Kristine Leahy will try to rediscover the "lost art" of conversation in her new TV show on Fox Sports' FS1 network this fall.
That's the word from Mike Antinoro, senior vice president of IMG Original Content, who's developing Leahy's show for the sports cable network. Citing television inspirations like Roy Firestone's old "Up Close" show on ESPN, Antinoro said Leahy's first starring vehicle will feature in-depth "conversations" with athletes, celebrities and news-makers.
The 31-year-old Leahy's 30-minute weekday program is expected to debut this fall (September or October) in the 5-6 p.m. ET slot on FS1, alongside a new sports betting show expected to feature Charissa Thompson, Brent Musburger, Clay Travis and Todd Fuhrman.
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You could call Leahy's solo effort an interview program, but Antinoro told Sporting News he prefers to call it a "conversation" show. Leahy recently left her post as news anchor on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" to develop the show with IMG. She was succeeded by Joy Taylor, moderator of "Undisputed" with Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe.
"We felt like the long-form interview is kind of a lost art these days when it comes to sports," said Antinoro. "That could be because of the proliferation of so much media — and so much accessibility to athletes. They almost can put their own interviews up on any media they want to. We want to have a real conversation."
Unlike other FS1 shows, Leahy won't broadcast from the network's Los Angeles studios. Instead, she'll go on location to the homes, gyms and work places of her subjects.
The show doesn't have a title yet, but Antinoro is open to ideas. "Who would have thought (ESPN's) 'Pardon the Interruption' would be a good title? That's a mouthful," he noted. "But it turned out to be a genius title."
The show will mark a big step up for Leahy, co-host of NBC's "American Ninja Warrior," and a former sideline reporter/anchor for CBS, Turner Sports and FOX Sports Boston.
Leahy made headlines by standing up to a bullying LaVar Ball on "The Herd." When Leahy pressed Ball about how many pairs of "Big Baller" sneakers he'd actually sold, the would-be mogul turned his back on her — and famously told Leahy to "stay in yo lane."
Leahy addressed the Ball confrontation with Cowherd on "The Herd."
"Have some respect. Don’t threaten me. Don’t make personal jokes. Don’t mock me. And don’t say you’re not going to look me in the eye. If he wants to come on and look me in the eye, and be respectful, he can still disagree with me. I’m OK with that. But I will not tolerate what he did," she said.
Later, she reported getting death threats over her dust-up with Ball. “For me this wasn’t a women issue. It wasn’t a racial issue. But it has turned into both," she said.
Ball's fans defended him on social media, arguing Leahy had fired the first shots by repeatedly insulting his parenting skills and saying son Lonzo Ball seemed "terrified" of his dad.
"Who is she to comment on (LaVar) Ball's parenting but (people) are up in arms (because) he clapped back on her?! What am I missing here?" tweeted Damien Woody, the former NFL player turned ESPN football analyst.
More than a year later, Leahy is ready to get started on her own show. Getting out of the studio setting and into the homes and workplaces of interview subjects will hopefully make them open up more, Antinoro said.
"We will try to keep it as comfortable and casual as possible so we really are looking in on a conversation with Kristine and (her subject)," he added.
A successful new Leahy show would mark another coup for Antinoro and his fast-growing IMG Original Content, which produces daily talk shows, award shows and live events for both linear and digital networks such as FOX, HBO, Showtime, Netflix, Amazon and ABC.
IMG Original Content recently teamed with HBO Sports to produce the critically acclaimed "Being Serena," a five-part docu-series on tennis superstar Serena Williams.
During his stints at IMG and Dick Clark Productions, the award-winning Antinoro has produced sports shows such "Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials," "UConn Huskies: The March to Madness" and "NFL Honors." He reports to IMG co-president Mark Shapiro, the former ESPN executive.
The new Leahy show will be part of FS1's planned revamp of its weekday afternoon programming block. An expanded two-hour version of Jason Whitlock's "Speak for Yourself" (5-6 p.m) is expected to move into the 3-5 p.m. time slot.
Sporting News broke the story that Cowherd plans to step down as co-host of "SFY" and will be replaced by ESPN's Marcellus Wiley.