Bill Simmons Gets HBO Talk Show Deal Following ESPN, Grantland Split

Bill Simmons may have landed the biggest gig of his career. The one-time blogger, who was discovered by ESPN and became the sensation known as the Sports Guy, will now call HBO his home. On Wednesday HBO announced that Simmons will get a talk show in 2016 and that his contract will begin in October.

The network made the announcement in a statement this Wednesday:

"HBO announced Wednesday that it would be the exclusive television home for Mr. Simmons and that he would get a talk show that will debut in 2016. His contract with HBO starts in October," the network said. "Additionally, Mr. Simmons will have a production deal with HBO and will do video podcasts, similar to what he did at ESPN. At the sports network, he helped create ESPN's 30 for 30 series of sports documentaries."

Not only will Simmons be getting his own show, he'll work closely with the network to develop documentaries and sports films. More importantly, Simmons will have the freedom to say what he wants, without repercussion. His content on ESPN was censored mostly due to language. That restraint won't be a problem at HBO. All of Simmons' content will of course be made available to the HBO channels but you can check them out on HBO GO and HBO NOW.

After the news broke, Simmons called HBO the most creative platform for anyone in media:

"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."

Do you think HBO will be a good fit for Bill Simmons?