America Left
Encyclopedia
Sirius XM Left is located at channel 127 on Sirius XM Radio and carries a progressive
Progressivism in the United States
Progressivism in the United States is a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century and is generally considered to be middle class and reformist in nature. It arose as a response to the vast changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large...

/liberal talk format. The channel is programmed by Don Wicklin.

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, America Right
America Right
SIRIUS XM Patriot Plus is a U.S. talk channel on SIRIUS Internet Radio and XM Radio Online that plays conservative talk programs. The channel is a spin-off from the newly merged SIRIUS XM Patriot channel, which retooled the lineups on both Sirius and XM radios to clear many Sirius XM exclusive...

. It launched on March 31, 2004, and the lineup included hosts like Ed Schultz
Ed Schultz
Edward Andrew "Ed" Schultz Is an American television and radio host and a liberal political commentator . He is the host of The Ed Show, a daily news talk program on MSNBC, and The Ed Schultz Show, a talk radio show, nationally syndicated by Dial Global, promising "straight talk."-Early...

, Randi Rhodes
Randi Rhodes
Randi Rhodes is an American progressive talk radio personality, formerly featured on Air America Radio and Nova M Radio and now on Premiere Radio Networks. Her eponymous program, The Randi Rhodes Show, airs live Monday through Friday from 3 pm to 6 pm Eastern Time.-Early life:Rhodes was born in...

, Al Franken
Al Franken
Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....

, Marty Kaplan
Marty Kaplan
Marty Kaplan is the Norman Lear Professor of Entertainment, Media and Society at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism and the founding director of the Norman Lear Center for the study of the impact of entertainment on society...

, Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist and writer. She is the former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio's The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.-Early...

, Alan Colmes
Alan Colmes
Alan Samuel Colmes is an American radio/television host, liberal political commentator for the Fox News Channel, and blogger. He is the host of The Alan Colmes Show, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show distributed by Fox News Radio that also airs throughout the United States on Fox News Talk...

, Lizz Winstead
Lizz Winstead
Lizz Winstead is an American comedienne, radio and television personality, and blogger. A native of Minnesota, Winstead was co-creator of The Daily Show along with Madeleine Smithberg, and served as head writer....

 and Chuck D. At the time, both Sirius
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...

 and XM had centrist/progressive talk channels featuring talent from Air America Radio
Air America Radio
Air America was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk programming...

. The lineup was constant for over a year. One complaint often voiced was that two afternoon drive hosts, Ed Schultz
Ed Schultz
Edward Andrew "Ed" Schultz Is an American television and radio host and a liberal political commentator . He is the host of The Ed Show, a daily news talk program on MSNBC, and The Ed Schultz Show, a talk radio show, nationally syndicated by Dial Global, promising "straight talk."-Early...

 and Randi Rhodes
Randi Rhodes
Randi Rhodes is an American progressive talk radio personality, formerly featured on Air America Radio and Nova M Radio and now on Premiere Radio Networks. Her eponymous program, The Randi Rhodes Show, airs live Monday through Friday from 3 pm to 6 pm Eastern Time.-Early life:Rhodes was born in...

, 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
Ed Schultz
Edward Andrew "Ed" Schultz Is an American television and radio host and a liberal political commentator . He is the host of The Ed Show, a daily news talk program on MSNBC, and The Ed Schultz Show, a talk radio show, nationally syndicated by Dial Global, promising "straight talk."-Early...

 and Alan Colmes
Alan Colmes
Alan Samuel Colmes is an American radio/television host, liberal political commentator for the Fox News Channel, and blogger. He is the host of The Alan Colmes Show, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show distributed by Fox News Radio that also airs throughout the United States on Fox News Talk...

 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 Ed Schultz
Ed Schultz
Edward Andrew "Ed" Schultz Is an American television and radio host and a liberal political commentator . He is the host of The Ed Show, a daily news talk program on MSNBC, and The Ed Schultz Show, a talk radio show, nationally syndicated by Dial Global, promising "straight talk."-Early...

 was moved over to Clear Channel's advice talker, Ask!
Talk Radio (XM)
Talk Radio, often branded on-air as Talk Radio 165 , is a talk channel on XM Satellite Radio featuring terrestrial radio show simulcasts from around the country, most of which come from Premiere Radio Networks...

 on 165. This allowed Randi Rhodes to broadcast her entire show every afternoon. At the end of the year, Alan Colmes
Alan Colmes
Alan Samuel Colmes is an American radio/television host, liberal political commentator for the Fox News Channel, and blogger. He is the host of The Alan Colmes Show, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show distributed by Fox News Radio that also airs throughout the United States on Fox News Talk...

 also made the move to the new Fox News Talk
Fox News Talk
Fox News Talk is a satellite radio channel that showcases talk shows and news reports from Fox News Channel personalities, along with other Fox News and talk programming...

, 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
Stephanie Miller
Stephanie Catherine Miller is an American comedienne and host of The Stephanie Miller Show, a progressive talk radio program produced in Los Angeles and syndicated nationally by Dial Global. Talkers magazine ranked her as the 24th most important radio talk show host in America for 2010.-Early...

 segment was carried on Sunday mornings.

There were lineup changes occurring across the Air America Network that were reflected onto XM 167, such as Mike Malloy
Mike Malloy
Michael Dennis Malloy is an American radio broadcaster from Atlanta, Georgia. Previously his show has been carried by WSB Atlanta, WLS Chicago, the I.E. America Radio Network, the Air America Radio network, Nova M Radio and the On Second Thought network. He is now self-syndicated...

 and Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist and writer. She is the former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio's The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.-Early...

's departures, the end of Morning Sedition
Morning Sedition
Morning Sedition was a three-hour radio program that premiered April 1, 2004 and ran until December 16, 2005, in the United States. It was hosted by comedian Marc Maron and New York radio veteran Mark Riley. Prior to June 2004, the show was also hosted by radio and television journalist Sue...

, and the hiring of The Young Turks
The Young Turks (talk show)
The Young Turks is a progressive Internet talk show via live web stream and YouTube, and starting in late 2011, a weeknight news and political commentary program airing on Current TV. It was Sirius Satellite Radio's first original talk programming. The Young Turks claims to be the first Internet...

. Some questioned the financial state of the network and whether or not XM was wise in paying for the exclusive rights to satellite broadcasting. More information on Air America's company state can be found in its article, including the company's bankruptcy and sale.

Old faces return

In 2007, XM announced that Ed Schultz, who was airing on Extreme XM on delay and truncated to two separate hours, was going to be returning to XM 167 to fill the timeslot being vacated by Al Franken
Al Franken
Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....

. This allowed Schultz to return to the full three hours in a live timeslot. Some were not happy about this move as it prevented Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann is an American radio host, author, former psychotherapist and entrepreneur, and progressive political commentator. His nationally-syndicated radio show, The Thom Hartmann Program, airs in the United States and has 2.75 million listeners a week...

 from taking the slot on the channel, prompting midday host Sam Seder
Sam Seder
Samuel Lincoln "Sam" Seder is a comedian, writer, actor, film director, television producer-director, and talk radio host...

 to ask his listeners to call XM to complain. Schultz responded on air the next day claiming that "Air America sucks, their programs suck, they give liberals a bad name," and recommended that XM play other Jones radio hosts Stephanie Miller
Stephanie Miller
Stephanie Catherine Miller is an American comedienne and host of The Stephanie Miller Show, a progressive talk radio program produced in Los Angeles and syndicated nationally by Dial Global. Talkers magazine ranked her as the 24th most important radio talk show host in America for 2010.-Early...

 and Bill Press
Bill Press
William "Bill" Press is a US talk radio host, political commentator and author.-Career:Press has a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Niagara University and Bachelor of Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg. He started his broadcasting career in Los Angeles for TV stations KABC-TV and...

 on channel 167. Schultz kept the timeslot, and Hartmann's show was eventually added to the channel's schedule. Bill Press and Stephanie Miller would be added later in 2008.

In addition to Schultz, XM exclusive shows The Agenda and Left Jab
Left Jab
Left Jab is an irreverent, informative and provocative two-hour talk radio show in the United States, hosted by David Goodfriend and Mark Walsh, co-founders of Air America Radio, and written and produced by Michael Goodfriend. The show features segments and interviews covering politics and...

 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
Nova M Radio
Nova M Radio, later known as On Second Thought, was a radio syndication service providing progressive talk programming. Founded as Nova M Radio by Sheldon and Anita Drobny in 2006, its stated purpose was to purchase, own, and operate underperforming radio stations in small and medium sized markets...

 host Mike Malloy
Mike Malloy
Michael Dennis Malloy is an American radio broadcaster from Atlanta, Georgia. Previously his show has been carried by WSB Atlanta, WLS Chicago, the I.E. America Radio Network, the Air America Radio network, Nova M Radio and the On Second Thought network. He is now self-syndicated...

 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
Sam Seder
Samuel Lincoln "Sam" Seder is a comedian, writer, actor, film director, television producer-director, and talk radio host...

, who asked his listeners to call XM and request Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann is an American radio host, author, former psychotherapist and entrepreneur, and progressive political commentator. His nationally-syndicated radio show, The Thom Hartmann Program, airs in the United States and has 2.75 million listeners a week...

 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, XM Radio Canada
XM Radio Canada
XM Radio Canada was the operating name of Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. , a Canadian communications and media company, which was incorporated in 2002 to broadcast satellite radio in Canada...

 added the channel to its lineup unannounced, making Air America programs available in Canada. The AAR network has also announced that Sam Seder
Sam Seder
Samuel Lincoln "Sam" Seder is a comedian, writer, actor, film director, television producer-director, and talk radio host...

 will become a Sunday host only, and has scheduled WOR
WOR (AM)
WOR is a class A , AM radio station located in New York, New York, U.S., operating on 710 kHz. The station has a talk format and has been owned by Buckley Broadcasting since 1987, after the station was sold by RKO. The station has conservative, or right-of-center hosts.Its call letters have no...

 talker Lionel
Lionel (radio)
Michael William Lebron , popularly known as Lionel, is an American nationally syndicated radio talk show host. Beginning May 2007, he hosted a daily three-hour radio talk show on Air America Radio. Lionel was a consistent performer for Air America and drew weekly audiences of around 1.5 million...

 to replace him. Eco-Talk has also been dropped by the network in favor for a four-hour Mark Riley program, and Jon Elliot doing midnights. XM has indicated that they will schedule Lionel and Seder's new timeslots.

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
Bill Press
William "Bill" Press is a US talk radio host, political commentator and author.-Career:Press has a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Niagara University and Bachelor of Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg. He started his broadcasting career in Los Angeles for TV stations KABC-TV and...

, to the morning drive timeslot.

Although The Rachel Maddow Show expanded from two to three hours on March 10, 2008, XM 167 does not broadcast the third hour, instead playing a taped Thom Hartmann program. This became moot on September 8, 2008, when The Rachel Maddow Show returned to a two-hour format.

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 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 Sirius XM merger, the co-owned SIRIUS Left
SIRIUS Left
SIRIUS Left was Sirius Satellite Radio's liberal talk channel. It featured personalities such as Lynn Samuels, Bill Press, Alex Bennett, Mike Malloy, Ed Schultz, Thom Hartmann and newcomer Mark Thompson...

 did not join the channel merger on November 12, 2008
2008 in radio
Several events occurred in radio in 2008.- Events :* January 2: WWFT finished Christmas music stunting, rolling out the red carpet for Adult contemporary music branded as "Warm."...

. Since February 2009
2009 in radio
The following events occurred in radio in 2009.- Events :* January 1: Kurdish TV starts broadcasting in Turkey.* January: Michael Smerconish, morning host at talk radio WPHT Philadelphia, begins syndication of his morning show to WHFS in Washington and WOR in New York City.* January 17: Two well...

, however, several SIRIUS Left shows have joined the America Left lineup, and all remaining Air America Media shows have been dropped. Nevertheless, the majority of America Left programming still consists of shows of former Air Americans: Mike Malloy
Mike Malloy
Michael Dennis Malloy is an American radio broadcaster from Atlanta, Georgia. Previously his show has been carried by WSB Atlanta, WLS Chicago, the I.E. America Radio Network, the Air America Radio network, Nova M Radio and the On Second Thought network. He is now self-syndicated...

, Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann is an American radio host, author, former psychotherapist and entrepreneur, and progressive political commentator. His nationally-syndicated radio show, The Thom Hartmann Program, airs in the United States and has 2.75 million listeners a week...

 (twice a day), Bill Press
Bill Press
William "Bill" Press is a US talk radio host, political commentator and author.-Career:Press has a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Niagara University and Bachelor of Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg. He started his broadcasting career in Los Angeles for TV stations KABC-TV and...

, and the Young Turks
Young Turks
The Young Turks , from French: Les Jeunes Turcs) were a coalition of various groups favouring reformation of the administration of the Ottoman Empire. The movement was against the absolute monarchy of the Ottoman Sultan and favoured a re-installation of the short-lived Kanûn-ı Esâsî constitution...

.
(Randi Rhodes' official site http://www.RandiRhodes.com has said America Left has carried her show live since just after her return to the air with Premiere Radio Networks.)

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 Left (2011-)

On May 4, 2011 America Left (XM 167) and Sirius Left
SIRIUS Left
SIRIUS Left was Sirius Satellite Radio's liberal talk channel. It featured personalities such as Lynn Samuels, Bill Press, Alex Bennett, Mike Malloy, Ed Schultz, Thom Hartmann and newcomer Mark Thompson...

 (Sirius 146) merged to become Sirius XM Left and airs on channel 127 on both services. With the merger, a second channel Sirius XM Left plus with timeshifting and additional airings of Sirius XM Left shows also started on online channel 853.

Weekdays

ET PT Show Network Notes
6 a.m. 3 a.m. Bill Press
Bill Press
William "Bill" Press is a US talk radio host, political commentator and author.-Career:Press has a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Niagara University and Bachelor of Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg. He started his broadcasting career in Los Angeles for TV stations KABC-TV and...

Bill Press Show / Dial Global
Dial Global
Dial Global is a radio syndication company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Triton Media Group and is a sister company to Townsquare Media, both of which are owned by Oaktree Capital Management....

Live Hour 1. Rest of show airs on Sirius XM Left Plus.
7 a.m. 4 a.m. Alex Bennett Sirius XM Radio Live
10 a.m. 7 a.m. Stephanie Miller
Stephanie Miller
Stephanie Catherine Miller is an American comedienne and host of The Stephanie Miller Show, a progressive talk radio program produced in Los Angeles and syndicated nationally by Dial Global. Talkers magazine ranked her as the 24th most important radio talk show host in America for 2010.-Early...

SM Radio Productions / Dial Global Live Hours 2 and 3. Hour 1 airs on Sirius XM Left Plus
12 p.m. 9 a.m. Ed Schultz
Ed Schultz
Edward Andrew "Ed" Schultz Is an American television and radio host and a liberal political commentator . He is the host of The Ed Show, a daily news talk program on MSNBC, and The Ed Schultz Show, a talk radio show, nationally syndicated by Dial Global, promising "straight talk."-Early...

The Ed Schultz Show / Dial Global Live
3 p.m. 12 p.m. Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann is an American radio host, author, former psychotherapist and entrepreneur, and progressive political commentator. His nationally-syndicated radio show, The Thom Hartmann Program, airs in the United States and has 2.75 million listeners a week...

Mythical Intelligence / Dial Global Tape. Airs Live on Sirius XM Left Plus.
6 p.m. 3 p.m. Make It Plain with Mark Thompson Sirius XM Radio Live
9 p.m. 6 p.m. Mike Malloy
Mike Malloy
Michael Dennis Malloy is an American radio broadcaster from Atlanta, Georgia. Previously his show has been carried by WSB Atlanta, WLS Chicago, the I.E. America Radio Network, the Air America Radio network, Nova M Radio and the On Second Thought network. He is now self-syndicated...

Mike Malloy Radio Productions /
Westwood One
Westwood One
Westwood One was an American radio network and was based in New York City. At one time, it was managed by CBS Radio, the radio arm of CBS Corporation, and Viacom and was later purchased by the private equity firm The Gores Group...

Live
12 a.m. 9 p.m. Thom Hartmann Mythical Intelligence/Dial Global Replay
3 a.m. 12 a.m. Make It Plain with Mark Thompson Sirius XM Radio Replay

Saturday

ET PT Show Network Notes
6 a.m. 3 a.m. Bill Press Dial Global Thursday replay hour 1
7 a.m. 4 a.m. Alex Bennett Sirius XM Radio Thursday replay
10 a.m. 7 a.m. Stephanie Miller Dial Global Thursday replay hours 2 and 3.
12 p.m. 9 a.m. Ed Schultz Dial Global Thursday replay
3 p.m. 12 p.m. Thom Hartmann Mythical Intelligence / Dial Global Thursday replay
5 p.m. 2 p.m. Mike Feder Sirius XM Radio Live
8 p.m. 5 p.m. Michelangelo Signorile
Michelangelo Signorile
Michelangelo Signorile is a gay American writer, a national talk radio host whose program is aired each weekday across the United States and Canada. He is a political liberal, and covers a wide variety of political and cultural issues...

 - Signorile Saturday Night
Sirius XM Radio Replay from Sirius XM 108
12 a.m. 9 p.m. Thom Hartmann Mythical Intelligence/Dial Global Thursday replay
3 a.m. 12 a.m. Make It Plain with Mark Thompson Sirius XM Radio Thursday replay

Sunday

ET PT Show Network Notes
6 a.m. 3 a.m. Alex Bennett Sirius XM Radio Friday replay
9 a.m. 6 a.m. Stephanie Miller Dial Global Friday replay hours 2 and 3
11 a.m. 8 a.m. Ed Schultz Dial Global Friday replay
1 p.m. 10 a.m. Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...

Sirius XM Radio Live
4 p.m. 1 p.m. Thom Hartmann Mythical Intelligence/Dial Global Friday replay
7 p.m. 4 p.m. Left Jab
Left Jab
Left Jab is an irreverent, informative and provocative two-hour talk radio show in the United States, hosted by David Goodfriend and Mark Walsh, co-founders of Air America Radio, and written and produced by Michael Goodfriend. The show features segments and interviews covering politics and...

Sirius XM Radio Live
9 p.m. 6 p.m. Make It Plain with Mark Thompson Sirius XM Radio Friday replay
12 a.m. 9 p.m. Thom Hartmann Mythical Intelligence/Dial Global Friday replay
3 a.m. 12 a.m. Make It Plain with Mark Thompson Sirius XM Radio Friday replay

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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