FS1 will "debut a new version" of its nightly highlight show "Fox Sports Live" on Feb. 22, and Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole will continue to co-host the program, according to Ryan Glasspiegel of THE BIG LEAD. Onrait and O'Toole will be "emphasizing more opinion and personality" on the revamped show, with the idea being most viewers will already know "what happened in the games." Onrait and O'Toole recently have been off-air, and "given that this time off was not scheduled prior to a meeting" between the two and Fox Sports National Networks President Jamie Horowitz on Monday, "some eyebrows were raised around the network." A Fox spokesperson said rumors Onrait and O'Toole were suspended for disparaging comments toward FS1 were "totally inaccurate" (THEBIGLEAD.com, 2/9). Onrait on Monday appeared on Dan Patrick's radio show, with Patrick saying, “You can’t overtake ESPN in a span of a couple of years, and that’s what Fox has done twice now. They’ve made the mistake of trying to go at them in a span of two or three years.” Onrait said, “It’s the only way Fox does things, right? It’s all-in or not." He added, "The way we started the network with the giant set and Andy Roddick talking about football ... was ill-conceived. ... We threw some things at the wall at the beginning; they didn’t stick." Onrait later said, "Where are we? I don’t know what’s happening with our network right now. But I’ll say this -- we’re going to stick it out until this contract is over. We’re going to collect our money!” (“The Dan Patrick Show,” 2/8).
STILL THE "IT" GIRL? GQ's Drew Magary noted Katie Nolan has been "targeted as a rising star" at FS1, but he wondered if she still "fit in" at the net after the hiring of Horowitz, Colin Cowherd and Jason Whitlock. Nolan said, "The vision for Fox is to have a network full of people who have opinions as opposed to people who say news. If my message doesn’t fit in, but I get that platform, then I’m reaching the people who most need to hear it." Magary asked Nolan if there have been times "when you've wanted to rant against elements of your own network." She replied she in fact had done so in the past, citing an article written by Clay Travis about women looking for a husband at The Masters. Nolan: "I was like 'Really, Clay?' Is this what we need to do? So I ripped him a little." However, she did admit she should have reached out to Travis beforehand. Nolan: "I should have texted him and been like, 'Just a heads up, I'm gonna come at you tonight on my show.' So he wouldn't find out from people being like, 'Whoa! Get a load of this!" (GQ.com, 2/5).
