HBO’s Bryant Gumbel talks with the Chicago Sun-Times‘ Doug Elfman as Gumbel’s Real Sports begins its 13th season (on Tuesday). “We’re pretty much free to pursue a story wherever it may lead,” he tells Elfman. “And the networks are not free to do that.”
He’s referring to HBO not having to, as Elman writes, “grovel for ratings, or bow to sponsors, or fear losing tie-ins with sports leagues.”
Gumbel also says television broadcasts today tend to ditch hard-news coverage in favor of ‘infotainment’, in order to avoid controversy. “Television,” Gumbel says, “now seems to be about making sure 100 percent of the people really like you.”
Advertisement