Grantland felt like a startup incubator that filled in a much desired customer need but was still figuring its way to profitability. ESPN is a fat lazy dinosaur that makes money hand over fist without understanding digital media. So I hope grant land goes bust and Simmons can begin again. Simmons feels totally at ease with the Internet. I dunno if he can make HBO online profitable, but at the very least he can make them relevant in that space where people are beginning to understand that the same thing happening to print is also happening to broadcast to a slower extent.
Simmons went Hollywood, and Simmons, long ago. He is not Sports, nor is he interesting, unless you like watching someone jerk off to a picture of himself. This show has "Insufferable Douche" written all over it.
Wish they'd just launch HBO Sports as it's own channel. Hire the unfiltered guys like Simmons, Cowherd, etc. Give ESPN some legit competition.
I also would like to see that but they will never approach ESPN's dominance if they stay a subscriber only channel but I think we are seeing a lot of change in the way what used to be TV only media is being consumed and I think being digital media savvy is a smart play by HBO - a place where they can pull a larger market share than their lethargic competitor. That being said, Simmons attracts a very specific type of internet media consumer. They will need to find a more populist personality to really bring in the masses - Guys like Cowherd and Dan Patrick probably aren't young enough to be those guys in that space so it will have to be someone else - Kind of like what Howard Stern is to XM radio - but in this case, someone who brings people to HBO's digital media offering.
While I understand why Simmons went for what was, I can only assume, a huge paycheck at HBO, I still would have preferred he just gone all digital, copied Grantland in a sense anew, and did that. He no doubt could have raised a large chunk of venture financing to pursue such a strategy. It might not be profitable in the first few years, but I think he could figure it out, as the business model changes over the next 3-4 years in internet's favor... AND the ultimate monetization would be using that to back into a TV network of their own. I know there's a subset of people who really find Simmons bad. And I get the complaints. But on the whole, he is probably the only person right now that could slowly work their way towards a legitimate second dominant sports network to ESPN, and that would have been his way to start it. I rarely watch John Oliver... and suspect I'll rarely watch Simmons... except for both on the internet afterwards.
You're wrong, Simmons cant spearhead a network that could compete with ESPN. Fox cant even do it. It's too expensive to be real-time, have reporters in every city, the huge network of intel and partnerships, a never-ending stream of money coming in... ESPN just tosses money into the ****ter to see what happens, like the ESPN phone - complete failure that they could afford to **** around with. You either join ESPN or fade off into some tiny niche where you're irrelevant outside of a tiny group of cult followers. Nobody even knows who Woj is. Nobody is creating any networks. There will be no real-time competition to ESPN. Sure Simmons might put a compelling documentary or series together (like 30 for 30) but in the end it'll just be a small ant that ESPN crushes underneath its foot. We all hate ESPN but when someone like Simmons has the backing of an ESPN it's like a pro racer driving a fine-tuned Porsche 911. You send him to HBO and you've got a NASCAR qualified racer trying to get by with a Hyundai he's trying to get modded at chop shop off Gessner.
When is the last time any of you watched the Bryant Gumbel real sports show on HBO? Bill Simmons is a terrible performer on TV, and he is not a comedian. Yes he does talent on idea and creations, but the best job for him would be a writer. Unless he will be the main writer for the coming season of Game of Thorns, I am not excited about this move at all. I would rather watch John Oliver than Bill Simmons on HBO.
If any of you watched the Grantland hour show on ESPN, and if you are expecting something similar on HBO, Bill Simmons will not last more than 1 and 1/2 season there.
The thing that makes him good at creating digital media doesn't necessarily qualify him for making business decisions and managing people - two completely different skill sets. He's smart to realize that and find someone willing to be the business side so he can focus on the creative side. I agree with the sentiment that Bill isn't necessarily a great TV personality - his strength is clearly in writing but he does bring up some good points and has a sometimes funny take on things. He brings up things that the average TV personality would never think to mention on live TV. The question is how do you marry that on the spot valuable perspective to a media friendly talking piece. I think the answer is you literally find that one guy who is quick witted, creative, and a charasmatic TV personality(unlikely), or else you use a guy like Bill and surround him with other more palatable personalities which I think is what ESPN was trying to do but I don't think they never surrounded Bill with the right cast(Jalen Rose is about as annoying as Bill).....
I hope he says what he thinks and not what he wishes were true. Also, if he gives some teams like Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Washington, Memphis, and New Orleans some attention, it could make it fun to watch. Teams outside of the West Coast, New York, and LeBronville can play the game too.
Good for Bill Simmons for landing on HBO. But, while he is ok for TV, I am WAY, WAY more interested in his web publishing outlet. Where is that news?
Latest news showing ESPN may just fold Grantland (it is an option since its not getting as much traffic as ESPN expected), and Bill Simmons will be busy on promoting this own brand and new TV show, I doubt he will be interested on setting up a new website anytime soon. Its time to move on.
HBO isn't about broad marketshare, but rather an audience willing to pay a premium for a better product. Grantland didn't make much money, but something like it on HBO would get them somewhere on the web. So Bill being 50% successful than he is now would probably be a decent boost to HBO even if everyone is expecting more.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It's a dream come true - me and Bird joining forces at HBO! <a href="http://t.co/rYzigrgiQ5">http://t.co/rYzigrgiQ5</a></p>— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/631856835482378240">August 13, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">21st century starting 5: leaning toward pace-and-spacing it with '13 LeBron, '14 Durant, '03 Duncan, '15 Curry and '08 Kobe...</p>— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/633386761029181440">August 17, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
