Bill Simmons to HBO

buyer95

Good news for all Simmons fans, I count myself as one, Simmons has found a landing spot with HBO, he has given his own weekly show. News just breaking, expect more details will emerge soonm

GoldFour4

buyer95 wrote: »

Good news for all Simmons fans, I count myself as one, Simmons has found a landing spot with HBO, he has given his own weekly show. News just breaking, expect more details will emerge soonm

He's going to have podcasts too and other digital content. Not sure whether we'll see articles or not but I'll be happy with podcasts anyway.

padraig_f

Yeah it's the podcasts I miss the most, and 2nd his columns, a TV show I don't care about too much.

HBO have been getting into original documentaries more lately, so there's probably an attraction there with his 30-for-30 experience.

This article suggests he'd still be available to also do some NBA stuff with TNT:
http://recode.net/2015/07/22/former-espn-star-bill-simmons-lands-at-hbo/


Also, I hope he shoves it up ESPN's ass. Kicked him out essentially for criticising NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, & shameful the way they handled his departure (he found out on twitter). To me, you should treat your longtime employees better than that.

GoldFour4

Great to have Simmons back even if he isn't talking about basketball much at the moment.

buyer95

First 15 mins or so of bill Simons third podcast is fantastic. He rips ESPN for their treatment of him and how they never promoted Grantland. Brilliant listening

Didn't realise it had started.

I think the gap he took was a tad too long, in that type of business its about presence. A 6 month(?) odd gap puts you to the back of peoples minds.

I see its on Youtube so I'm subscribed up.

In case anyone missed it...
In related news, Jalon and Jacody started a high content radio show(4 odd a week) about two weeks ago.
I'm sure some would be out of the loop with them as they were sparse before.(one every two weeks, one every week, random adds)

I used to recycle old episodes at night along with Bill and Zach Lowe so there's a nice bit of fresh content now to get through most days.

padraig_f

Just reading this bit on Grantland since Simmons left....

Can ESPN Solve Its Grantland Problem?

The future of the site doesn't sound too promising.

[Chris] Connelly was Donoghue’s choice for the temporary editor-in-chief slot. She could have picked a Grantland insider or a pair of insiders, thereby stabilizing the culture and atmosphere inside Grantland. Instead, she passed over internal candidates to go with Connelly, who adopted a strategy from the get-go that had many a staff head being scratched. Instead of saying, in effect, “you’re all doing good jobs and I’m here to support you,” Connelly, a veteran of MTV News, Premiere, and ESPN TV newsmagazine E:60, chose to impart his own taste and style to the site, as was his right as editor in chief. His brand of journalism has taken Grantland in the direction of E:60, with a much heavier reliance on reporting. But it made for few shared sensibilities between the new boss and the largely millennial staff who love feature writing and analysis.

One has to feel for Donoghue. Even though she appears to enjoy the utmost loyalty from Skipper, many inside and out of Bristol—even those who like her—believe she’s a poor fit for her current job. To wit, she’s had what has to be one of the most difficult years for any network executive: the Simmons fiasco, the Whitlock fiasco, and disappointing optics surrounding FiveThirtyEight—perceived as an afterthought and not as smart and provocative as its founder, Nate Silver.

Surely there’s a financial guru in Burbank, home of ESPN parent Disney, looking at the three sites and itching to hit a “delete” key. One thing seems pretty clear: in a time of financial difficulties for ESPN, a time when staff in other parts of the company are likely to be losing their jobs, these pricey sites deserve to exist only if there are fundamentally unique and clear visions for them. Otherwise, their time has passed.

padraig_f

padraig_f wrote: »

The future of the site doesn't sound too promising.

Well I called it, but even I'm pretty shocked it's come this quickly...

ESPN Statement Regarding Grantland

Paully D

padraig_f wrote: »

Well I called it, but even I'm pretty shocked it's come this quickly...

ESPN Statement Regarding Grantland

Big shame but it seemed ominous. I'm sure the likes of Lowe and Goldsberry etc won't be out of work for long.

****ing fuming about that to be honest the fact that espn get rid of there real talented analysts and keep other people who we won't bother naming is a disgrace i hope hbo decide to add some of the better guys along with bill it'd be nice to see him reunited with the likes of lowe and jalen and jacoby

GoldFour4

I'd love if Simmons could add Lowe to his roster. They have good chemistry. Don't know what his contract situation is with ESPN though.

Paully D

malistheman wrote: »

I'd love if Simmons could add Lowe to his roster. They have good chemistry. Don't know what his contract situation is with ESPN though.

I'd imagine Woj will make a play for him too. He was given the keys to the Yahoo basketball coverage the last time he was at their negotiation table by all accounts.

Wonder was that the reason the videos got pulled off Youtube last week.

Not sure what this means for Jalen and Jacoby, they were technically moved to ESPN radio so maybe that decision was made with this closure in mind.

padraig_f

Just in case people missed this:

@jimmiller: "All @Grantland33 writers will have their contracts honored; intent is to use sports writers on other @espn platforms."

Jim Miller is a good guy to follow if you're interested in this subject, he wrote a book about ESPN.

D2D

gilberto_eire wrote: »

Wonder was that the reason the videos got pulled off Youtube last week.

Not sure what this means for Jalen and Jacoby, they were technically moved to ESPN radio so maybe that decision was made with this closure in mind.

Nope, ESPN made all their YouTube videos private because of YouTube Red
- http://techcrunch.com/2015/10/23/youtube-red-creators/

RE: Jalen & Jacoby - All of their episodes can be viewed at their website http://jalenandjacoby.com/

buyer95

Going to make a predication, I can see Zach Lowe following Simmons to HBO in the near future. HBO are giving Simmons license to build up their podcasting game, he's already brought some of the old grantland crew with him. Simmons hinted at the end of the last podcast about some big news, think this could be it.

padraig_f

buyer95 wrote: »

Going to make a predication, I can see Zach Lowe following Simmons to HBO in the near future. HBO are giving Simmons license to build up their podcasting game, he's already brought some of the old grantland crew with him. Simmons hinted at the end of the last podcast about some big news, think this could be it.

Is that the Joe House one? I started listening to it, but their NFL betting discussion is just so embarrassingly bad, I had to turn it off. I know they're not supposed to be betting pros, but at least be informed amateurs, it's just a dumb amateur discussion. This is a new one since the move from ESPN, and is maybe a downside of his newfound freedom: not as many producers/editors to say 'Bill, this one's a bit ****'.

Another disappointing change is the in-podcast ads (they were only at the beginning on ESPN, not in the middle). Michael Rapaport was about to tell a story about the famous LA Lakers Forum Club in the 80s, Bill interrupted him to do an ad for Squarespace, and they never went back to the story.

padraig_f

padraig_f wrote: »

Is that the Joe House one? I started listening to it, but their NFL betting discussion is just so embarrassingly bad, I had to turn it off. I know they're not supposed to be betting pros, but at least be informed amateurs, it's just a dumb amateur discussion. This is a new one since the move from ESPN, and is maybe a downside of his newfound freedom: not as many producers/editors to say 'Bill, this one's a bit ****'.

Another disappointing change is the in-podcast ads (they were only at the beginning on ESPN, not in the middle). Michael Rapaport was about to tell a story about the famous LA Lakers Forum Club in the 80s, Bill interrupted him to do an ad for Squarespace, and they never went back to the story.

so far the ones iv listened to have been all betting or pop culture which is a shame because i love bill and his buddies talking nba. he's started another podcast for pop culture so hopefully he will start a 3rd for betting and leave his normal podcasts for proper sports talk

buyer95

padraig_f wrote: »

Is that the Joe House one? I started listening to it, but their NFL betting discussion is just so embarrassingly bad, I had to turn it off. I know they're not supposed to be betting pros, but at least be informed amateurs, it's just a dumb amateur discussion. This is a new one since the move from ESPN, and is maybe a downside of his newfound freedom: not as many producers/editors to say 'Bill, this one's a bit ****'.

Another disappointing change is the in-podcast ads (they were only at the beginning on ESPN, not in the middle). Michael Rapaport was about to tell a story about the famous LA Lakers Forum Club in the 80s, Bill interrupted him to do an ad for Squarespace, and they never went back to the story.

Yeah it was the House one. I just speed swipe through the first half an hour or so until they start talking NBA. It was actually a good discussion for a good half hour. As for the adds. one or two presses of the 15sec skip button and your back onto the podcast.

padraig_f

buyer95 wrote: »

Yeah it was the House one. I just speed swipe through the first half an hour or so until they start talking NBA. It was actually a good discussion for a good half hour. As for the adds. one or two presses of the 15sec skip button and your back onto the podcast.

Yeah when they get on to the NBA stuff, it's alright.

padraig_f

Augustus CoolS Kale wrote: »

so far the ones iv listened to have been all betting or pop culture which is a shame because i love bill and his buddies talking nba. he's started another podcast for pop culture so hopefully he will start a 3rd for betting and leave his normal podcasts for proper sports talk

I can't really listen to the pop culture ones either. Bill has an annoying habit of framing the disucussion as a sports-style debate. So if they're talking actors or whatever, he'll be like 'So who's the Hollywood MVP right now?'. Maybe it's half a joke, I dunno, but it doesn't seem to me a very smart way to discuss the arts.

buyer95

My prediction on Lowe joining HBO has been proven wrong. He has become part of the ESPN.com team. I'm happy with this development as we now have Lowe writing about basketball again, something he does better than more or less any other writer, imo. The Lowe Post podcast has also been relaunched. All good news.

As a side note, Simmons' podcast now has added in the info when he starts talking NBA. Tiny change, but convenient.

Paully D

Paully D wrote: »

I'd imagine Woj will make a play for him too. He was given the keys to the Yahoo basketball coverage the last time he was at their negotiation table by all accounts.

Just on Woj since it wasn't mentioned here.

He has his own Podcast now since about two weeks ago.

Two issued so far.