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What: “On the Record With Bob Costas”

Where: HBO, tonight, 11

Sports-news magazine shows are nothing new. ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” has been around for more than 10 years. HBO already has “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel.” But “On the Record With Bob Costas” should be different, mainly because of Costas.

Ross Greenburg, HBO president, says, “The show will provide Bob with the kind of format he excels in, with emphasis on his interviewing and journalistic skills. It will also give him an opportunity for essays and commentary.”

Costas, on loan from NBC and available because he is no longer doing NBA play-by-play, says, “This is the kind of program that I’ve always wanted to do and HBO is the place to do it.”

The one-hour weekly series, announced more than a year ago, will have a 12-week run. It will run live in the East and delayed three hours in the West. The show’s producers, Rick Bernstein, Brian Brown and Bruce Cornblatt, say the show will focus on topical sports issues and personalities from the playing field, front office and entertainment world.

Tonight’s edition features Tom Hanks. Hanks, in a taped segment, talks about his love for baseball. He was a peanut vendor at Oakland Coliseum during the A’s championship seasons in the early 1970s. Next will be a live NBA round-table discussion featuring David Stern and Oscar Robertson. Then come taped interviews with Dennis Miller and Joe Torre.

After the show airs in the East, Costas will host a live Internet chat at https://www.hbo.com/ontherecord, continuing to discuss NBA issues with Robertson.