On July 26, 2011, "Cleveland Scene" reported that WABQ would flip to a progressive talk format on August 1, 2011. The change came about due to a lease management agreement with veteran radio station executive Gary Richards, who at the time operated like-formatted station WVKO (1580 AM) in Columbus; the actual flip occurred on August 4, 2011. As part of the progressive talk format, WABQ was a local affiliate for "The Stephanie Miller Show", "The Ed Schultz Show", and "The Mike Malloy Radio Show", as well as programs hosted by nationally syndicated personalities Thom Hartmann, Bill Press, Leslie Marshall, along with being an affiliate for NBC News Radio and MarketWatch.