Al Rantel

Al Rantel
Born	October 14, 1955 (1955-10-14) United States
Nationality	American
Occupation	Radio show host

Al Rantel (born October 14, 1955) is a conservative talk show host. Rantel's most recent contract was with KABC radio, Los Angeles, California (he retired for medical reasons in June, 2009). Rantel is unusual in being an outspoken conservative who is openly gay. He worked in Florida for many years prior to moving to KABC, and has appeared as a pundit on television news and discussion programs. Rantel received the opportunity to work in Los Angeles at radio station KABC due to the encouragement of another East Coast transplanted talk host, Tom Leykis. Rantel previously worked for Los Angeles station KNX and Florida stations WINZ, WNWS, and WFTL.. Starting January 2012, Rantel can be heard once a week (either Tuesday or Thursday) on The Marc Germain Show, on TalkRadioOne.com

Show characteristics

Rantel has characterized his program with several trademarks: live on-the-spot promotions of products and services (unusual in talk radio), frequent presentation of unusual and unknown news stories, and citation of analogies and adages, many of which are his own. Soundbites are rarely used, and bumper music is marginalized; segments sometimes begin with the word "all right", the time, or a linkage to the words of the continuity announcer. On the two Friday programs, different bumper music is used; Rantel calls the music clip "the Friday announcement." As a non-syndicated local radio personality, Rantel has a unique manner of announcing his broadcast station, KABC (he formerly elongated the letter "K" and currently inserts the phrase "real radio, live and local").

Rantel has also been known to do vocal imitations of various people. He frequently does so when criticizing statements of George W. Bush on illegal immigration. In return, Brian Whitman does a dead-on impression of Rantel whenever he is a guest on Rantel's program.

On December 11, 2008, it was announced that Larry Elder would be leaving KABC and Rantel would move to Elder's 3 to 7 pm time slot. On February 2, 2009, his show would move to the 6 to 11 pm time slot so that Mark Levin could be heard live from 3 to 6 pm.

After ten years behind the microphone at KABC, Al Rantel broadcast his final show on Thursday evening, June 25, 2009. He bid the station and his listeners a very fond and heartfelt farewell after sharing about the months following a serious slip and fall accident and what is to come for him in the future.

KABC's Programming Director David G. Hall shared in a statement that "It feels like Al's been at KABC forever, when actually it’s been ten years. In that time, Al has done or been a part of virtually every shift on KABC. He has developed a huge and extremely loyal following... To say Al will be very missed... is a big understatement."

KABC's General Manager Ben Hoberman said, "Al Rantel, simply put, is a Rock Star. He has single handedly kept KABC in the L.A. spotlight for the past 10+ years... We all hope Al has a quick and healthy recovery. Al Rantel is a Hall of Fame Broadcaster and should always be recognized as that. All of our collective hats are off to Al Rantel."

Since 2010 Rantel has hosted KABC's "Real Estate Radio," a 1 hour infomercial broadcast on Saturdays.

Guests

Rantel frequently features guests on his program, coordinating a weekly simulcast with British talkSport host Mike Mendoza (despite the fact that Mendoza has compared homosexuality to pedophilia) and often conversing with conservative author Ann Coulter. When Coulter appears, she usually does so in the first segment of the evening program. Democratic strategist Bob Mulholland, Republican strategist Michael Wissot, public-relations guru Michael Levine, and columnists John Leboutillier and Gustavo Arellano often appear on the program; former California governors Jerry Brown, Gray Davis, and Pete Wilson have made occasional appearances. Despite the numerous appearances of conservatives such as Ann Coulter, the program often features guests with very different opinions than the host. In addition, many guests are authors or leaders of a particular organization.

On the morning program, Newsmax Media writers often appear to discuss various issues with Rantel. Prior to February 27, 2006, his evening show usually ended with a brief conversation with Mr. KABC; this tradition ended with the expanded syndication of Mark Levin on KABC and WABC.

During the California recall election, Rantel referred to then-Governor Gray Davis as "Governor Lowbeam." He has since not described Davis by that name; Rantel has also remarked that he respects Davis as a former statesman and values his commentary.

When Rantel is absent, Carol Platt Liebau, Rob Nelson or a KABC colleague hosts the program. Rantel, for his part, occasionally hosted The Larry Elder Show when Elder was absent.

Political views

Rantel is clearly a political conservative on issues such as the role of the Judicial Branch and taxes. He is known to be a strong supporter of the policies and presidency of Ronald Reagan. He is distinctively critical of what he perceives to be political correctness, very supportive of Israel, and irritated by antisemitism, outsourcing of tech support, excessive body weight, and certain statements of Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante and Madeleine Albright. Primarily in regard to differences with the Bush administration over illegal immigration issues, Rantel was noticeably at odds with specific policies of George W. Bush and Republican members of Congress.

On same-sex marriage

Rantel has been critical of same-sex marriage. Among political talk radio personalities, KABC colleague Tammy Bruce (who is also openly gay) has a somewhat comparable perspective.

Health issues

On Jan 23, 2008, Larry Elder read a statement from Al Rantel on the air at 6:30 PM announcing to his listeners that he has been diagnosed with lymphoma and undergoing chemotherapy for it. Al's fill-in host Tammy Bruce also made the same announcement in her segment of the show.

On May 27, 2008, Al Rantel returned to the air on KABC.

Rantel suffered another health emergency in August 2008 when he slipped and fell in the parking structure of his apartment building, necessitating hip and shoulder replacement. After yet another extended hiatus from the airways, on Wednesday, June 24, 2009, it was announced, Al would be retiring from KABC at his doctor's request. On Doug McIntyre's morning show, Al shared that he would be moving temporarily to Vancouver, BC, Canada, to rest and recuperate.

Other information

Rantel had supported College Republican groups by coordinating live broadcasts on college campuses in Southern California. He was formerly an Advisory Board member of the Bruin Alumni Association, resigning after expressing displeasure with the direction of the group.^{[citation needed]}

On the night of the 2008 presidential election, Rantel announced that he had voted for Democrat Barack Obama citing his anger with the Republican party and its nominee John McCain as the reason for doing so. Shortly after the announcement, fellow KABC talk show host Larry Elder has referred to Rantel as one half of the Marx Brothers stating that he believed Rantel didn't believe in the conservative principles he professed and that, by voting for Obama, he had more Marxist leanings.

Controversy

During a discussion on US airport security on September 10, 2007, Rantel allegedly said that if his mother had to take her shoes off during a security screening, "... then why shouldn’t a Sikh be required to take off the hat that looks like a diaper ...?" The alleged remark angered the Sikh community, which reportedly planned some public protests.

Television appearance transcripts

• Politically Incorrect - November 28, 2000
• Talkback Live - June 14, 2002
• Showbiz Tonight - March 1, 2005
• Showbiz Tonight - July 20, 2005
• Life & Times - May 11, 2006
• Life & Times - September 14, 2006

External links

• Jason Scarabin: Al Rantel show quotes
• Newsmax Media: Newsmax.com: articles written by Al Rantel
• Al Rantel at the Internet Movie Database