HBO is canceling the former ESPN bad boy’s struggling talk show, “Any Given Wednesday,” after only four months. The stunning move comes only three months after Sporting News warned that Simmons’ show was “tanking” – and that the “clock was ticking.”

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The show will finish its run on Nov. 9 and will not be renewed for next season, according to a joint release by HBO and Simmons. “Any Given Wednesday” premiered with high hopes and a major marketing push on June 22. By 

Simmons is the country’s most famous sportswriter, an excellent podcaster and a great picker of talent first at Grantland and now at The Ringer. But he had a hard time transitioning from snarky blogger to TV host. “Any Given Wednesday” recently dropped to rock bottom low of only 82,000 viewers on Oct. 26.

The decision was “mutually agreed” upon by HBO and Simmons, who joined HBO in July, 2015 after 12 years at ESPN.

“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," Simmons said in a statement. “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 anymore.”

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Peter Nelson, executive vice president of HBO Sports, said HBO continues to be “committed” to Simmons, who re-assembled most of his old “Grantland” crew for “The Ringer.”

“We are excited to bring his unique vision to bear on an array of new programming initiatives under the HBO Sports banner in 2017,” said Nelson. “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.”

Unfortunately for Simmons, he was never able to generate the kind of viral content that would take off online.

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His only real video hit was his sit-down with an unhinged Ben Affleck over Tom Brady and Deflategate that’s drawn over 2 million viewers.

During a recent Q&A with Chad Finn of the Boston Globe, Simmons seemed ambivalent about “Any Given Wednesday.”

Said Simmons:  “There are two TV shows: the show you thought you were gonna do, then the show you eventually end up doing. And how you handle the transition between those two versions determines whether it’s going to live or not.'

Sporting News was one of the first to write about the difficulties Simmons had becoming a TV personality and his show’s inability to find an audience. As I wrote on Aug. 4:

Simmons took some of my advice to save the show on Sep. 9 such as adding a small studio audience. But it wasn’t enough.

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Ultimately, he agreed with our advice that there’s no shame in giving up the ghost and trying something else.

Simmons still has The Ringer and his podcasts. He’ll be back. Bet on it.

 

HBO’s quick trigger with Simmons’ “Any Given Wednesday” is similar to how it handled the late, unlamented “Joe Buck Live” in 2010.

After Howard Stern sidekick Artie Lange hijacked the first episode with a foul-mouthed tirade, Buck’s late night talk show never recovered. HBO pulled the plug on “Joe Buck Live” after only three episodes.