Lionel (radio)

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Lionel

Lionel(born Michael William LeBron, his birthday is August 26, 1958), is a nationally syndicated radio talk show host based in New York City. As of October 2005, he hosts a three-hour radio talk show six days a week (10 p.m.-1 a.m. ET weekdays, 5-8 p.m. ET Saturdays), from the studios of WOR 710 AM in New York. His show can be heard off the network of WOR 710 until 1 am. His last hour was moved to 10 p.m., moving Dr. Ronald Hoffman to one hour and moving Joey Reynolds to five hours from 12 a.m to 5 am.

Lionel, who graduated from the Stetson University College of Law, was both a prosecutor and a defender, He began his radio career as a host at WFLA 970 AM in his hometown of Tampa, Florida from 1988 to 1994.

For years, Lionel had been a frequent caller to local shows, eventually becoming "a chronic", which is industry vernacular for frequent callers. His notoriety was such that he began resorting to using aliases and different personas to get on the air. His most enduring moniker is in honor of Francis Lionel "Lion" Delbuchi, the character played by Al Pacino in the movie Scarecrow. His calls were so entertaining that in the fall of 1988, WFLA management called and offered him a chance to move behind the microphone, first as a weekend host and soon thereafter as part of the weekday lineup. When he did, he quickly became a ratings success, using a lively mix of humor and current events.

He was hired away by WABC 770 AM, a news-talk New York City when a former ABC network president heard Lionel's show during vacations in Florida and lured him to the Big Apple. As in Tampa, he set ratings records for WABC as its morning-drive host during the mid-1990s.

In the late 1990s, toward the end of his tenure at WABC, Lionel also hosted the CourtTV law show, Snap Judgment. In 2000, Lionel began his national radio show, The Lionel Show. It was originally syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks, but dropped in 2001. His show was syndicated by independent Rex Broadcasting until 2003, when it was picked up by the WOR Radio Network in New York City.

In 2000 and 2001, in addition to his radio work, Lionel was a morning host on an Internet-based talk radio site, eyada.com. The site suspended operations in 2001, but is still parked.

Lionel's catch phrase, said at the end of each show since the early 1990s, is, "The monkey's dead, the show's over ... sue ya", which is a reference to his former occupation. That line (except "sue ya") was originally spoken by a defeated political candidate in Tampa when asked for an election-night comment about his failed campaign. Lionel saw the quote in the next day's newspaper and has used it since.

Originally espousing a largely libertarian political philosophy, Lionel, a staunch atheist, has arguably adopted a more liberal stance, and his show has become increasingly heard on more stations of a left-leaning nature.

Lionel adopted "Niña Morena" by the Gipsy Kings as his theme song, and he plays it at the top of every hour after commercial breaks. The song's opening line, which sounds like "Lionel!" repeatedly, caused him to "fall out of his chair" the first time he heard it.

He has released a comedy album titled You Don't Look Like You Sound and fronted a bluegrass band called Lock 'n' Load.