HBO's Bill Simmons today announced his new website will be called The Ringer. The site will debut sometime in late spring or early summer and be the home of all his written material. Before the site launches, The Ringer will publish an email newsletter with the aim to run up to three times per week beginning in mid-March (The Ringer). CNN's Brian Stelter notes Simmons has been "assembling a team of editors, writers and podcast producers for several months." Many of the hires "are alums of Grantland, the ESPN-backed site that Simmons headed until last spring." Like Grantland, The Ringer "will have culture coverage." Simmons' weekly HBO show "will start sometime later this year" (CNN.com, 2/17).
PHILADELPHIA FREEDOM: The Phillies and WIP-FM extended their broadcast partnership for Spring Training, regular-season and postseason games. Financial terms were not disclosed. Announcers Scott Franzke, Larry Andersen and Jim Jackson will continue to provide commentary (WIP). In Philadelphia, Jonathan Tannenwald notes as part of the deal, games "will no longer air on WPHT 1210-AM, which was the flagship station in the Philadelphia market for many years" (PHILLY.com, 2/17).
THE REAL WORLD: NextVR and Fox Sports announced a five-year partnership for live, virtual reality coverage of events, including Sunday's Daytona 500. Fox and NextVR tested live VR broadcasts in '15 at a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway, as well as during the net's coverage of golf's U.S. Open (Fox).
