Broadcast area |
United States Canada |
---|---|
Branding | SiriusXM Progress |
Slogan | Progressive Talk |
Frequency | Sirius XM Radio 127 |
First air date | March 31, 2004 |
Format | Progressive talk radio |
Class | Satellite Radio Station |
Affiliations | AP Radio News |
Owner | Sirius XM Radio |
Website | Sirius XM Progress |
SiriusXM Progress is located at channel 127 on Sirius XM Radio and carries a progressive talk radio format. The channel is programmed by Don Wicklin.
Channel 167 originally started out as America Left, a channel dedicated to progressive talk radio to complement the reformatted XM 166, America Right. It launched on March 31, 2004, and the lineup included hosts like Ed Schultz, Randi Rhodes, Al Franken, Marty Kaplan, Janeane Garofalo, Alan Colmes, Lizz Winstead and Chuck D. At the time, both Sirius and XM had centrist/progressive talk channels featuring talent from Air America Radio. The lineup was constant for over a year. One complaint often voiced was that two afternoon drive hosts, Ed Schultz and Randi Rhodes, each had an hour of their shows cut off to keep both shows on and live.
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. 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.
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 Ed Schultz was moved over to Clear Channel's advice talker, Ask! on 165. This allowed Randi Rhodes to broadcast her entire show every afternoon. At the end of the year, Alan Colmes also made the move to the new Fox News Talk, a channel owned and operated by Fox News Radio. For the first time, Air America Radio on XM was now 100% Air America content on weekdays. A Best of Stephanie Miller segment was carried on Sunday mornings.