By: Miraculous Brown
The Rock-A-Thon: Arizona’s Amazing 48 Hour Radio Marathon
Starting in 2025, 88.7 The Pulse has been running an annual fundraising radio-thon called the Rock-A-Thon. The Rock-A-Thon is where the radio station broadcasts live for 48 hours straight. No prerecorded shows, just live hosts in the studio, concerts and your favorite music all weekend long.
What makes the Rock-A-Thon special is the involvement students of EVIT’s Radio/Audio Production have with the entire broadcast and the community we build while hosting this broadcast. So much planning goes into the 48 hour broadcast over the weekend by the students. Anyone tuning in gets to hear all of it live the last weekend of April.
88.7 The Pulse’s Rock-A-Thon: Power The Pulse!
So what is the Rock-A-Thon? Rock-A-Thon takes place from April 24th – April 26th and other than being one of the greatest student produced radio broadcasts the valley has to offer, it’s a fundraiser for The Pulse and a 48 hour student produced radio broadcast with even more to offer this year than it has so far. This year we will have even more things for anyone involved to enjoy. These things being a public concert consisting of local artists, radio shows, and the community built during Rock-A-Thon weekend.
How can you get involved? We’re glad you asked. We’re currently doing a silent auction and taking donations. Donating directly to the Rock-A-Thon is also another way to fund this program. If you can’t spare any money, the support doesn’t have to end there! Promoting the Rock-A-Thon on your socials will also help us and be greatly appreciated.
What Happens During Rock-A-Thon?
During Rock-A-Thon, many different things go on in the span of those 48 hours. One of those things being, of course, radio shows! Many different radio shows go live during the Rock-A-Thon and even have special guests during their show on the air.
But the fun doesn’t stop there. Live music is another thing you can enjoy during the Rock-A-Thon! While listening in, you can hear live concerts happening on site and interviews from the local artists performing.
(88.7 The Pulse Website)
The First Rock-A-Thon: A Rockin’ Recap
88.7 The Pulse’s first ever Rock-A-Thon was last year in 2025 and it was a blast. The station was live for 48 hours from May 2nd – May 4th, with musical appearances made by rising talented local artists in Phoenix and even ABC 15 News anchors made an appearance to talk about the station.
During last year’s Rock-A-Thon, ABC15 Morning anchors Megan Thompson and Nick Ciletti made an appearance and spoke about how EVIT is an amazing school and a wonderful opportunity for today’s generation. It even got its own short section in the news after the Rock-A-Thon ended. Local talented bands and alum such as Vegetation Humanity Slam and Paige made an appearance to perform live music.
We also had our very talented students Lance Reece and Matthew Cavazos do their own radio shows including Wrestlezona and Pulse Sports: Triple Play. During Triple Play, local sports broadcasters Jeff Scott and Jeff Munn made an appearance. Pulse Sports: Triple Play would go on to win an IBS award for Best Sports Talk Program. Steve Grosz, founder of 88.7 The Pulse, would also make an appearance and is set to make another one for our next Rock-A-Thon.
What’s New With The Rock-A-Thon?
They say go big or go home, this year, 88.7 The Pulse is not only going big, but better as well. Taking our live performances up a notch, we will have our bands not only performing live for you to hear, but live for you to see as well with a concert you can get into! During Rock-A-Thon, on April 25th and 26th we will have bands perform LIVE on stage at EVIT. For $10, you can get in and see a wonderful line-up consisting of current EVIT students, alum, and local bands come together to perform while supporting 88.7 The Pulse and powering Rock-A-Thon at the same time! The line-up for these bands are rumored to be revealed soon… so stay tuned!
In the studio, we’ll have many live radio shows going on, special events, and even local media celebrities making appearances on the air. Our very own Spike will be broadcasting a Tiny Desk style (intimate concert) performance live on air and will interview these artists right after their performance. It’s sure to be a ball, so tune in overnight Friday and Saturday to enjoy!
Ready to Rock? Stay Tuned!
The Rock-A-Thon takes place from 3pm Friday, April 24th – 4pm Sunday, April 26th and it will be a blast for anyone involved! Make sure to follow along for more information and tune in on the 24th to hear what the students on 88.7 The Pulse and the Radio/Audio Production program have cooked up for our listeners! If you’d like to donate and help power The Pulse, please consider donating items for our silent auction by reaching out to our General Manager, Michael Mallace, at mmallace@evit.edu or donate directly by going to 88.7thepulse.com and clicking the donate button in the top right corner. If you can’t help financially, vibes would also be much appreciated by promoting and sharing this story and future Rock-A-Thon posts online. Tell your friends!
Are you ready to rock?
