KBGG (1700 AM) is a currently silent

commercial radio Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...

station in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

. The station is owned by

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company of the United States and is the second largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States ahead of Audacy and behind iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdi ...

and it aired a

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

, known as "101.3 & 1700 The Champ". KBGG's studios and offices are located in Urbandale. The main AM

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is located off Fairview Lane in Pleasant Hill. KBGG is in the " Expanded Band," one of only a handful of stations at

AM 1700 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1700 kHz: 1700 AM is a Regional broadcast frequency. It is the highest frequency allocated to the AM broadcast band in International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Region 2 (the Americas). Mex ...

. Its power is 10,000 watts by day and 1,000 watts at night, using a

non-directional antenna In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an axis (azimuthal directions), with power varying with angle to the axis (elevation angle), declining t ...

Programming and personalities

Several sports talk shows were heard on 1700 The Champ KBGG weekdays: Taz & The Moose, The D.A. Show, Jim Rome, The Drive with Wolfgang and Steen, Tiki & Tierney, Bill Reiter and Amy Lawrence. KBGG served as the Des Moines affiliate for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

and the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States. UNI offers more than 90 majors across five colleges. The fall 2024 total enrollment was 9,283 students. The university was initially founded in 1 ...

men's basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. KBGG also carries the

NFL on Westwood One Sports ''The NFL on Westwood One Sports'' is the branding for Cumulus Broadcasting subsidiary Westwood One's radio coverage of the National Football League (NFL). These games are distributed throughout the United States and Canada (the latter through ...

. Other local and regional programming included: * NCAA & Pro Sports Live play-by-play courtesy of Westwood One, Compass Media Networks, & Learfield * Chiefs Kingdom Show * NFL Prime Time Live play-by-play * Chiefs Radio Network * UNI Panthers football & basketball play-by-play * UNI Coach’s Show: Panther Sports Talk * ISU Coach’s Pregame Show with Paul Clark * The Hawkeye Huddle during Iowa Hawkeye football and basketball seasons

History

KBGG originated as the expanded band "twin" of an existing station on the standard AM band. On March 17, 1997, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that 88 stations had been given permission to move to newly available " Expanded Band" transmitting frequencies, ranging from 1610 to 1700 kHz, with

KKSO KKSO (1390 hertz, kHz) was a commercial radio, commercial AM radio, AM radio station in Des Moines, Iowa. The station was owned by Barnstable Broadcasting, and was supplanted by its expanded band successor, KBGG 1700 AM, in 2001. History KKSO ...

in Des Moines, a station that dated to 1947, authorized to move from 1390 kHz to 1700 kHz."FCC Public Notice: Mass Media Bureau Announces Revised AM Expanded Band Allotment Plan and Filing Window for Eligible Stations"
(FCC DA 97-537), March 17, 1997. A construction permit for the expanded band station was assigned the call letters KBGG on November 12, 1997. FCC's policy was that both the original station and its expanded band counterpart could operate simultaneously for up to five years, after which owners would have to turn in one of the two licenses, depending on whether they preferred the new assignment or elected to remain on the original frequency. It was ultimately decided to transfer full operations to the expanded band station, and on February 2, 2001, the license for KKSO on 1390 AM was cancelled. The new frequency gave the station more daytime power and a non-directional signal. The

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

KBGG was shared with its FM sister station. The WSJZ call sign was briefly parked on the frequency from June 6 to 18, 2002; the station then reverted to KBGG. In the 2000s, KBGG broadcast a Spanish language

Regional Mexican music Regional styles of Mexican music vary greatly from state to state. Norteño, banda, duranguense, Son mexicano and other Mexican country music genres are often known as regional Mexican music because each state produces different musical sounds ...

format and was known as "". On February 25, 2008, the station relaunched as "1700 The Champ". After having been an

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...

affiliate for nearly five years, KBGG became an affiliate of

CBS Sports Radio Infinity Sports Network is an American sports radio network. It debuted as CBS Sports Radio with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013. Infinity Sports Network is programmed by Audacy, Inc ...

on January 2, 2013, as part of a

-wide switch. Cumulus, which owns KBGG, has a financial stake in CBS Radio Sports. In October 2015, the station became a

talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

/sports hybrid and branded itself ''1700 KBGG The Big Talker''. Weekday mornings began with ''Good Day With

Doug Stephan Doug Stephan is an American radio talk show personality who independently syndicates and hosts several nationally syndicated radio shows for Talk Media Network. Radio Programs Doug Stephan's "Good Day" is a morning talk radio program airing l ...

'', featuring news director Dianna Kelly with local information, followed by ''The

Dave Ramsey David Lawrence Ramsey III (born September 3, 1960) is an American radio personality who offers financial advice. He is the founder and CEO of Ramsey Solutions and a co-host of '' The Ramsey Show'', a nationally syndicated radio program. He ...

Show'' and ''

Red Eye Radio ''Red Eye Radio'' is a talk radio program currently hosted by Eric Harley and Gary McNamara. The program is syndicated nationwide by Westwood One, and originates from WBAP in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The show traces its history throug ...

'' heard overnight. In 2017, Marty Tirrell of the "''Marty and Miller''" show stopped making payments to Cumulus Media and the show ended on 1700. Also in August 2017, "''The Ken Miller Show''" started the sports day from 12-2, followed by CBS Sports from 2-4. "''Jimmy B and TC''" which originally was on from 12-2 moved from 4-6. On October 15, 2018, the station returned to full-time sports talk. On December 7, 2021, KBGG began simulcasting on newly licensed FM translator K267CY (101.3 MHz). The antenna is co-located on sister FM station

KHKI KHKI (97.3 FM) is a commercial radio station in Des Moines, Iowa. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a country music radio format known as "97.3 Nash FM." On weekdays, local DJs are heard during the day, while in the evening, KH ...

's tower in Johnston. On March 28, 2025, KBGG went silent.Cumulus Shutting Down Des Moines, Flint & Fort Walton Beach AMs
Radioinsight - March 28, 2025

References

External links

* * {{coord, 41, 35, 30, N, 93, 31, 43.8, W, type:landmark_region:US-IA, display=title BGG Sports radio stations in the United States Cumulus Media radio stations Radio stations established in 1998 1998 establishments in Iowa Infinity Sports Network stations