Tom Leykis
Tom Leykis is an American former talk radio personality best known for hosting The Tom Leykis Show from 1994 to 2009, and April 2012 to 2018. The show follows the hot talk format, which brought Leykis much success, particularly in the Southern California radio market. Due to the provocative nature of the show, Leykis has often been described as a shock jock. The show's best-known feature is "Leykis 101", in which he claims to teach men how to get women while spending the least amount of time, money, and effort.
Leykis retired in 2024, streaming his last new show on May 15.
Early life
Leykis was born in New York City and spent his early childhood in the Bronx. His father was a union leader at The New York Post. He graduated from Newfield High School in Selden, New York at the age of 16, then entered Fordham University to study broadcasting, but dropped out due to financial issues.Career
Leykis began his radio career in the state of New York in 1970. At the age of 14, he was once a fill-in host for WBAB, and in 1979 was featured on Mark Simone's WPIX-FM talk show comedy The Simone Phone as the host's sidekick. In the mid-1970s Leykis hosted one of the first public access TV shows on Long Island's Cablevision system, "The Graffiti Hour", a call-in program. Leykis eventually left WPIX, later went to WBAI leaving in the fall of 1981 to go to Albany to work at WQBK. Leykis also contributed to a show called The Phonebooth on WABC that ended in 1981. After his departure from WABC, Leykis was offered a full-time radio hosting job in Staunton, Virginia.Leykis credits his defining moment to seriously pursue a career in radio to an incident that occurred in the early 1980s, in which his then-girlfriend locked him out of their residence because she believed he didn't earn enough money; he has since stated that this was one of the most important events of his life. A few years later, Leykis appeared on an episode of 20/20 where she contacted his show in an attempt to resume their relationship and he declined.
On Monday, February 27, 1984, The Tom Leykis Show aired on WNWS in Miami to replace the WNWS night show hosted by talk radio personality Neil Rogers. Rogers, who had previously signed conflicting employment contracts with both WNWS and WINZ, had just won permission from a Miami court to take his act to WINZ and hoped leaving WNWS would be devastating to Leykis' program. Rogers and Leykis became rivals and, in June 1984, just after Denver radio talk show host Alan Berg was assassinated, Leykis told listeners Neil Rogers' real name and urged callers to harass his on-air rival. By January 1985, Leykis had the top-ranking evening talk show in the market, edging out Rogers due to his show being preempted by sports broadcasts. In September 1985, Leykis abruptly left his WNWS job without notice over concern about the pending WNWS-WGBS merger and began work at Phoenix's KFYI.
As program director at KFYI, Leykis constructed a politically well-rounded host lineup inserting himself as a "left leaning libertarian" in the afternoons. Leykis was known for his method of gathering new callers for the station by provoking rival station KTAR. In 1987, Leykis abruptly left KFYI because of differences with station management that still has a shroud of secrecy surrounding the details. As of the late 1990s, KFYI hosts were prohibited from discussing the details of Leykis' departure from the station. While still in Phoenix, Leykis also had a local public-access television show called Backstage Pass.
After leaving Phoenix, Leykis moved on to Los Angeles to work for KFI, where he hosted a talk-radio program from 1988 to 1992, as a liberal counterpart to Rush Limbaugh. During this time, KFI was hit with a $6,000 Federal Communications Commission indecency fine over Leykis' on-air comments; however, the fine was paid in full from contributions by listeners. During Leykis' tenure at KFI, KFI host Geoff Edwards was suspended and then resigned over an incident related to steamrolling a massive collection of Cat Stevens' work sent in by listeners, which was motivated by Leykis' denouncement of Cat Stevens' comments about Salman Rushdie. A local Nazi historian likened the stunt as being reminiscent of a Nazi book burning.
On September 29, 1992, KFI management dismissed Leykis with only an hour's notice, based on what Leykis claims they called "a business decision"; KFI assumed the obligation of paying him his contracted salary, estimated at $400,000 per year, for the remaining six months of his contract.
Leykis next moved on to Boston and WRKO. He later left the Boston station for a new job in Los Angeles after a publicized domestic disturbance with then-wife Susan at the end of 1993. In March 1994, pretrial probation was granted and the charges stemming from that assault were dropped in exchange for his attendance in a program for batterers.
In 1994, Leykis began the nationally syndicated program, The Tom Leykis Show on Westwood One from Culver City, California. The final years of the show were produced from Paramount Pictures studios in Hollywood.
Leykis started the internet streamcast network The New Normal Network, featuring streams like New Normal Music, in July 2010.
''The Tom Leykis Show''
History
The Tom Leykis Show began in 1988 broadcasting from KFI in Los Angeles. Originally the show was often political in nature, a fact Leykis highlighted at the start of every episode by proclaiming his show the only radio talk show that is "not hosted by a right-wing wacko or a convicted felon", references to radio hosts Rush Limbaugh and G. Gordon Liddy, respectively. In addition to politics, the host commonly discussed relationships, religion, and other issues. On Fridays, listeners were allowed to call in and talk about anything they wanted, in contrast to other days when Leykis established a single topic for each hour of the show.Friday was also the usual day for live appearances in cities around the U.S., when Leykis would broadcast from a bar or other public place with an audience present. The free-for-all subject matter and large crowds led to a rowdy atmosphere on Friday shows, and it was in this context that "Flash Fridays" began.
In 1997, Leykis's show was picked up by KLSX, an FM talk station in Los Angeles that also carried The Howard Stern Show. The station became the flagship for the show and Leykis began to tone down the political aspect of the show around this time, and started the "Leykis 101" segment soon after.
In 2002, The Tom Leykis Show was briefly heard on an irregular basis in New York City on WNEW. Leykis was moved to afternoons from nights to replace the recently fired Opie and Anthony of The Opie and Anthony Show. Leykis later reflected on his comparative lack of success in the New York market, explaining that the station never truly got behind him, "We were talking to about the show being on the station on a regular basis. He said, "This show will never work in New York." Now, that may be true or it may not be true but how do you know until the people have had a chance to listen to it?".
In addition to his weekday show, Leykis began hosting a new syndicated weekend show called The Tasting Room in February 2005, covering lifestyle topics such as wine and spirits, luxury cars, and high-end technology.
With the departure of Howard Stern to satellite radio in January 2006, KLSX became known on-air as "97.1 Free FM" – so-called to highlight that its stations broadcast free-to-air, funded by commercials, whereas satellite radio requires a subscription fee. The station was produced by CBS Radio as part of its Free FM format, and The Tom Leykis Show was broadcast in a number of affiliate markets nationwide including but not limited to Portland, Dallas, Seattle, Phoenix, Las Vegas as well as multiple California markets in addition to its Los Angeles flagship such as San Diego and San Francisco. Talkers Magazine, analyzing Arbitron data, show that Leykis has an estimated listening minimum weekly cume of over 1.75 million for Spring 2007, based on a national sample.
On February 20, 2009, KLSX changed its format to Top 40 under economic pressures, and The Tom Leykis Show aired its final broadcast. The show ran Monday through Friday, 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM PT from Paramount Studios and 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM Saturdays in Hollywood, California and was heard in a number of major metropolitan markets on the West Coast of the United States.
Leykis's show returned on his podcast/streamcast network The New Normal Network at 3PM Pacific time, April 2, 2012 – one day after his CBS contract ended. The new uncensored show included a new theme song, fewer commercials, and "Leykis 101" news at the top of each hour. The new show was financed through both advertising and a premium subscription service that offers a less-compressed stream and podcast-on-demand ability. It was produced by Gary Zabransky along with associate producer Dean "Dino" DeMilio, and engineered by Mike Timpson, who replaced Art Webb after his departure in 2013. In February 2018, Tom Leykis announced that he would be ending his live show that year. The final live episode aired on October 25, 2018.
On October 13, 2018, Leykis announced a new podcast series that would be exclusive to his subscribers on his premiumtom.com website. His new podcasting venture commenced on October 29, 2018.
Format
Typically, Leykis discusses one topic per hour. He will introduce the topic by reading a news article or peer-reviewed study, or by discussing a personal anecdote or experience. He will then accept callers for discussion and debate.Leykis 101
The cornerstone of the program was the Thursday broadcast of "Leykis 101", in which the program is set up as an ad hoc lecture and question and answer session, over which Leykis presides as a self-styled "professor". The subject of the "101" segments are how men can spend less money on women while achieving greater sexual and personal success. The intent of his advice is to serve as a father figure for his mostly-male listeners. Thus, many callers address Leykis as "Dad" or "Father".Along with general information on life for young men, Leykis's 101 advice mostly consists of his principles of looking out for oneself. He argues that the institution of marriage is flawed and that family court systems are often corrupt because DNA testing after childbirth is not mandatory to prevent paternity fraud, and because courts have forced men to pay child support even after DNA testing has established that a man was not actually a child's father. To guard against sperm theft, he advises men to dispose of their own condoms by flushing them down the toilet or filling them with tabasco sauce. Other examples of Leykis 101 guidelines include never dating single mothers or co-workers; never cohabiting with a woman; using birth control during each sexual encounter; and immediately ending a relationship if a woman issues an ultimatum. In the event of an unplanned pregnancy, Leykis advocates a strategy known as "The Hail Mary", whereby the man persuades the woman to have an abortion by promising to have children with her when they are ready in the future. Then as soon as she has the procedure, he dumps her.
Leykis constantly recommends that young men pursue their career or educational goals and avoid being distracted by serious relationships or marriage at a young age as he was. Leykis describes many women as "dream killers". Furthermore, Leykis urges men to live frugally, including avoiding consumer debt ; never spending more than $40 for a date; and saving cash and investing for the future. He has described men who neglect their bills as "immoral".