It makes perfect sense for HBO to expand the Bill Maher current events coverage playing field, and today, the network has indicated it will be doing so in a most intriguing manner.

Real Time host Maher will executive produce a weekly news magazine hosted by VICE founder Shane Smith. Smith will also be one of the other executive producers along with VICE chief creative officer Eddy Moretti. CNN’s Fareed Zakaria meanwhile will be on board as show consultant.

From today’s announcement:

“VICE has emerged as a premier new media brand through a savvy combination of irreverence, smarts and fearlessness,” said Michael Lombardo, president HBO programming. “We are excited to offer a forum for their groundbreaking style of news coverage and look forward to a show that’s like nothing else on TV.”

Read more

And the winner for PETA’s new least favorite television executive goes to former CKX president Marc Graboff, who, sitting on a Variety TV Summit panel discussion on the “state of the global TV industry,” suddenly went all Friar’s Club on the room. Asked for his favorite show on television, Graboff began his answer: “Not to beat a dead horse… Sorry Michael…”

“Michael” would be HBO’s president of programming Michael Lombardo, who did not look pleased. Plenty of groans all around the room in solidarity. Too soon, for Luck jokes, Graboff. Too soon.

We caught up with Lombardo after the panel asked him about the hit his network took on Luck’s cancellation. After expressing remorse at the deaths of three horses that ultimately precipitated Luck‘s demise, Lombardo noted that, emotional tragedy aside, the network is in position to absorb the financial hit the show’s cancellation inflicted.

“We’re not dependent on any one show. That’s the place we are and we need to be to be successful.

“We don’t monetize each of our shows the same way. Shows like Game of Thrones and True Blood are quite successful financially, and that allows us to experiment and takes risks.”

Read more

Colin Callender, former president of HBO and overseer of some 80 Emmys and two dozen Golden Globes, will officially leave HBO by the end of 2008 to start his own production company after 21 years with the pay cable outlet, according to several news reports.

While the entire industry has been gossiping for months about Callender’s departure, no one was quite sure who was responsible.

Callender told Men’s Vogue Magazine: “I’ll stay here at HBO as long as they’ll have me.” And he also told the New York Times yesterday that the decision “was entirely of my own making” and not related to any HBO house-cleaning dictum.

Two executives who have worked with Callender in overseeing the production of films and mini-series at HBO will now divvy up his duties. Kary Antholis will become president of HBO Miniseries and Len Amato will become president of HBO Films. They will report to programming group/West Coast operations president Michael Lombardo.

Callender was one of several longtime HBO executives whose names arose as potential replacements for Chris Albrecht, who left his post as chief executive of HBO in mid-2007.

But that job was split among four executives, sparking the rumors in Hollywood that Callender, among others, might leave HBO.

Callender also told the Times, “I’ve had this growing feeling over the last year or so that there are growing opportunities in the marketplace.”