol:

It is pretty awesome tho

[ZeN]

Wish he could take Grantland with him
THIS

[Marchesk]

Little OT here, but why would a guy with 11 rings need proping up for against a (losing, mostly) arche rival?

Because everyone realized Wilt was the superior talent who didn't have 8-10 HOF teammates his entire career.

[Mavsman22]

I'm genuinely excited by this news. Probably like a lot of you guys, I grew up reading this forum and that's essentially how I found Bill Simmons. Since then I've been ride or die. He's basically the sports voice of this generation.

https://the-cauldron.com/that-time-i-didn-t-enter-the-bill-simmons-intern-contest-fe4da91c1747