Leaheys will offer Curran a challenge

The father-son sports broadcast team of Jim and Kanoa Leahey returns to radio next month with a talk show going heads up against KKEA-1420's "Bobby Curran Show" twice a week.

"Leahey and Leahey" will air on KUMU-1500, Mondays and Fridays, 6 to 9 a.m. -- the same hours as Curran's show, which runs Monday through Friday.

The first show is tentatively set for April 16, but depending on how renovation of the KUMU studio goes, it could be sooner.

"We're very excited to host 'Leahey and Leahey.' We'll know more about when we start Monday," said John Aeto, Oahu general manager of Visionary Related Entertainment, which operates KUMU and four other radio stations. "It will be 75 percent sports talk and 25 percent other local issues."

The Leaheys had a similar evening show weekly on KKEA in 2005.

"Leahey and Leahey" is also a weekly TV show on PBS, Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.

"Having the radio show will give us a little more immediacy," Kanoa Leahey said. "Our other commitments make it difficult to go more than two days a week at this point."

Jim Leahey is the longtime television voice of University of Hawaii sports, sometimes working five live events a week. Kanoa Leahey is sports director at KHON-TV (Channel 2).

KUMU is the home of Hawaii Pacific University sports and aired the Hawaii High School Athletic Association football and basketball championships.

Aeto said the Tuesday through Thursday 6 to 9 a.m. slots will be filled with other local programming.

Curran, the radio voice of UH sports, has hosted the top-rated local sports talk radio show the past several years. His show is usually second- or third-rated among males 25 to 44 during morning drive time. KKEA owns the radio rights to UH sports.

"Some people used to say you could never succeed with morning sports radio, but apparently that's changed," Curran said. "Competition makes everybody better. It's great and gives us a chance to refocus on what we do."