With a heavy hand, Costas grasps the issues.('On the Record' television program hosted by Bob Costas)(Brief Article)

For the record, Bob Costas is a serious star with his new HBO vehicle, On the Record

You can tell because he gets 57 minutes in quasi-late night (Wednesdays at 11 p.m. ET). That's more than Jay Leno and David Letterman, who have commercials, and twice as much as Dennis Miller and Chris Rock. Another indicator of star treatment: NBC agreed to loan Costas to HBO.

All this for a sports-interview show.

"It speaks to the power of sports in our society, and to Bob's celebrity, and his talent," says HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg.

For 24 shows over the next two years, Costas has the opportunity to create appointment TV and live a dream. While working on NBC's Later, he talked of longing to do longer-form interviews, likely on cable. Is this the ultimate? "It's very, very close as a sports show," he says.

Sports talk, sports magazine shows and sports journalism are alive and well. HBO's Real Sports is in its fifth year; CNN/SI's Sports Tonight recently did a sit-down with Rae Carruth; and ESPN carries the torch on SportsCenter, Up Close and Outside the Lines.

Of course, Bob Ley is not Bob Costas, but comparisons with mere sportscasters no longer apply. In a first for HBO Sports, talent (Costas) was hired and a show (on the Record) developed for it.