Bill Simmons' 'Any Given Wednesday' Isn't Quite the Trainwreck You Think It Is
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With a social media presence that includes more than 5 million Twitter followers and 10 times as many podcast subscribers, Bill Simmons would seem to have a built-in audience for his new HBO show “Any Given Wednesday.” Trouble is, it would appear that only a fraction of those digital devotees are tuning in to watch on TV every week, although the overall turnout improves dramatically when the network’s various alternative platforms are factored in.
According to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, through its first six installments, “Any Given Wednesday” is averaging just south of a quarter-million viewers — 249,833, to be precise. And while demographics aren’t entirely germane to HBO, which as a premium cable network does not court the favor of advertisers, Mr. Simmons’ chat show is drawing a paltry 0.12 rating, which means that slightly more than half (152,172) of those tuning in are members of the adults 18-to-49 set.
But live-same-day ratings only tell about 10% of this particular ratings story. HBO insiders say “Any Given Wednesday” improves on its original live deliveries by a factor of 10 when DVR playback, encore telecasts, on-demand views and HBO Now streams are baked into the mix, bringing the average weekly total audience to around 2.4 million viewers — a lift that is nothing short of remarkable.
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