HBO cancelled Bill Simmons’ talk show, “Any Given Wednesday,” making the announcement in a Friday afternoon email. The show’s final episode will be this Wednesday. The network described the decision as “mutual.” In a statement, Simmons blamed low viewership as the primary reason for ending the show, which bottomed out with 82,000 viewers on Oct. 26 and prompted Fox Sports’ Mike Mulvihill to tweet that it was “HBO’s 2nd least watched original primetime program this year.” Simmons: “We loved making that show, but unfortunately it never resonated with audiences like we hoped.” Simmons, who still is under contract to HBO, said he plans to develop more TV and digital shows for the media company “over these next several years.” HBO Sports Exec VP Peter Nelson: “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. 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” (John Ourand, Staff Writer).
OBSTACLES FROM THE START: In N.Y., John Koblin noted the show was "intended to blend interviews with segments that were borne out of Simmons’s primary interests: sports and pop culture," but there were "obstacles from the start." In addition to "widespread competition throughout all of television, Simmons lost one of his main cheerleaders at the network a month before his show debuted" in HBO President of Programming Michael Lombardo, who left in May (N.Y. TIMES, 11/5). USA TODAY's Bill Keveney noted Simmons "arrived at HBO to much fanfare" in '15. But the show "never gained traction in a crowded media environment" (USATODAY.com, 11/4). In DC, Matt Bonesteel wrote the show was both a "critical and ratings disaster." Critics "found fault with the show’s changing format and Simmons’s apparent unease in front of the camera." Apart from Ben Affleck’s "profane Deflategate rant in the show’s first episode, none of the show’s bits had any sort of viral life span after their initial airings" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 11/4).
MINOR LEAGUE: In N.Y., Evan Grossman wrote what followed the series' first episode "were weeks of clunky, low-brow shows and failed attempts of making Simmons ... at all watchable." "Any Given Wednesday" was a "minor-league product" compared to weekly HBO shows like “Real Time with Bill Maher” and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” It was "never smart, sophisticated or lived up to the expectations of previous projects Simmons was associated with" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/5). SLATE's David Canfield noted while Simmons was "able to attract major talent on a weekly basis for the network, he struggled considerably as a television personality, often seeming ill-at-ease on camera and clunkily stringing together different segments in a way that didn't quite add up to a satisfying half-hour" (SLATE.com, 11/4). SPORTING NEWS' Michael McCarthy gives his top 10 reasons why "Any Given Wednesday" was canceled (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 11/6).
WHAT'S NEXT? SI.com's Richard Deitsch conducted a panel with a "half-dozen network and cable sports producers, on-air people, and a couple of agents to get some suggestions on what they think should be Simmons's next move." What was "interesting was the differences in how each group saw it." The on-air personalities "believed Simmons would return to linear sports television at some point, and his best strategy would be to partner with someone so he could be more in a co-host role." Meanwhile, the producers "believed Simmons was not a good fit for linear television and that his strengths as a writer and podcaster do not translate to television." One producer "questioned whether his digital popularity" could translate on the "world's largest consumption platform." An agent "predicted Simmons would never appear on HBO in a regular role." The agent said that instead Simmons would "make a deep dive in the video space for his website, The Ringer, and turn his successful podcast network into a video play" (SI.com, 11/6).
