By Ryan Maquinana and Mike Coppinger
With the announcement on Thursday that former Showtime Sports head honcho Ken Hershman will be taking over as president of HBO Sports – replacing the recently departed Ross Greenburg – Lou DiBella, former head of programming at HBO, spoke to BoxingScene.com to share his thoughts on the corporate move that has the industry abuzz.
“The hiring of Ken Hershman was a great move by HBO,” said DiBella. “He’s a professional, seasoned television executive and a good boxing guy. He has a passion for the sport and a passion for sports in general. He’ll be able to run with the ball really quickly and make great things happen.”
DiBella feels HBO will be bolstered by the addition of Hershman, but also believes that Showtime will continue to excel even in the wake of his departure.
“Ken, with the people he has will be able to make a difference at HBO, we’ll see a turnaround really quickly. But I still think that Showtime has a great team with good people and they’re gonna be just fine.”
Hershman will actively assume control of HBO Sports on January 9, 2012.
Showtime has yet to name a replacement to run its sports division.
