Soledad O’Brien Set For Transition To HBO’s ‘Real Sports’

Soledad O’Brien, an award-winning broadcast journalist, is set to rejoin her fellow “Today” show alum Bryant Gumbel on HBO’s series Real Sports. The 46-year-old hasn’t spent much time covering sports in her career, but the transition shouldn’t be a tough one for the former anchor of CNN’s morning show, Starting Point.

The move to Real Sports comes after O’Brien left CNN to start her own production company, Starfish Media Group, which will also benefit from her new reporting gig with HBO.

According to The Associated Press, her new deal will give the popular television network a “first look” at the media group’s projects. Even with the new deal, O’Brien’s company will continue the Black In America series which has been featured on CNN.

The AP report also noted that O’Brien played rugby while attending Harvard. Even with a simple background in sports, many people believe her decision could be the wrong one.

All signs would point to the possibility of an unsuccessful transition for Soledad O’Brien, but Gumbel’s series isn’t your average sports show. Instead of quick paced recaps and commentary, Real Sports highlights the connection between sports and how they relate to our daily lives.

HBO said Wednesday that her first assignment is due later this month, which will be about war veterans who use martial arts to help cope with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Since debuting in 1995, Real Sports has gone well beyond traditional strategies of sports reporting by putting together detailed profile pieces and exclusive stories that are usually centered around controversy.

In 2004, the popular series won a Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Sports Journalism and it’s continued to grow ever since.

O’Brien’s transition won’t be as difficult as it looks due to the show’s growing fan base and the ever-so popular Bryant Gumbel. No matter how it all pans out, it surely didn’t take her long to come back to broadcast journalism after leaving CNN this past February.

Do you believe Soledad O’Brien will be a good fit with HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel?

[Image via JD Lasica | Flickr]