Bill Simmons made the move to HBO following his departure from ESPN. During his time with the worldwide leader, ‘The Sports Guy’ created a cult following stemming from his columns on ESPN.com and also developed the beloved website, Grantland.
Grantland is no longer a thing, Simmons was relieved of his duties at ESPN following some unfavorable comments about NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and he did a reset. He developed a new site, ‘The Ringer’ and also began a new show on HBO titled ‘Any Given Wednesday’. The show debuted in June of 2016 and had a big names on the guest list. Stars like Aaron Rodgers, Ben Affleck, Kevin Durant, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bob Costas, Caitlyn Jenner, Al Michaels, Bill Hader, Christina Hendricks and Michael Rappaport all made appearances on the show.
Unfortunately, it will be getting cancelled a little over four months after the sports and pop culture program debuted. November 9th will be the final show. Poor ratings dominated the headlines more than the actual topics Bill was talking about on the show. That’s never a good sign.
HBO and Bill Simmons released a statement on the decision.
“One of the many reasons I joined HBO was to see if we could create a show built around smart conversations for sports fans and pop culture junkies. We loved making that show, but unfortunately, it never resonated with audiences like we hoped. And that’s on me. But I love being a part of HBO’s family and look forward to innovating with them on other ambitious programming ideas over these next several years — both for the network and online. With that said, I want to thank the dedicated staff that worked so diligently with me behind the scenes to make this show every week — we hired so many great and talented people and I loved having them in my life. It’s difficult for me to imagine not working with them anymore.”
As The Hollywood Reporter notes, HBO will still have a small stake in the ‘Bill Simmons Media Group’ and Bill will have a role with the television network in 2017.
“HBO is committed to Bill Simmons, and we are excited to bring his unique vision to bear on an array of new programming initiatives under the HBO Sports banner in 2017,” added HBO Sports EVP Peter Nelson. “Bill is an award-winning executive producer in the documentary arena, and we will work closely with him in developing new and engaging content for our subscribers.”
