[10] 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.

[5][14] He graduated from Newfield High School in Selden, New York at the age of 16,[5] then entered Fordham University to study broadcasting, but dropped out due to financial issues.

[16][17] 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.

[12][15] 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.

[23][24] 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.

[25][26] As program director at KFYI, Leykis constructed a politically well-rounded host lineup inserting himself as a "left leaning libertarian" in the afternoons.

[30] After leaving Phoenix, Leykis moved on to Los Angeles to work for KFI, where he hosted a talk-radio program from 1988 to 1992,[31] as a liberal counterpart to Rush Limbaugh.

[35] He later left the Boston station for a new job in Los Angeles after a publicized domestic disturbance with then-wife Susan at the end of 1993.

In March 1994, pretrial probation was granted and the charges stemming from that assault were dropped in exchange for his attendance in a program for batterers.

On Fridays, listeners were allowed to call in and talk about anything they wanted, in contrast to other days when Leykis established a single topic for each hour of the show.

Friday was also the usual day for live appearances in cities around the U.S., when Leykis would broadcast from a bar or other public place with an audience present.

The station was produced by CBS Radio as part of its Free FM format, and The Tom Leykis Show was broadcast in a number of affiliate markets nationwide including but not limited to Portland, Dallas, Seattle, Phoenix, Las Vegas as well as multiple California markets in addition to its Los Angeles flagship such as San Diego and San Francisco.

Talkers Magazine, analyzing Arbitron data, show that Leykis has an estimated listening minimum weekly cume of over 1.75 million for Spring 2007, based on a national sample.

[43] On February 20, 2009, KLSX changed its format to Top 40 (CHR) under economic pressures, and The Tom Leykis Show aired its final broadcast.

In the event of an unplanned pregnancy, Leykis advocates a strategy known as "The Hail Mary", whereby the man persuades the woman to have an abortion by promising to have children with her when they are ready in the future.

Ingels, who was much older than the typical caller to Leykis's show, was subjected to some rude remarks by the call screener who said that he was too old and should not be on the air.

[59][61] Another widely publicized event took place in November 2006, when Leykis invited callers to make confessions about their wrongdoing or escapades which were never discovered.

The caller described herself as a nurse who went by her middle name, Sue, and said that she shot the man in the heart with a 9 mm because she "knew how to aim for it", and moreover asserted that she made the shooting look like a suicide.

Leykis denied allegations that the call was part of a hoax set up by the show, and producers turned over all information they had about the caller to police who began an investigation.

Evidence was presented to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office and charges were considered against Megan Suzanne Vice of El Mirage, Arizona.

[65] Her ex-boyfriend, Tortsen Rockwood, died of a gunshot wound in 2001, and, while the death was originally ruled a suicide, police later named Vice as their suspect in the case.

Sometime after the murder confession was made on Leykis's show, Vice filed a police report stating that her cell phone had been stolen.

[66] In 2003, Leykis raised controversy by revealing the name of Katelyn Faber,[13][67][68][69] the accuser in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case.

[8][70] Other media outlets elected to reveal details of the alleged victim such as race and masked photographs while excluding her name, as was the standard practice at that time,[71][72] raising privacy questions.

[4] The Tom Leykis Show had its last regular terrestrial broadcast on Friday, February 20, 2009, and ended at 5 p.m., the middle of its usual time slot.

Saying "Let's tell the truth", Leykis commented that he knew since the previous summer that it was possible the flagship station (KLSX, which originated the broadcast of the show) would switch format.

After a much longer than usual explosion sound effect, the crowd cheered and KLSX changed format from hot talk to CHR/Top 40, which continued until 2021 when it flipped to a simulcast of KNX (AM).

On the first day of the show's return, there were some streaming issues that were rectified within the first 30 minutes, due to a far greater influx of listeners that he was expecting.

On December 22 of that year, she alleged that Leykis assaulted and threatened to kill her during a fight after they returned home from a radio station Christmas party.

In the assault, he was kicked in the face and knocked down to the ground, causing him to require 17 stitches over one eye, and leaving him with scratches and bruises on his knees.