HBO

Clip: Bryant Gumbel Joined by Peter King, David Aldridge & Tom Verducci Tonight on Real Sports

July 21, 2020 By admin

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel: Game Over? (Clip) | HBO – YouTube Bryant Gumbel is joined by insiders Peter King, David Aldridge and Tom Verducci for a candid discussion about the state of the respective sports they cover.

BRYANT GUMBEL: Let me get out on this. On a scale of one to 10, 10 being, “I’d swear it on my family’s life. I’m absolutely certain it’s gonna get done,” give me a rating on where you think your sport’s gonna finish up on this. Will they be able to finish?

PETER KING: I would think about four on that.

GUMBEL: Really?

KING: I think it’s more likely than not that they’re not gonna be able to finish. I just think there are too many problems in the way, Bryant.

GUMBEL: David?

DAVID ALDRIDGE: I would put it at an eight to nine. My concern was always getting to Orlando. I think once everybody got to Orlando, a lot of the potential for the season shutting down again was dissipated. So unless there is a massive outbreak on multiple teams, I think they’re gonna finish.

GUMBEL: And Tom?

TOM VERDUCCI: Yeah, for me, Bryant, I would say five. I think it’s about 50%/50% to be honest with you. And I say that because of the surge across the country in the last couple of weeks. And we have to remember that – I know the commissioner has the right at some point if there’s a huge cluster to step in and stop it. But in the hierarchy of who controls things here, COVID is number one, local municipal state officials are number two, and then the commissioner. So it might be out of his hands.

TIGER: a two-part documentary of the rise, fall and return of Tiger Woods – debuts December 13 on HBO

July 10, 2020 By admin

HBO SPORTS AND JIGSAW PRODUCTIONS TEAM UP ON

TWO-PART DOCUMENTARY SERIES TIGER,

A REVEALING PORTRAIT OF THE RISE, FALL AND RETURN OF TIGER WOODS

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Academy Award^®Winner Alex Gibney Executive Produces

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Academy Award Nominee and Emmy^® Winner Matthew Heineman And

Emmy^® Nominee Matthew Hamachek Direct

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HBO Sports and Jigsaw Productions in association with Our Time Projects are in production on a two-part documentary series illuminating in sweeping scope and vast detail the rise, fall, and epic comeback of global icon Tiger Woods. Alex Gibney (Academy Award® winner for “Taxi to the Dark Side,” nominee for “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,” and Emmy®-winner for HBO’s “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief”) executive produces alongside Sam Pollard, Stacey Offman, Richard Perello, Armen Keteyian and Jeff Benedict. Academy Award nominee and Emmy^®-winning filmmaker Matthew Heineman (“Cartel Land,” “A Private War”) and Emmy^®nominee Matthew Hamachek (“Amanda Knox”) serve as directors of the two-part television presentation. Part one of TIGERwilldebut SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13, with part two airing SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20, exclusively on HBO.

TIGER will be available on HBO and to stream on HBO Max.

Using Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian’s best-selling book Tiger Woods as a resource, the two-part series is driven by never-before-seen footage and revealing interviews with those who know Tiger best, including his former caddy and close friend, Steve Williams; golf legend and six-time major champion Sir Nick Faldo; Earl Woods’ friend and biographer, Pete McDaniel; Tiger’s first true love, Dina Parr; as well as Rachel Uchitel, the woman at the center of the sex scandal that forever altered Tiger’s world, breaking her silence for the first time.

“Few global icons are more visible and less understood than Tiger Woods,” said Peter Nelson, Executive Vice President, HBO Sports. “His prodigy came with painstaking sacrifice; his perfected athleticism immobilized him in agony before the age of 40; his self-made fame enabled a self-destructive world of secrecy; and his redemptive reemergence posed as many questions as it answered — not only about one of the greatest sportsmen ever to live, but also the greater American society that engulfed him. Now, directors Matthew Heineman and Matthew Hamachek provide viewers a definitively nuanced portrait of Eldrick ‘Tiger’ Woods.”

“Since his introduction to the world at the age of two, Tiger Woods has inhabited our collective consciousness as a prodigy, a pioneer, a champion, a global icon, and then a tabloid headline,” said directors Heineman and Hamachek. “After months of research and countless hours of revelatory conversations, we discovered that he has always been a projection of outsized expectations. His father, his sponsors, and his fans all made Tiger Woods into whom they wanted him to be. Our goal was to dive deeper and create an unflinching and intimate portrait of a man, who like all of us, is imperfect and inherently human.”

“This is an epic tale,” said executive producer Alex Gibney, “For sports fans and for anyone interested in the pursuit of greatness and the price of ambition paid by athletes, particularly when parents and the society-at-large push them to win at any cost. The directing team of Matthew Heineman and Matthew Hamachek have used their extraordinary cinematic talents to tell a riveting story.”

“The new two-part series TIGER is a tremendous eye opener in looking at a master athlete whose dedication and obsession with the game of golf took him not only to the heights of fame and success, but down a spiraling road of darkness and finally redemption,” said executive producer Sam Pollard. “Hamachek and Heineman are masterful storytellers and have done an extraordinary job in shaping this nuanced and detailed journey of a man who is probably the greatest golfer of all time.”

The HBO Sports presentation is produced by Jigsaw Productions in association with Our Time Projects; directed by Matthew Heineman and Matthew Hamachek; executive produced by Alex Gibney, Stacey Offman, Richard Perello, Sam Pollard, Armen Keteyian, and Jeff Benedict. Produced by Trevor Davidoski and Jenna Millman. For HBO: executive producers Peter Nelson and Bentley Weiner.

Hard Knocks times two! Debuts Tuesday, Aug. 11 on HBO

June 25, 2020 By admin

HBO SPORTS^® AND NFL FILMS RETURN WITH AN UNPRECEDENTED EDITION OF TELEVISION’S MOST ACCLAIMED SPORTS REALITY FRANCHISE

WHEN HARD KNOCKS: LOS ANGELES,

CHRONICLING THE PRESEASON OF THE CHARGERS AND RAMS

DEBUTS AUGUST 11, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

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HBO Sports, NFL Media And NFL Films

Announce Multi-Year Renewal Of The Franchise

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HBO Sports, NFL Films and the two Los Angeles-based NFL franchises are teaming up for an unprecedented and unfiltered all-access look at what it takes to make it in the National Football League when HARD KNOCKS: LOS ANGELES kicks off its five-episode season this summer. One of the fastest-turnaround programs on TV, the 15th edition of the 18-time Sports Emmy^®-winning series debuts TUESDAY, AUG. 11 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), with other hour-long episodes of the first sports-based reality series debuting subsequent Tuesdays at the same time, culminating in the Sept. 8 season finale.

HARD KNOCKS will have encore plays Wednesday nights and will be available to stream on HBO via HBO Max and partners’ platforms.

In an unprecedented programming move, the 2020 edition of the venerable series will spotlight both Los Angeles NFL teams: The Los Angeles Chargers of the AFC West and the Los Angeles Rams of the NFC West. The two franchises are set to share the spectacular new 70,000-seat SoFi stadium that is nearing completion in Inglewood, California.

The arrival of HARD KNOCKS each August is a unique NFL tradition and NFL FILMS and HBO Sports are making plans for an all-new season of the most acclaimed serialized sports series on television.

One of sports television’s most successful and enduring partnerships, HBO Sports, NFL Media and NFL Films have reached agreement on a multi-year extension of the HARD KNOCKS franchise.

“The HARD KNOCKS franchise continues to excel as the preeminent sports reality series,” says Peter Nelson, Executive Vice President, HBO Sports. “Our partnership with NFL Films, which dates back to 1977, consistently produces groundbreaking television programming. We are grateful to the Chargers and Rams organizations to be able to present the 2020 training camp experience.”

“NFL Films cherishes the relationship we’ve had with HBO for over four decades, and specifically with the HARD KNOCKS franchise since 2001,” says NFL Films senior executive Ross Ketover. “To be able to announce this extension as we embark on an unprecedented two team series this summer brings us incredible pride and only heightens our excitement for the return of football.”

Camera crews will head to southern California in the next few weeks to begin filming, with the action heating up in August when the cinéma vérité show focuses on the daily lives and routines of players and coaches.

Under fourth-year head coach Sean McVay, the Rams are just a season removed from a Super Bowl appearance and have a roster featuring an intriguing mix of high-profile players, established veterans, and free-agent acquisitions.

After an injury-plagued 2019 campaign, the Los Angeles Chargers are looking for a return to the winning formula that helped them finish tied for the AFC’s best record in 2018. Led by fourth-year head coach Anthony Lynn, the Chargers overhauled roster features young, rising stars on both sides of the ball, a new quarterback behind center and an influx of veteran talent added this offseason.

Both franchises will also be debuting new logos and uniforms when they open their new, state-of-the-art SoFi Stadium home later this year.

Los Angeles Chargers Head Coach Anthony Lynn said, “Having been part of Hard Knocks before when I was with the New York Jets, my biggest takeaway from that whole experience was that you get out of it what you put into it. There’s a reason that season was probably the most popular Hard Knocks ever. If you’re going to do a show, do it right. You can’t fake it. We didn’t have a problem providing access because we built a relationship with the crew. There was a mutual trust that exists to this day with those people, and many of them will actually be working on this year’s show. Broadcasting your internal business all over the world isn’t something you regularly want to do, but in a year with as many challenges as this one has had, I’m glad we can be part of bringing football back to the fans this summer.”

“We are looking forward to having Hard Knocks in our camp this year,” said Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Sean McVay. “Hard Knocks always offers a rare opportunity for our fans to see our players’ hard work to prepare for the season, as well as gives them a peek behind the curtain to observe these guys off the field, too. This year will be special because the show will also get an unprecedented look at SoFi Stadium, Stan Kroenke’s vision for professional football in L.A.”

Dedicated NFL Films production crews will be in both southern California training camps, shooting more than 2,300 hours of footage over the course of the series, offering an inside look at the daily rigors of an NFL training camp. With access to players’ and coaches’ meeting rooms, training rooms, living quarters and practice fields, HARD KNOCKS will document hours of conditioning practices and meetings, chronicling players as they compete for a roster spot and bond off the field.

HBO has aired 72 memorable episodes and one anniversary special in its first 14 seasons. No other sports reality series can match the production excellence, critical acclaim, awards and audience numbers posted by HARD KNOCKS. Episodes have averaged four million viewers over the past four years.

Winner of 18 Sports Emmy^® Awards to date, HARD KNOCKS launched with the Baltimore Ravens in 2001, followed by the Dallas Cowboys in 2002, and resumed in 2007 with the Kansas City Chiefs, subsequently spotlighting the Cowboys (2008), Cincinnati Bengals (2009), New York Jets (2010), Miami Dolphins (2012), Bengals (2013), Atlanta Falcons (2014), Houston Texans (2015) and Los Angeles Rams (2016). The 2017 edition chronicled the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and captured the Sports Emmy^® for Outstanding Serialized Documentary. The widely acclaimed 2018 series with the Cleveland Browns earned two Sports Emmy^® Awards for production excellence. HARD KNOCKS has won a Sports Emmy^® every year it has aired since 2008.

Eight of the last ten teams featured on HARD KNOCKS have equaled or improved their win-loss record in the regular season. The Cleveland Browns launched the transformation of their organization on HBO and went from a winless 2017 season to coming within half a game (7-8-1) of a .500 campaign. The 2019 season saw the Raiders improve their record to 7-9 from the previous year’s 4-12 mark. The series featuring the iconic Raider franchise averaged 4.3 million viewers per episode, generating the highest viewership for the show since 2015 and the second-best viewership numbers for HARD KNOCKS in the past ten years.

Washington Post wrote, “Turning football players into people is what HBO’s HARD KNOCKS series does so well. The massive scope, meticulous editing and time-hopping special effects that highlight a production under massive time constraints are all impressive, but it’s the film crew’s access to NFL players that makes the program special.” USA Today said, “Players’ lives and their hopes and dreams play out each NFL preseason on HARD KNOCKS. It’s that month-long human drama that makes the show so profoundly compelling.”

Winner of 129 Sports Emmy^® Awards, NFL Films remains a gold standard in sports television, providing unprecedented access to and legendary storytelling about the sport of professional football. NFL Films is a part of NFL Media, the owned and operated media division of the National Football League, which is comprised of NFL Network, NFL Films, the NFL App, NFL.com and NFL RedZone.

HARD KNOCKS: LOS ANGELES will be narrated by Liev Schreiber, marking his 14th season with the show.

Watch: Full show of the series premiere of Any Given Wednesday with Bill Simmons

June 27, 2016 By admin

https://youtube.com/watch?v=jL0ouwGCnu4

Any Given Wednesday with Bill Simmons debuts June 22

June 17, 2016 By admin

ANY GIVEN WEDNESDAY WITH BILL SIMMONS,

WEEKLY TALK SHOW SPANNING POP CULTURE AND SPORTS,

DEBUTS JUNE 22, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO;

GUESTS INCLUDE BEN AFFLECK AND CHARLES BARKLEY

ANY GIVEN WEDNESDAY WITH BILL SIMMONS, a weekly talk show hosted by one of the most influential figures in contemporary sports media, kicks off its 20-show season WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT), followed by other new editions subsequent Wednesdays at the same time, exclusively on HBO.

Spanning pop culture and touching on everything from sports and entertainment to arts and technology, the show will feature intimate conversations with compelling guests each week, while also including field segments and Simmons’ signature commentary on current events. Guests on the first show include actor Ben Affleck and NBA commentator and hall of famer Charles Barkley.

Other HBO playdates: June 23 (1:15 p.m., midnight), 24 (9:00 a.m., 3:05 a.m.) and 26 (9:15 a.m.)

HBO2 playdates: June 22 (11:00 p.m.), 23 (8:50 a.m.), 25 (11:30 a.m.), 27 (2:30 a.m.) and 28 (11:45 p.m.)

ANY GIVEN WEDNESDAY WITH BILL SIMMONS will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO and HBO On Demand, as well as other affiliate portals.

The show is part of a major exclusive multi-year, multi-platform agreement with HBO that was announced in 2015. Making HBO Simmons’ exclusive television home, the deal provides for a comprehensive partnership on a variety of platforms between the network and Simmons, the founding editor of Grantland.com and the creator of the new content site The Ringer.

ANY GIVEN WEDNESDAY WITH BILL SIMMONS is executive produced by Bill Simmons, Eric Weinberger and Stuart Miller.

The Fight Game with Jim Lampley: A Tribute to Muhammad Ali debuts Tuesday, June 14

June 13, 2016 By admin

THE FIGHT GAME WITH JIM LAMPLEY: A TRIBUTE TO MUHAMMAD ALI

DEBUTS TUESDAY, JUNE 14, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

THE FIGHT GAME WITH JIM LAMPLEY: A TRIBUTE TO MUHAMMAD ALI, an HBO Sports presentation exploring his impact on sports, culture and politics, debuts TUESDAY, JUNE 14(11:00-11:45 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO. The special will be hosted by the four-time Sports Emmy^® winner, who has hosted HBO Boxing since joining the network in 1988.

Other HBO playdates: June 16 (4:15 p.m., 1:45 a.m.), 18 (5:15 a.m.), 19 (12:15 p.m.), 21 (11:30 a.m., 11:00 p.m.), 23 (12:30 p.m., 12:30 a.m.) and 27 (5:15 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates: June 15 (11:45 a.m., 8:00 p.m.), 18 (11:00 a.m.) and 22 (3:30 p.m.)

The show will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO and HBO On Demand.

The guest list for the special includes Hollywood icon Jack Nicholson, Muhammad Ali’s longtime friend, and former heavyweight champion George Foreman, who fought Ali in 1974. Additional guests will be announced as they are confirmed.

HBO and Bill Simmons announce major new multi-year, multi-platform exclusive agreement

July 22, 2015 By admin

HBO AND BILL SIMMONS ANNOUNCE MAJOR NEW MULTI-YEAR,

MULTI-PLATFORM EXCLUSIVE AGREEMENT,

ANCHORED BY AN ALL-NEW HBO SERIES TO LAUNCH IN 2016

LOS ANGELES, July 22, 2015 – Bill Simmons, one of the most influential figures in contemporary sports media and the founding editor of Grantland.com, and HBO have entered into a major exclusive multi-year, multi-platform agreement highlighted by a new weekly series coming next year, it was announced today by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming.

“We have been fans of Bill Simmons and his work for a very long time,” said Lombardo. “His intelligence, talent and insights are without precedent in the areas he covers. We could not be more thrilled for him to bring those talents to HBO and to become a signature voice at the network, spanning the sports and pop culture landscapes.”

“It’s no secret that HBO is the single best place for creative people in the entire media landscape,” Simmons said. “From the moment I started talking to Michael and Richard [Plepler, HBO chairman and CEO], it was hard to imagine being anywhere else.”

HBO will be Simmons’ exclusive television home. The overall agreement, which begins in October, provides for a comprehensive partnership on a variety of platforms between the network and Simmons. Among the elements of the new deal will be a talk show set to premiere in 2016 that will air on the main HBO service, as well as the HBO digital platforms HBO GO^® and HBO NOW^SM. Topical and spontaneous, the show will feature stories and guests from across the sports and cultural landscapes.

Simmons will also have a production deal to produce content and assets for the network and its digital platforms, delivering video podcasts and features. In addition, Simmons will be consulting with HBO Sports, working closely with HBO Sports president Ken Hershman on non-boxing-related programming, including the development of shows and documentary films for the network.

Bill Simmons has served as a sports columnist, TV host and analyst, two-time New York Times bestselling author (“Now I Can Die in Peace: How the Sports Guy Found Salvation Thanks to the World Champion (Twice!) Boston Red Sox” and “The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to the Sports Guy,” which was #1 on the New York Times bestseller list), Emmy^® Award-winning documentary film executive and podcaster. He was the founding editor of the landmark Grantland.com website, which launched four years ago and was recently nominated for three National Magazine Awards, and wrote the groundbreaking “Sports Guy” column for the past 14 years for ESPN and then Grantland.

A native New Englander, Simmons generated the concept for the network’s acclaimed “30 for 30” documentary series, becoming one of its Emmy^®-winning executive producers, in addition to ushering in the network’s presence in podcasting with his highly successful podcast “The B.S. Report,” which debuted in 2007 and featured such guests as President Barack Obama, Jimmy Kimmel, Chris Rock and Lena Dunham, to name a few. It was the #1 sports podcast on iTunes last year with more than four million downloads per month.

Simmons began writing for ESPN.com in 2001, and starting in 2002, was the lead columnist for ESPN The Magazine for seven years. He also served as a writer for “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on ABC from 2002 to 2004.

Simmons earned his Bachelor’s Degree at the College of the Holy Cross and earned a Master’s of Arts in Print Journalism from Boston University. Simmons lives in Los Angeles.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009 — Los Angeles, Calif. — Bill Simmons

Home Box Office, Inc. is the premium television programming subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. and the world’s most successful pay TV service, providing the two television services – HBO^®and Cinemax^® – to approximately 122 million subscribers worldwide. The services offer the popular subscription video-on-demand products HBO On Demand^® and Cinemax On Demand^®, as well as HBO GO^®and MAX GO^®, HD feeds and multiplex channels. In April 2015, HBO NOW^SM, the network’s highly anticipated standalone premium streaming service, began providing audiences with instant access to HBO’s acclaimed programming in the U.S. HBO NOW is available directly through Apple or Optimum Online for a monthly subscription. Internationally, HBO branded television networks, along with the subscription video-on-demand products HBO On Demand and HBO GO, bring HBO services to over 60 countries. HBO and Cinemax programming is sold into over 150 countries worldwide.

An All-New Real Sports returns Tuesday

June 23, 2015 By admin

CELEBRATING 20 AWARD-WINNING SEASONS,

REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL

COVERS THE LACK OF HEAD TRAUMA PROTECTION IN GIRLS’ YOUTH SOCCER;

EXAMINES GOPRO’S IMPACT ON EXTREME SPORTS COVERAGE; AND

REVISITS ITS EMMY^®-NOMINATED PROBE OF QATAR’S 2022 WORLD CUP

WHEN THE SHOW RETURNS JUNE 23, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL, TV’s most honored sports journalism series, returns with more enterprising features and reporting when the show’s 219th edition debuts TUESDAY, JUNE 23 (10:00–11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.

For the up-to-the-minute updates about REAL SPORTS, follow on Twitter at @RealSportsHBO or join the conversation using #RealSports.

Segments include:

*Girl Interrupted. While football is the leading cause of concussions in sports, soccer runs a close second, and has become the biggest cause of concussions by far for girls. Although the headlines about concussions in the NFL have led many major sports to institute rule changes to protect the health of children, the leaders of girls’ youth soccer in the U.S. have done little. REAL SPORTS correspondent Mary Carillo spotlights this growing concern among parents, coaches and players, speaking with two stars of the 1999 Women’s World Cup-winning team, who believe one simple rule change could drastically reduce head injuries and protect the health of all players.

Producer: Jordan Kronick.

(Correspondent David Scott skiing with GoPro Founder and CEO Nick Woodman.)

*GoPro. When Nick Woodman wanted to capture video of his surfing conquests up-close – something other sports had enjoyed for decades – the result was GoPro. This compact high-definition video camera is small enough to go anywhere, durable enough to survive the most devastating accidents and advanced enough to produce breathtaking images. An overnight success and now a billion-dollar business, it’s been dubbed the ultimate tool for the “selfie” generation and has been integral in revolutionizing extreme sports coverage. In this visually striking segment, REAL SPORTS correspondent Jon Frankel goes heli-skiing with GoPro founder and CEO Woodman to learn about his groundbreaking invention and meets athletes who have used GoPro to share their view with fans as they strive to reach new heights in extreme sports.

Producer: Chapman Downes.

(Correspondent David Scott with the parents of a young Nepali man who died working in Qatar.)

*The Price of Glory in Qatar. In July 2014, REAL SPORTS correspondent David Scott investigated the 2022 Qatar World Cup, showing how this tiny but fantastically wealthy country has recently conducted an obsessive campaign to achieve glory through sport at seemingly any cost – in dollars, ethics, rights and even human lives. Now, REAL SPORTS revisits this eye-opening story in the wake of the resignation of FIFA president Sepp Blatter and the arrests of many other high-ranking officials at FIFA on corruption and bribery charges.

In the Emmy^®-nominated 2014 segment, Scott spoke with men who were imported to Qatar to build up the country as it prepared to host the World Cup and witnessed the deadly conditions they faced daily, while also meeting with officials who seemingly turned a blind eye toward these abuses. Now, Scott learns that in addition to alleged bribery scandals and dangerous working conditions, Qatar’s 2022 World Cup is plagued by the country’s suspected ties to terrorism in the Middle East and around the world.

Producers: David Scott, Josh Fine, Jake Rosenwasser.

Throughout 2015, REAL SPORTS features three-to-four-minute segments spotlighting a different comedy star from the HBO family, who closes each show with a personal, unfiltered take on an element of sports. This month, Wanda Sykes, who appeared on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and has starred in two solo specials on the network, offers her twist on gender equality in sports today.

Other HBO playdates: June 23 (4:10 a.m.), 26 (11:30 a.m., 4:45 p.m.), 27 (11:00 p.m.), 28 (9:00 a.m.) and 30 (2:45 p.m.), and July 3 (4:45 p.m.), 4 (9:30 a.m.) and 6 (8:00 p.m., 3:50 a.m.)

HBO2 playdates: June 25 (1:30 p.m., 8:00 p.m.) and 29 (4:00 p.m., 2:15 a.m.), and July 9 (11:45 p.m.), 11 (1:00 p.m.), 13 (8:45 a.m.) and 19 (4:00 p.m.)

On May 5, REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL captured two Sports Emmy^® Awards, in the Outstanding Sports Journalism and Outstanding Sports News Anthology categories. REAL SPORTS has won Outstanding Sports Journalism Emmys^® 16 times and earned 28 Sports Emmy^® Awards overall since debuting in 1995.

Follow REAL SPORTS updates on HBO.com/realsports and facebook.com/realsports. Immediately following the debut of this month’s show on June 23, log on to HBO.com/realsports for a special overtime session hosted by Bryant Gumbel.

The executive producer of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL is Rick Bernstein; Joe Perskie is senior producer.

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Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Houston Texans debuts Aug. 11 on HBO

May 27, 2015 By admin

HBO SPORTS^®, NFL FILMS AND THE HOUSTON TEXANS JOIN FORCES FOR

A NEW SEASON OF THE ULTIMATE SPORTS REALITY SERIES WHEN

HARD KNOCKS: TRAINING CAMP WITH THE HOUSTON TEXANS,

CHRONICLING THE RIGORS AND DAILY DEMANDS OF NFL TRAINING CAMP, DEBUTS TUESDAY, AUG. 11, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

HBO Sports, NFL Films and the Houston Texans team up for an all-access look at what it takes to make it in the National Football League when HARD KNOCKS: TRAINING CAMP WITH THE HOUSTON TEXANS debuts in August. The first sports-based reality series – and one of the fastest-turnaround programs on TV – kicks off its five-episode tenth season TUESDAY, AUG. 11 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO. Other hour-long episodes of the 12-time Sports Emmy^® Award-winning series debut subsequent Tuesdays at the same time, culminating in the Sept. 8 season finale.

“We are thrilled that the tenth edition of HARD KNOCKS will spotlight a team in a division that we have not featured previously on HBO,” says Ken Hershman, president, HBO Sports. “It’s exciting to feature a team, a franchise and a city for the first time on HARD KNOCKS. We are grateful to Texans chairman Bob McNair, general manager Rick Smith, coach Bill O’Brien and the entire organization for agreeing to participate and look forward to what we expect to be one of the most compelling and interesting seasons in HARD KNOCKS history. The series has become a summertime destination for TV viewers, and we can’t wait for the premiere on August 11.”

“We want to thank Bob McNair, Rick Smith, Bill O’Brien and the entire Houston Texans’ organization for the trust they have in NFL Films by allowing us unprecedented access into their training camp,” says Howard Katz, COO of NFL Films and NFL senior vice president of broadcasting. “We are looking forward to highlighting this team comprised of star players, free-agent newcomers and hopeful rookies as they come together to try to ascend to the top of the AFC South. We are excited to work with both the Texans and HBO Sports to give fans an inside look into the game they love.”

The cinema verité series will focus on the daily lives and routines of players and coaches as the Houston Texans, who play in the hard-nosed AFC South, conduct the franchise’s 14th training camp and prepare for the 2015 NFL season. HARD KNOCKS: TRAINING CAMP WITH THE HOUSTON TEXANS will chronicle second-year head coach Bill O’Brien and an intriguing mix of high-profile veterans, emerging stars, free agents and rookie hopefuls throughout training camp and the four-game preseason schedule. Each week, players will experience drills, instruction, meetings and fun, while striving to prove they have what it takes to make the team and leave their mark on the NFL. The Texans are a team on the rise, with O’Brien improving the team’s record from 2-14 to 9-7 in his first season at the helm.

“We are thrilled to partner with HBO and NFL Films to give fans unprecedented access to our team and organization,” says Texans founder, chairman and CEO Robert C. McNair. “The HARD KNOCKS documentaries do a tremendous job of displaying how an NFL team prepares for the upcoming season. We look forward to showcasing the Houston Texans to a worldwide audience.”

A 30-person NFL Films crew will be at the Texans’ training camp at team headquarters in Houston, shooting more than 1,500 hours of footage over the course of the series. Camera and sound crews will have unencumbered access to the players’ and coaches’ meeting rooms, training rooms, living quarters and practice fields.

“This is an opportunity to provide a behind-the-scenes look at our team as we prepare for the 2015 season,” says Rick Smith, the Texans’ executive vice president of football operations and general manager. “Fans will get a chance to see the great competition that takes place day-in and day-out on the practice field, as well as get to know all the unique personalities on our roster.”

Four summers ago HARD KNOCKS moved its premiere night to Tuesday and the results have been a resounding success. The five-part 2014 series on the NFC South Atlanta Falcons averaged more than 3.6 million viewers per episode, an increase from the show’s 2013 performance. No other sports reality series can match the critical acclaim, awards and audience numbers posted by the HARD KNOCKS franchise.

To date, HARD KNOCKS has earned 12 Sports Emmy^® Awards for production excellence. The series launched with the Baltimore Ravens in 2001, followed by the Dallas Cowboys in 2002, and resumed in 2007 with the Kansas City Chiefs, winning the show’s first Sports Emmy^®. In 2008, the series returned to the Dallas Cowboys, receiving a second Sports Emmy^®. In 2009, HARD KNOCKS spotlighted the Cincinnati Bengals and captured two more Sports Emmy^® Awards, for Outstanding Edited Series/Anthology and Outstanding Post-Produced Audio/Sound. In 2010, the New York Jets were featured and the series captured three Sports Emmys^®, including Outstanding Edited Series/Anthology. Summer 2012 spotlighted the Miami Dolphins, earning an Emmy^® in the category of Outstanding Post-Produced Audio/Sound. The Bengals were featured again in 2013 and the series captured three more Sports Emmys^®, for Outstanding Editing, Outstanding Music Composition/Direction/Lyrics and Outstanding Post Produced Audio/Sound. The 2014 series featuring the Falcons was recognized with the Emmy^® for Outstanding Music Composition/Direction/Lyrics.

Each of the last five teams featured on HARD KNOCKS has improved its won-loss record in the regular season immediately following the training camp presentation.

TIME called the show “riveting,” while NFL.com hailed the series as “undoubtedly the greatest football program in the history of the television medium.” Business Week observed, “As a workplace drama, it ranks among the best on television,” and New York’s Daily News termed it “the gold standard of sports reality programming.” ESPNW wrote, “The return of the NFL season also means the return of one of the best shows on television, ‘Hard Knocks.’ This rare look at how any given moment can be the end of a season or even a career.” Grantland.com observed, “Hard Knocks is when it really feels like we’re getting football back in our lives.”

HARD KNOCKS: TRAINING CAMP WITH THE HOUSTON TEXANS is narrated by Liev Schreiber.

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Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel: New edition May 19

May 18, 2015 By admin

CELEBRATING 20 AWARD-WINNING SEASONS,

REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL

INVESTIGATES UNDER-REGULATED WORKOUT SUPPLEMENTS IN THE MILITARY;

CHRONICLES BLIND ATHLETE AND ADVENTURER ERIK WEIHENMAYER; AND

RECONNECTS WITH MMA SENSATION RONDA ROUSEY

WHEN IT RETURNS MAY 19, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL, TV’s most honored sports journalism series, returns with more enterprising features and reporting when the show’s 218th edition debuts TUESDAY, MAY 19 (10:00–11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.

For the up-to-the-minute updates about REAL SPORTS, follow on Twitter at @RealSportsHBO or join the conversation using #RealSports.

Segments include:

*In Harm’s Way. For the United States military, good physical fitness is about more than looking and feeling good. It can also determine career trajectory and save a life in various situations, including combat. So it’s not surprising to find that more than 70% of troops take some sort of supplement, many of them workout supplements marketed with the military in mind. In recent years, an alarming number of service men and women have suffered illnesses and injuries such as liver damage, seizures and heart issues, and several have died, after taking these supplements. REAL SPORTS correspondent Soledad O’Brien presents an eye-opening investigation into the use of under-regulated workout supplements, which can be purchased at GNC stores at military bases around the country, and follows the money trail to the corridors of power in Washington.

Producer: Jake Rosenwasser.

*Erik Weihenmayer. Erik Weihenmayer has scaled the Seven Summits, somersaulted out of airplanes and scrambled up 2,000 foot icefalls like Canada’s Polar Circus. Now he’s taking on what he calls the greatest challenge of his life, an almost 300-mile solo kayak trip down the Colorado River through some of North America’s most violent rapids. What makes this, and all his feats, so remarkable is that the 46-year-old athlete is completely blind, and has been since age 13. REAL SPORTS correspondent David Scott followed Weihenmayer as he tackled Colorado’s terrifying white waters.

Producer: David Scott.

*Ronda Rousey. In 2013, REAL SPORTS profiled a rising Ronda Rousey, weeks before she became the first female fighter to headline a major UFC event. Since then, she has become one of the most famous female athletes in the world. Business Insider recently named Rousey the most dominant athlete in sports, edging out NBA superstar LeBron James for the top spot. In her five UFC fights, Rousey is undefeated and finished four of her five opponents in the first round. The 28-year-old has raised her profile substantially outside the octagon as well, appearing in the blockbuster film “Furious 7” and the upcoming “The Expendables 3,” in addition to co-authoring the book “My Fight/Your Fight,” which tells her life story. Correspondent Jon Frankel catches up with Rousey to discuss her meteoric rise from talented fighter to global celebrity and learns how she is dealing with newfound fame.

Producers: Tim Walker, Beret Remak.

Throughout 2015, REAL SPORTS features three-to-four-minute segments spotlighting a different comedy star from the HBO family, who closes each show with a personal, unfiltered take on an element of sports. This month, Billy Crystal, who has starred in six solo specials on HBO and appeared on the first REAL SPORTS in 1995, weighs in on sports today and discusses how challenging it is for his grandchildren to connect with today’s sports heroes.

Other HBO playdates: May 19 (3:45 a.m.), 23 (9:30 a.m.), 27 (2:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m.) and 29 (8:30 a.m., 5:30 p.m.), and June 2 (11:30 p.m.), 4 (6:00 p.m., 3:35 a.m.) and 7 (11:00 a.m.)

HBO2 playdates: May 21 (11:45 a.m., 8:00 p.m.), 24 (2:30 p.m.) and 26 (7:00 p.m., 2:35 a.m.), and June 16 (1:00 p.m., 11:00 p.m.) and 21 (10:30 a.m.)

Follow REAL SPORTS updates on HBO.com/realsports and facebook.com/realsports. Immediately following the debut of this month’s show on May 19, log on to HBO.com/realsports for a special overtime session hosted by Bryant Gumbel.

The executive producer of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL is Rick Bernstein; Joe Perskie is senior producer.