Ex-ESPN personality Bill Simmons reportedly is planning to team with "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart to start an online subscription service of some kind. Simmons also is rumored to have the attention of Fox and Turner, following ESPN's decision not to renew his contract.
Speculation persists about where Simmons will go after his contract with ESPN expires in September. According to Gawker, Simmons is planning to return to the world of digital media and, along with another big-name who's soon to be unemployed, launch his own platform.
"The rumor we were told originates from a meeting involving people from TV Land and Viacom (which owns TV Land) late last month. Calling into that meeting, a reliable source tells us, was a man named Sandy Wernick, who is a longtime player in the world of comedy," Gawker published on Thursday. "... Per a source who was at the meeting, Wernick let it slip that Simmons is planning to start an online subscription network of some sort with Jon Stewart, who will cede the Daily Show to Trevor Noah in August."
Gawkers' source indicated Wernick, who was credited as an executive consultant on "The Larry Sanders Show" and is currently producing "The Jim Gaffigan Show" for TV Land, is "very old" and may not have all the facts.
Simmons has been mum since ESPN essentially fired him. The network announced in May it would not renew his contract, leading to a purported settlement between the two sides that removed him from Grantland, podcasts and "NBA Countdown," despite his contract running through September.
The top options for Simmons appear to be Fox Sports, Turner Broadcasting, which operates NBA TV and owns both TNT and Bleacher Report, and launching his own digital startup.
