Menu
Sports Media

HBO SPORTS ACKNOWLEDGES PAYING SOME BILLS TO RUSSELL

          Industry sources say that HBO paid former NBAer Bill
     Russell a "low five figures" fee to promote the HBO
     documentary, "Bill Russell: My Life, My Way," which
     premieres this evening, according to Bob Raissman of the
     N.Y. DAILY NEWS.  HBO Sports Exec Producer Ross Greenburg
     "confirmed the payment," but added that "other HBO Sports
     documentary subjects have been paid for their promotional
     services."  Raissman: "When an outfit like HBO Sports, which
     takes pride in its journalistic standards, pays an interview
     subject -- no matter how that payment is couched --
     checkbook journalism becomes a major issue."  But Greenburg
     "vehemently disagreed," saying, "I think it's easy to assume
     the reason Bill Russell did this documentary is that he is
     getting paid for promotional work.  That's a pretty easy
     shot to deliver, but it has no merit.  He came to us because
     he trusted us as documentaries" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 4/16).  In
     Chicago, Ed Sherman notes that in the past, HBO has "paid
     Tommie Smith and Julius Erving to help promote its
     documentaries."  Sherman: "HBO obviously wants to get as
     much as it can out of its documentaries.  But if it means
     paying its subject, even if it's after the fact, HBO would
     be better off to risk losing a viewer or two to avoid
     questions of conflict of interest."  But Sherman writes that
     HBO "does its usual superb job with its latest" installment
     (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/17).  In Boston, Don Aucoin calls the
     documentary "first-rate," but adds: "The producers at HBO
     Sports, clearly intent on an admiring portrait, touch only
     briefly on Russell's flaws" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/17).  Russell
     was the only person selected by ESPN as one of the century's
     greatest athletes to turn down the net's request for an
     interview.  Russell, on working with HBO: "If my story was
     going to be told, I wanted to have some input.  I thought
     they would do it the correct way" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/17).
          IS GUMBEL LOOKING TO GO NIGHTLY W/SPORTS? In N.Y., Neal
     Travis calls HBO's "Real Sports" one of the "best sports
     programs around."  Travis: "You have to wonder how a half-
     hour nightly network sports program, anchored by [Bryant]
     Gumbel, would do at, say, 7 p.m." (N.Y. POST, 4/17).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2000/04/17/Sports-Media/HBO-SPORTS-ACKNOWLEDGES-PAYING-SOME-BILLS-TO-RUSSELL.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2000/04/17/Sports-Media/HBO-SPORTS-ACKNOWLEDGES-PAYING-SOME-BILLS-TO-RUSSELL.aspx

CLOSE