I was overjoyed when Phoenix got an Air America station in 2004 with KXXT. A little over a year later, the station was sold but AA soon after got a new home at 1480 KPHX. Even as AA went by the wayside, progressive radio was strong enough to survive on its own and KPHX continued on as the place to hear the best left leaning talk programs - both national and homegrown. It was during that incarnation between March 2006 and January 2009 that the station was top notch and a true pride of the Valley. In 2009, the format changed to jazz/lounge music for a time but the progressive talk format eventually returned and still is there today.
But since its return, the station's been very generic. They really don't have its own identity like it did before the lounge lizard invasion. During its 2006-2009 run, there was a strong local presence along with the best of the national shows. It was because of the local shows that really made the station what it was - by reporting on and featuring the local progressive scene, this enabled the Phoenix left to feel more like an actual community. We were aware of different rallies, events, meet-and-greets, etc.
But 1480 KPHX Progressive Talk 2.0 is bare bones minimum. It broadcasts the best of the national shows, but that's all. With its revival, there's been no local programming or news, It basically has felt like a national or "internet station" that just happens to be on the local dial. And that's a true shame because as we saw with the prior incarnations there's such rich homegrown talents that the station could be including such as Mike Newcomb, Jeff Farias, The M & M Show - where are all those former shining stars and why can't they be part of the current version?
The need for this type of programming to be included became painfully clear when this last fall, the station made a shift to half-progressive talk/half-CBS Sports Radio shows. Ten out of 24 hours of its weekday programming now consists of sports talk. WHY????? Yes, some longtime stars of the liberal talk industry have moved on to other things like Randi Rhodes and Ed Schultz but there's still enough great programs out there that could fill those slots and certainly at least one of these sports shows' timeslots could have been given to a local left talk show! This is the #1 thing the station's been lacking and really has needed since the resurrection and I'm baffled that they chose to turn over hours to a completely different format altogether rather than bring back homegrown programming. I only hope that the sports intrusion is a strategic financial move to allow the progressive talk to continue. If this helps this the station survive, fine but I still really don't like it.
Nonetheless, the hours that remain devoted to prog-talk still shine as they have the best of the best including Stephanie Miller during morning drivetime and Thom Hartmann during afternoon rushhour.
...And then there's the weekend programming...Ring of Fire is featured both Saturday and Sunday which has long been one of the best progressive shows out there plus they also run encore "best of" portions of Hartmann and Bill Press on Sunday. But again - where is the fine local shows that could/should be broadcast during this time? Something like The M & M Show from its previous run would be so incredibly welcomed. But instead we have the very embarrassing and rather painful to listen to Breakthrough Thinking Broadcasting Network from 9am to 2pm (five hours!) on Saturdays, a mix of entertainment and sports reviews/talk which at least is homegrown but has the most annoying hosts on it. The main reviewer (who sounds an awful lot like Mike Newcomb but isn't) is at least okay enough but the other hosts really add nothing and bring the show down.
I'm happy we still have a progressive station - the right is funded by such an insane billionaire cabal that the left desperately needs a forum for its voice especially in an age when most of the major media is owned by one of about five parent companies and people like The Koch Brothers are doing everything they can in their power to essentially buy our democracy. Stephanie Miller and Thom Hartmann are the cream of the crop and I'm glad they both are given the coveted drivetime shifts. But in its second incarnation, the station has been an identity-less bare bones offering which the recent switch to 40% sports talk hasn't helped. The fix is such a simple one - bring back some good local talk shows (progressive, that is - NOT sports!) yet this seemingly obvious solution has thus far oddly eluded them. read more
