Any Given Wednesday, Bill Simmons’ weekly HBO talk show, is ending after barely four months on the air.
HBO announced on Friday that the show will finish before the end of the season. The network said in a press release: “Any Given Wednesday will finish its run on Wednesday November 9 and will not return to the network next season.”
Simmons accepted responsibility for the show’s failure. He said: “One of the many reasons I joined HBO was to see if we could create a show built around smart conversations for sports fans and pop culture junkies.
“We loved making that show, but unfortunately it never resonated with audiences like we hoped. And that’s on me.
“But I love being a part of HBO’s family and look forward to innovating with them on other ambitious programming ideas over these next several years – both for the network and for digital. With that said, I want to thank the dedicated staff that worked so diligently with me behind the scenes to make this show every week – we hired so many great and talented people and I loved having them in my life. It’s difficult for me to imagine not working with them any more.”
Simmons, who spent 14 years with ESPN and founded Grantland in 2011, joined HBO in July 2015 on what was reputed to be a $20m, three-year deal. Any Given Wednesday was scheduled for a 20-episode season, but ratings were weak – it averaged around 200,000 viewers and recently drew just 82,000 on 26 October.
HBO Sports insisted it would remain in business with Simmons. “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,” added Peter Nelson of HBO Sports. “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.”
In the past year Simmons has launched the Ringer website and a podcast network in addition to his HBO series.
