SiriusXM Progress
Sirius XM Radio | |
History | |
---|---|
First air date | March 31, 2004 |
Technical information | |
Class | Satellite radio station |
Links | |
Website | www |
SiriusXM Progress is located at channel 127 on
America Left (2004–2005)
Channel 167 originally started out as America Left, a channel dedicated to progressive talk radio to complement the reformatted XM 166,
On April 11, 2005, XM and Air America announced that XM would become the exclusive satellite radio provider of the network, excluding Air America Syndication, beginning in May 2005.[1] This forced Sirius to rid itself of all Air America Radio network programming. XM167's lineup didn't make any immediate lineup changes, but it did rebrand itself using the Air America name. Non-AAR hosts Ed Schultz and Alan Colmes remained on the channel.
Air America Radio (2005–2008)
America Left took on its new name, Air America Radio, to boast the fact that XM was the exclusive provider. No lineup changes were made until September 2005, when
There were lineup changes occurring across the Air America Network that were reflected onto XM 167, such as
Old faces return
In 2007, XM announced that Ed Schultz, who was airing on
In addition to Schultz, XM exclusive shows The Agenda and Left Jab were added to XM 167 weekends. These moves have led listeners to question XM's confidence in the Air America Radio network, as ex-AAR host and current Nova M Radio host Mike Malloy returned to the channel in July, weeknights at 9 PM eastern. With this rescheduling, XM moved Thom Hartmann from midnight to 6:00 PM eastern and the Air Americans, which previously aired in that time to midnight.
Despite being on a channel with the "Air America Radio" label, Schultz stated on February 13, 2007 that Air America "sucks" and he doesn't want people who listen to AAR listening to him because he is "better than they are." These comment were in response to remarks by AAR host Sam Seder, who asked his listeners to call XM and request Thom Hartmann instead of Schultz. Seder's reasoning for his action is that he believes AAR hosts should be on the 'Air America Radio' channel. Hartmann was added to the channel beginning March 5, 2007, on a tape-delay basis at Midnight ET, and has since moved to an earlier time slot on the channel.
In April 2007,
In July 2007, Air America Radio let go of its top-of-the-hour news staff. Their reason was most AAR affiliates don't use AAR News at the top of the hour, opting for local news or another national service like CNN Radio. XM 167 was one of the few that used AAR News, and upon their removal, switched to AP Radio News.
AAR loses more time as cuts are made
Towards the end of 2007, the Young Turks were cut from the Air America lineup, claiming it was a mutual understanding. The trio plans a return through internet radio. In the meantime, XM Radio added its second Jones Radio personality, Bill Press, to the morning drive timeslot.
Although
In April 2008, Randi Rhodes performed at an event in San Francisco sponsored by local affiliate KKGN, which included crude remarks made at Hillary Clinton as part of a comedy routine. This resulted in Air America suspending Rhodes from the network. She claimed that the network was in breach of her contract, and ended up resigning from Air America. Within 24 hours, it was announced that Nova M Radio was picking up her show nationally, and hopes to retain as many affiliates as possible. XM 167 continued to run AAR programming in afternoons until a deal with Nova M Radio was made. On 2008-05-05, XM resumed broadcasting Randi Rhodes' show[5] on Air America Radio channel 167. With this addition, the channel known as "Air America Radio" now only carried 13 hours of AAR programming per day, with 2 hours being distribution only, and only 7 of those hours in the daypart timeslots.
America Left (2008–2011)
On June 18, 2008, XM announced that Air America Radio would be changing its name back to America Left, beginning July 14. The channel kept most of its lineup, however, Lionel was replaced by Jones Radio's Stephanie Miller. In addition, The Young Turks returned to the channel.
After the
On January 21, 2010, Air America Media announced that it would file for liquidation under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code, and ceased all live broadcasting that same evening.
Sirius XM Progress (2011–)
On May 4, 2011, America Left (XM 167) and
On July 22, 2013,[6] SiriusXM Left was renamed SiriusXM Progress. Along with the name change, several changes were made to the lineup. The Agenda with Ari Rabin Havt replaced Bill Press at 6:00-9:00 AM EST, Michelangelo Signorile replaced Thom Hartmann at 3:00-6:00 PM EST and Make It Plain with Mark Thompson replaced Alex Bennett at 6:00-9:00 PM EST. At the same time, SiriusXM Progress Plus, an online station also available through a smartphone app continued to air both Press and Hartmann at their regular times, as well as the usual lineup, though the showtimes differed slightly from those on the main Progress channel.
References
- ^ "XM AND AIR AMERICA RADIO ANNOUNCE LONG TERM AGREEMENT; XM TO BE OFFICIAL SATELLITE RADIO NETWORK OF AIR AMERICA" (Press release). XM Satellite Radio. 2005-04-11. Retrieved 2007-04-25.
- ^ "Can't we all just get along?". LTR - The Alternative Media Resource. 2007-02-14. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
- ^ "Ed Schultz Blasts Air America Radio". Talking Radio. 2007-02-14. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
- Air America Radio. 2007-04-25. Retrieved 2007-04-26.
- ^ Van Gelder, Lawrence (2008-05-01). "Gambling Back at WOR". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-05-01.
- ^ Weinger, Mackenzie (16 July 2013). "SiriusXM: From 'left' to 'progress'". Politico. Retrieved 1 August 2020.