Bryant Gumbel's "Real Sports" newsmagazine on HBO will end its run after 29 seasons on the air, the network said on Wednesday.
The show has been like a "60 Minutes" of sports, taking a look at social and economic issues beyond the games, and has won 37 Sports Emmy Awards. Gumbel, 74, won a lifetime achievement award at the Sports Emmys earlier this year.
During one season for which "Real Sports" won a Peabody Award, some of its stories included looks into football head injuries and athletes who came out as gay, as well as investigations into the hazing death of a college drum major and a deadly plane crash involving a pro hockey team in Russia.
"We've had the opportunity to to tell complex stories about race, gender, class, opportunity and so much more," Gumbel said. "Being able to do so at HBO for almost three decades has been very gratifying. I'm proud of the imprint we've made, so I'm ready to turn the page. Although goodbyes are never easy, I've decided that now's the time to move on."
Although HBO has seen cutbacks since the merger that created parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, the network said those financial considerations had nothing to do with the end of "Real Sports," HBO's longest-running series.
It was not immediately clear when the final episode would air.
"The series will continue to resonate in the realm of sports journalism, and we are so proud to have been part of such a remarkable odyssey," said Casey Bloys, HBO's chair and CEO.
Supreme Court declines to hear appeal from singer R. Kelly, convicted of child sex crimes
The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal Monday from the singer R. Kelly, who is now serving 20 years in prison after being convicted of child sex convictions in Chicago.
The Grammy Award-winning R&B singer, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, was found guilty in 2022 of three charges of producing child sexual abuse images and three charges of enticement of minors for sex.
His lawyers argued that a shorter statute of limitations on child sex crime prosecutions should have applied to offenses dating back to the 1990s. Current law permits charges while an accuser is still alive.
The justices did not detail their reasoning in declining to hear the case, as is typical. And none publicly dissented. Lower courts previously rejected his arguments.
Federal prosecutors have said the video showed Kelly abusing a girl. The accuser identified only as Jane testified that she was 14 when the video was taken.
Kelly has also appealed a separate 30-year sentence for federal racketeering and sex trafficking convictions in New York.
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