Bill Simmons’ Any Given Wednesday Canceled After Four Months on HBO

Bill Simmons’ Any Given Wednesday has been canceled after just four months on HBO. HBO broke the news Friday, and announced that the last episode would be the one airing on Wednesday, Nov. 9. The network will remain in business with Simmons, and will maintain its minority investment in the Bill Simmons Media Group.

Simmons took personal responsibility for the show’s failings in a statement:

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 anymore.

Any Given Wednesday’s ratings were weak, averaging around 200,000 viewers per episode, which increased to 2.4 million if streaming was included. Simmons will still be involved with projects at the network, and also has a successful podcast network and fledgling editorial site (The Ringer) to fall back on.

“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,” said HBO Sports Executive Vice President Peter 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.”