Why is Heidi Watney Already Interviewing at ESPN When She Just Got to Time Warner Cable?

But as we reported last week, she’s already interviewing for the job as First Take host at ESPN. Why would someone who moves across the country to take a job covering the most popular team in the NBA already be interviewing elsewhere before the season begins?

There’s rampant speculation on both coasts that Watney and Time Warner have quietly parted ways, and she’s looking for work.

I called Watney Tuesday to ask about the rumors of her interviewing at ESPN and to ask whether or not she was fired from Time Warner.

“I’m 100 percent still employed by Time Warner,” she said, dodging questions about ESPN. But multiple sources have confirmed Watney interviewed with First Take honcho Jamie Horowitz recently, and she’s among the finalists for the job. Watney would only say that it’s “part of the business” to talk or meet with other outlets and she said Time Warner was “well aware of that.” Watney told me she will be covering the LA Galaxy for Time Warner once their season begins Sept. 1st.

For what it’s worth, Watney, whose twitter page used to announce that she was a reporter at NESN, makes no mention of Time Warner.

We were unable to confirm details about the source of friction between Watney and Time Warner, but they were similar to ones that dogged her in Boston. We asked her about a specific June incident, but she said it was “laughable.”

Time Warner Cable Sports was very dodgy when I began snooping around about Watney. Nobody would go on the record. Larry Meyers, whose title is Vice President, Content and Executive Producer at Time Warner Cable Sports, wouldn’t pick up his cell phone. A spokeswoman referred me to this May press release when I asked if Watney still worked there. The network wouldn’t commit to broadcast roles for next season – sideline reporter or otherwise.

This wouldn’t be the first time Watney – who many stories say was a runner-up in the Miss California pageant in 2002, though she’s not listed as a finalist on this pageant’s website [UPDATE: This one does list her, though] – quietly left a job. She was working at a TV station in Fresno in 2008 and suddenly departed. The Fresno Bee’s archives are a mess, but this story says she had a run-in with a school administrator.