A sports-talk radio station in Des Moines is getting a new name.
On Monday, Oct. 12, The Champ (1700 AM) will be rebranded as Big 1700, as part of a format tweak that will combine news and sports.
This is among a series of changes taking place with stations under the Cumulus Media Des Moines umbrella.
“We’re far from the first to do that,” operations manager Sean Elliott said of adding news-talk programming.
From midnight to noon Big 1700 will be all news. In the afternoons, the station will resume sports programming.
Weekend programming will also be sports oriented.
What this means to local audiences: Marty Tirrell and Ken Miller will continue with their afternoon program (3 to 6 p.m.). Jim Brinson and Trent Condon (The Jimmy B and TC Show) will move from the mornings to the noon to 3 p.m. slot.
The change means listeners will no longer hear Jim Rome, a popular national sports personality and host of “The Jim Rome Show.”
“We were looking at options for Jim Rome,” Elliott said. “It was just discussed as maybe a tape-delayed situation, but with Monday Night Football and Thursday Night Football, it couldn’t even consistently get on after that.”
The changes should not impact the station’s current agreements with Northern Iowa football and basketball and Des Moines Buccaneers hockey.
Credit to the Des Moines Register who originally published this article
Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
