HBO signs ex-ESPN personality Bill Simmons to exclusive deal

Basically, Simmons will host his own talk show beginning in 2016, and, according to the report, it will be “both topical and spontaneous, with stories and guests across the sports and cultural landscape”.

Shortly after noon on Wednesday, The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter reported on the move, indicating that the sports personality will host a weekly talk show starting in 2016, and will appear on TV exclusively for HBO.

There’s no mention in HBO’s press release of Simmons creating a new version of Grantland, the site he built for ESPN – or any other Web property for HBO. “His intelligence, talent and insights are without precedent in the areas he covers”, HBO president of programming Michael Lombardo said in a statement.

HBO’s sports division is mostly known for its boxing coverage and the monthly newsmagazine series “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel”, which has won dozens of Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award since its debut in 1995.

“It’s no secret that HBO is the single best place for creative people in the entire media landscape”. A tirade against Goodell on Simmons’ podcast, for instance, earned him a three-week suspension, without pay, last September.

ESPN president John Skipper, like Simmons, has remained tight-lipped about the precise cause for his firing, just as he has on the early July decision to yank another controversial ESPN personality, Keith Olbermann. He added that after talking with the network, “it was hard to imagine being anywhere else”.

Simmons started at ESPN in 2001 as a columnist for ESPN.com’s Page 2. In April 2015, HBO NOW, the network’s highly anticipated standalone premium streaming service, began providing audiences with instant access to HBO’s acclaimed programming in the U.S. HBO NOW is available directly through Apple or Optimum Online for a monthly subscription. He also served as a writer for “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on ABC from 2002 to 2004.