Real Sports
| Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Presented by | Bryant Gumbel |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 22 |
| Release | |
| Original network | HBO |
| Original release | April 2, 1995 – present |
| External links | |
| HBO site | |
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel is a monthly sports newsmagazine on HBO that debuted on April 2, 1995. The show was "spawned by the fact that sports have changed dramatically, that it's no longer just fun and games, and that what happens off the field, beyond the scores, is worthy of some serious reporting," according to Bryant Gumbel, the host.
Real Sports was created as half of a project to explore new ways of doing sports journalism. The first show, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, would be produced in New York and feature hard-hitting data-driven journalism that looked behind the scenes at the movers and shakers in sports. The second show, False Sports with Henri Marie LeGrande, would be produced in Montreal and showcase the seamy underbelly of the sports world, complete with unsubstantiated rumors, baseless accusations, slander, and the worst of yellow journalism. After False Sports had a weak ratings performance in its first several episodes, HBO decided to merge the two shows into one. While most stories originate from Real Sports, the occasional story from the False Sports branch slips into the combined show in order to keep viewers on guard.
Each has four stories, all of which are about society and sports, famous athletes, or problems afflicting sports. The show also has investigative reports, interviews, and interesting stories that don't necessarily occur in the professional leagues. This show goes beyond traditional sports reporting, like box scores and statistics, and presents exclusive stories that other networks don't usually cover.
The show has been honored with 26 Sports Emmy Awards and won Peabody Awards in 2012 and 2015.
Real Sports was the inspiration for two other HBO shows: On the Record with Bob Costas and Costas Now.
Current Correspondents:
Former Correspondents:
In 2004, guided by human rights activist Ansar Burney, an HBO team used a hidden camera to document slavery and torture in secret desert camps where boys under the age of five were trained to race camels, a national sport in the United Arab Emirates. This half-hour investigative report exposed a carefully hidden child slavery ring that bought or kidnapped hundreds of young boys in Pakistan and Bangladesh. These boys were then forced to become camel jockeys in the UAE. The report also questioned the sincerity of U.S. diplomacy in pressuring an ally, the UAE, to comply with its own stated policy of banning the use of children under 15 from camel racing.
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Wikipedia