Yet another series has been cancelled at HBO. On Thursday, it was announced that Back On the Record with Bob Costas will be ending after two seasons. The series is a four-episodes-per-year interview series featuring Costas in in-depth conversations with sports, entertainment and pop culture figures. It was the third show that Costas has had with HBO, following On The Record with Bob Costas (2001-2004) and Costas Now (2005-2009).
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“Bob Costas and his team have delivered insightful and quality sports programming with ‘Back on the Record,’ and we are proud of its multiple Sports Emmy nominations,” HBO spokesperson said in a statement. “Bob is an important part of HBO Sports’ history and Back on the Record was an excellent chapter in that story.”
“I have always been proud of my association with HBO, and the type of programming we have been able to do over the years,” Costas said. “I am grateful for the invaluable contributions of my many talented HBO colleagues past and present, and to Ross Greenburg, Rick Bernstein, and most recently, Nina Rosenstein for their support and for the opportunity to be part of a network that has long been the gold standard.”
Why is HBO cancelling so many shows?
This new cancellation comes amid a string of new behind-the-scenes changes at HBO and HBO Max, following the recent merger of its new parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. These patterns began with the cancellation of Batgirl and Scoob!: Holiday Haunt back in August. Both films, which were already completed and were set to debut on HBO Max, were later reported to be canned for the sake of tax write-downs, which will seemingly be recorded in Q3 of 2022. In the days since, Warner Bros. Discovery removed six HBO Max-exclusive movies from their streaming platform, as well as a number of fan-favorite animated series. Anonymous sources alleged in August of this year that no existing show is safe from potentially being cancelled or written off, with Warner Bros. Discovery now making decisions on a case-by-case basis.
“Looking at the wide breadth of all the shows that were taken off of the service, it’s hard to even see a throughline between them,” OK K.O.: Let’s Be Heroes! creator Ian Jones-Quartey said in an interview last month. “We’re still just not sure why some things were taken off and other things weren’t. The whole thing is just very confusing, and there hasn’t been much outreach to anybody.”
What do you think of HBO cancelling Back on the Record with Bob Costas? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
h/t: Deadline
