Bill Maher Pushes Limits By Stretching ‘Real Time’ To Political Conventions

[bluedigger]

Bill Maher grew up with news headlines ringing in his ears. His father was in radio news, and the events of the day made for natural conversation in his house. “I was born into a family of people who talked about the news,” he said. Other talk-show hosts “are not looking to talk about Brexit and its implications, but it’s second nature to me.”


Maher will have a lot to chat about over the next few weeks. He will keep doing his hour-long “Real Time” show on Friday nights on HBO in the weeks ahead, but as the Republican and Democratic conventions break out and occupy the national interest, Maher and his team will do the same, offering live half-hour shows that examine the Republican event on July 20 and 21 and the Democratic confab on July 27 and 28. That means news aficionados can opt for Maher and his often-lacerating analysis of the political landscape (this is a host who has challenged politicians and poked behind headlines in various shows since 1993) rather than tuning to the usual post-show breakdowns on the cable-news networks.

“I think people are going to be watching in record numbers, and afterwards, they are going to hopefully be people who want something a little more than the usual gang at CNN or MSNBC or Fox News,” Maher said Tuesday in an interview. “We’ll be there live,” holding forth from a theater in Los Angeles – with an audience.

...

HBO sees enough possibility in what Maher is doing to make it available for free. The Time Warner-owned pay-cable service intends to live stream Maher’s convention shows on YouTube – no small decision in an era when the network is competing more directly with subscription-video outlets like Amazon and Netflix. The shows will also be available on Maher’s Facebook page the day after they air. “I’ve been trying to get that to happen for a long time,” said Maher, who regularly holds a short YouTube “after show” to keep things going after the“Real Time” broadcast ends. “I believe that it’s only good for our show when people see it on different platforms.”

http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/bill-maher-hbo-republican-convention-real-time-1201813417/

Thanks, HBO!

[benny05]

1. Maher was on Tweety's Show Today

Partly to promote the show, but also to offer observations. I think there is a replay in the early hours on MSNBC.

[tallahasseedem]

2. I thought it was a great show tonight...

He was measured with his responses.