City Des Moines, Iowa Slogan NEWS - TALK - SPORTS | Branding 1700 AM Frequency 1700 kHz | |
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Broadcast area Des Moines metropolitan area First air date 1947 (as KCBC on 1390 AM); 1998 (as KBGG on 1700 AM) | ||
KBGG (1700 AM) is a radio station in the Des Moines, Iowa area. It formerly broadcast a Spanish language format and was known as "La Indomable AM." The station is owned by Cumulus Media.
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On February 25, 2008, the station relaunched as "1700 The Champ," creating the second sports talk station in the Des Moines market.
The current format is News Talk & Sports, known as "1700 AM KBGG".
History
The station launched on 1390 AM in 1947 with the KCBC call sign, with a 1000 watt directional day and night signal. They launched a sister station at 94.1 FM in 1949 with a beautiful music format. That station went off the air in 1953, and the license was deleted by the FCC. In 1983, KCBC became KMRY, then to a simulcast of KJJY in 1989. The next year, they became KKSO (in reference to the heritage KSO call sign vacated the year prior).
The station moved to a different dial location, on the expanded AM dial at 1700 AM, in 1998, as the 1390 AM frequency and KKSO call letters were deleted. The new call sign was KBGG, shared with its FM sister station. The WSJZ call sign was briefly parked on the frequency from June 6 to June 18 in 2002, then reverted to KBGG.
After having been an ESPN Radio affiliate for nearly five years, KBGG became an affiliate of CBS Sports Radio on January 2, 2013, as part of a Cumulus Media-wide switch.
Programming and personalities
With the switch to CBS Sports Radio, 1700 The Champ featured radio personalities Jim Rome, Doug Gottlieb, Chris Moore, Brian Jones, Scott Ferrall and more. Marty and Miller served as the station's drivetime flagship.
In October 2015, the station became a news/sports hybrid and branded itself 1700 KBGG The Big Talker, with Red Eye Radio kicking off the first half of the broadcast day, followed by Good Day With Doug Stephan (featuring news director Dianna Kelly with local information,) and eventually The Dave Ramsey Show. "Jimmy B and TC" kick off the sports half of the day, followed by Marty and Miller and CBS Sports.
KBBG serves as an affiliate for the Kansas City Chiefs and the University of Northern Iowa men's basketball and football.