Just a little more than a month after HBO Sports President Ken Hershman announced that he was stepping down, the network has named his replacement. Division vice president of programming Peter Nelson will oversee the day-to-day operations of HBO Sports. While he won’t get Hershman’s title, Nelson will get the same duties and be promoted to Executive Vice President. He assumes his new position immediately.
According to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, the transition from Hershman to Nelson was expected. Nelson was hired by Michael Lombardo, the president of HBO’s programming. In the official announcement, Lombardo said Nelson was the logical choice:
“Peter Nelson is the ideal choice to spearhead our groundbreaking programming initiatives as well as our commitment to world class boxing, which have made HBO Sports an acclaimed franchise for the network,” said Lombardo. “He has a comprehensive understanding of boxing, a key programming staple for our subscribers for more than four decades. We enjoyed a terrific 2015 season and can’t wait to present the best collection of fighters in the world on our platforms in the new year.”
Nelson’s appointment may open the door to fighters from Golden Boy Promotions. Hershman had banned them from appearing on HBO because of their association with Premier Boxing Champions’ Al Heymon. Nelson said he is open to working with all promoters.
Plus there’s the issue of booking fights with boxers who are in Showtime’s stable and vice versa, something which has prevented HBO (and Showtime for that matter) from getting the best possible cards. Nelson pledges to fix the issue, but isn’t open to a joint production such as the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fight unless it’s a “fight of the century”-type of situation.
In addition, Nelson will have Bill Simmons’ new show which premieres next year and a slate of new documentaries set to premiere in 2016. The Nelson Era at HBO Sports begins now and it’s going to be interesting to see where it goes from here.
[Yahoo]
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