Fox Sports 1 looking to capture late night with FOXSPORTS LIVE

Sports personality Charissa Thompson, NBA great Gary Payton and past NFL stars Donovan McNabb and Ephraim Salaam join tennis legend Andy Roddick to provide analysis and commentary for FOXSPORTS LIVE, the flagship news, opinion and highlights program airing nightly on FOX Sports 1, America’s new sports network launching Saturday, Aug. 17.  

Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole, who were stars anchoring for TSN in Canada will no doubt be a big hit here in the United States. The duo are very creative with their entertaining way of delivering highlights. They will be a key part of the new show and should be a good fit.

The announcement was made Thursday by FOX Sports Executive Vice President, Studio Production, Scott Ackerson, who oversees FOX Sports’ news coverage. FOX SPORTS LIVE debuts the night of Aug. 17 at 11:00 PM ET, with refreshed editions airing at 12:00 AM ET and 1:00 AM ET.

 “We are so excited to welcome Gary, Donovan and Ephraim to FOX Sports and we’re thrilled to have Charissa back in the family,” Ackerson said. “The group officially unveiled today, with Andy, represents some of the best in their fields, and we are confident that they’ll provide a fresh, unique perspective to the sports news of the day, creating engaging and entertaining television.”

I spoke with the new team about what excites them most about  FOX SPORTS LIVE.

Salaam: “What excites me most is being able to have live on air discussions with Gary, Donovan, Charissa, and Andy. To be sitting with people I have grown up respecting and playing against in some aspects.  We have great personalities in our group and watching Jay (Onrait) and Dan (O’Toole) do their thing is going to be exciting. Those who don’t know them aren’t ready for what they’re bringing.”

Payton: “I’m not just a basketball fan, I’m a sports fan.  We’re going to have a great time because we get along together, and we have a lot of insight of everything. We’re going to have fun.”

McNabb: “We believe the viewers and listeners want to hear Andy give his insight about basketball and football.  They want to hear Ephraim and I give our insights about basketball, track, NASCAR, etc. They want to hear something different instead of us just talking about our given sport because that’s easy. They want to hear our insight and see how deep and prepared we are to talk about all these given sports.  Its energy, excitement, little bit of laughter, some seriousness, but most importantly we’re being informative for everyone that’s watching.”

Thompson: “It’s the combination of being entertained, having fun, and not taking ourselves to seriously.  On the flip side, if there is a serious story then we’ll be able to get into it and use these former professional athletes’ own experiences to draw from.  It’s my job as the host to be able to bring that out. We’ve had the pleasure of doing some rehearsals over the last few days, and even talking about Jason Kidd being the new Brooklyn Nets head coach and how that’s going to work with him being so closely removed from the game. Gary had the same experience with Nate McMillan. So being able to draw upon experience and really open up the discussion is something I’m really looking forward to.”

Ackerson and Shanks respond to who the show’s target audience is and the format for FOX SPORTS LIVE:

Ackerson: “Our crew is pretty young and I hope, like any other show, that younger viewers would like to watch this but we don’t exclude any viewers. I believe that, with the type of people we have, both young and older viewers will enjoy the insights of these individuals. People watch sports to have a good time and to get a break from their lives. And that’s kind of the philosophy we’ve had, whether it’s been our pregame shows or our game operation.”

Shanks: “It’s really two shows in one. You have Jay and Dan at the update desk. You have Charissa, Gary, Donovan, Andy, Ephraim and other experts from other sports joining as needed. This show has a lot of different gears and that is why we want to make sure that we can go in a lot of different directions and actually add a bit of spontaneity to sports television. The beauty about sports, and why people watch it, is you never know what’s going to happen.”