Bill Simmons' new HBO show "Any Given Wednesday" has "struggled to gain much of a foothold in its first season" with TV ratings, and for last week's show, "far fewer people tuned in than ever before," according to Matt Bonesteel of the WASHINGTON POST. Only 82,000 people watched the premiere of last week's show, down more than 75% from the series’ "high-water mark" of 362,000 viewers in June for the show''s second episode. HBO has "publicly backed Simmons in the wake of all the criticism and declining numbers." But apart from Ben Affleck’s "salty Deflategate rant in the show’s premiere episode, there has been little viral chatter." HBO "reportedly is paying" Simmons between $7-9M per year to "host the show and advise the network on other programming." Simmons' new website, The Ringer, also has "yet to make much of a viral dent and has so far shown a tendency to be even more inscrutable than its predecessor [Grantland] sometimes was." But considering how much HBO is "paying him, Simmons is mostly going to be judged on whether 'Any Given Wednesday' succeeds or fails." So far, the audience "hasn’t been there," and HBO President of Programming Michael Lombardo -- who signed Simmons -- "has left HBO to become a producer" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 10/28).
WHAT TO DO NEXT: SI.com's Richard Deitsch noted The Big Lead and Decider.com have taken in-depths looks at "Any Given Wednesday" in recent days and wrote any significant increase in viewership "will require patience -- and patience is not always in short supply when it comes to television executives." There have been "suggestions that HBO should get out of the Bill Simmons business," but that would be "foolish and likely has little basis in reality." Cutting bait at this juncture "would be short sighted" and would also "cost HBO a lot of cash for little return." Deitsch: "I'd start anew by creating a new format that adds a fulltime co-host because I think Simmons is much better on television playing off a co-host than going at it alone" (SI.com, 10/30).
