Former ESPN and Grantland columnist and NBA studio analyst Bill Simmons has joined HBO.
Simmons, who founded the Grantland site in cooperation with ESPN, left the company earlier this year. ESPN announced in May it would not renew his deal.
He signed a multi-year deal with HBO to do a weekly show on sports and popular culture, the primary subject matter covered at Grantland.com, which remains an entity of ESPN under interim editor Chris Connelly.
"We have been fans of Bill Simmons and his work for a very long time," HBO programming president Michael Lombardo said in a statement. "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."
Simmons is scheduled to begin work at HBO in October and will also have "a production deal to produce content and assets for the network" and its digital platforms, delivering video podcasts and features.
