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Tom Leykis
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Tom Leykis
Tom Leykis (pronounced: /ˈlaɪkɪs/; born 1956 or 1957) is an American former talk radio personality best known for hosting The Tom Leykis Show from 1994 to 2009 (nationally syndicated), and April 2012 to 2018 (internet streamcast/podcast). 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.
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.
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 (790 AM) and WINZ (940 AM), 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 (FCC) 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.
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Tom Leykis
Tom Leykis (pronounced: /ˈlaɪkɪs/; born 1956 or 1957) is an American former talk radio personality best known for hosting The Tom Leykis Show from 1994 to 2009 (nationally syndicated), and April 2012 to 2018 (internet streamcast/podcast). 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.
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.
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 (790 AM) and WINZ (940 AM), 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 (FCC) 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.
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