CenterStage On the YES network

Michael Kay Host of CenterStage on the YES network CenterStage is an hour long, intimate, one-on-one interview show where the small studio audience has the opportunity to ask their favorite celebrity a question live on-air, here in New York. The show is transmitted on the YES network (part of the New York Yankees) in New York City and is hosted by Michael Kay. The show format allows for a single guest for the whole show- which means Kay can delve a little deeper with celebrities than with that of the other run-of-the-mill TV yakkers in New York.
The guest choice Is generally around a sports theme (It is a sports channel after all), but as the sports celeb inventory dries up - other notable celebs are used.

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Recent interviews on Center Stage have included: Bryant Gumbel, Lennox Lewis, Derek Jeter, Tom Brokaw, Michael Douglas, Richard Petty, Dan Marino, Steve Young, Jeff Gordon and Mother Theresa (OK, I made that last one up just to see if you are still awake)
Bob Costas, Bobby Murcer, Billy Crystal, Bill Parcells, Joe Torre, and Sylvester Stallone have also been recent guests on the show.

The YES Network is the Yankees Network - Michael Kay has unparalleled access to the Yankees camp due to the fact that the YES network owns the TV rights on all the Yankees games, so many of the Yankees players have been natural shoe-ins on the show. This in itself is major coup for the fledgling show, even if most of the Yankees players really don't have much to say. This show is just the ticket for any Yankees fan.

Although it seems that the Center Stage has problems booking A-List celebrities, most of the celebrities are only relevant in their own vertical markets - (Try asking an average New Yorker who Richard Petty is and they will usually respond with "The Heartbreakers")

Recent interviews on Center Stage have included: Bryant Gumbel, Lennox Lewis, Derek Jeter, Tom Brokaw, Michael Douglas, Richard Petty, Dan Marino, Steve Young, Jeff Gordon and Mother Theresa (OK, I made that last one up just to see if you are still awake) Bob Costas, Bobby Murcer, Billy Crystal, Bill Parcells, Joe Torre, and Sylvester Stallone have also been recent guests on the show.

In addition to his work at YES, Kay hosts The Michael Kay Show, a sports talk show heard weekdays on ESPN Radio. In 2005 he was nominated for five Emmy awards, three for "Outstanding Live Sports Coverage" and one each for "On-Camera Achievement" and "Writer: Short Form & Sports."

Prior to joining the YES Network in 2002, Kay worked at the MSG Network since 1989 as a Yankees reporter. In 1992, he added Knicks locker room reporter to his responsibilities, and continued in that role until the 1998-99 season. Kay was awarded the Dick Young Award for Excellence in Sports Media by the New York Pro Baseball Scouts in 1995. In 1998, he was on the MSG Network team that won a New York Emmy for "Outstanding Live Sports Coverage – Series." In 1996 and 1997 he was a member of the MSG Network team that won New York Emmys for "Outstanding Live Sports Coverage - Single Program" for Dwight Gooden's no-hitter and "The Battle for New York: Yankees vs. Mets." He was also a part of the Yankees/MSG Network production team that was nominated for New York Emmy Awards for six consecutive years.

In addition to his television work, the Bronx, NY, native worked as Yankees analyst on WABC Radio from 1992 to 2002. Kay was a winner of "Best Sports Reporter" honors at the 2000 New York Metro Achievement in Radio Awards. In 1998, Kay also began co-hosting Sports Talk with John Sterling and Michael Kay, a nightly sports radio call-in show which aired on WABC Radio during the winter months. During the baseball season, Kay and Sterling hosted the radio show Yankee Talk, which aired prior to all weekend Yankees games. Shortly after graduating from Fordham University in 1982 with a B. A. in Communications, Kay worked at SportsPhone and as the public address announcer for the New York Pro Summer Basketball League.

In 1982, Kay landed the job as general assignment writer for the New York Post. Two years later, he began covering college basketball (1984-85) and then spent two years as the writer covering the New Jersey Nets. In 1987, he moved to baseball at the Post, serving as the Yankees beat reporter. While he was in that position, he got his first television job with MSG Network as host of the "Hot Stove League" segment of MSG's SportsNight.