After delaying its launch from August 23 to Tuesday, September 7, Griffin Communications has announced the launch lineup for Sports “1170 The Blitz” that will replace News/Talk “TalkRadio 1170” KFAQ Tulsa.
University of Tulsa basketball play-by-play voice Rick Couri will host mornings from 6-9am. KOTV sportscaster Dan Hawk will follow from 9-11am. Former “Sports Animal” 97.1 KYAL-FM Muskogee host Allen Jerkens’ “Big Al & Friends” will air from 11am to 1pm, followed by Program Director Jeremie ‘Pop’ Poplin from 1-3pm. Colby Daniels, who previously hosted at “107.7 The Franchise” KRXO-FM Oklahoma City will host afternoons from 3-6pm. The station will also feature talent from KOTV and co-owned KWTV Oklahoma City.
Griffin Communications is excited to announce The Blitz 1170 AM – Tulsa’s new sports talk station covering Oklahoma and national sports by the folks who know sports best, the experts from Oklahoma’s Own.
“We are so excited to bring the best local sports radio to Tulsa,” said Todd Spessard, Griffin Communications’ Vice President of Content. “From high school to college to professional – Tulsa has so many great sports stories to tell, and we can’t wait to bring them to Green Country. We’re putting together a local lineup of some of the best and well-known Tulsa voices and are ready to start talking sports!”
Not only will The Blitz debut an all-new winning lineup, the station will also feature content from News On 6 Sports – a team led by veteran Sports Director John Holcomb and trusted by sports fans across Green Country.
The Blitz lineup will be anchored weekday mornings with a very familiar voice – Rick Couri. Couri is currently the voice of University of Tulsa Basketball as well as the play by play announcer for Union Football.
Fans can also look forward to regular appearances from News 9 Sports Director Dean Blevins covering all things OU alongside Thunder Reporter Steve McGehee and college football analyst Dusty Dvoracek.
“I am incredibly excited for this opportunity with The Blitz,” said Jeremie Poplin, KFAQ Director of Programming. “A lot of hard work has gone into all the stages of planning for a station that will reach a variety of different fan bases. We will strive to present a product everyone can be proud of and help fill the local sports void in Tulsa.”
The Blitz 1170 AM Lineup:
6 to 9 a.m. – Rick Couri
9 to 11 a.m. – Dan Hawk
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Big Al & Friends
1 to 3 p.m. – Jeremie “Pop” Poplin
3 to 6 p.m. – Colby Daniels
6 to 7 p.m. – Barstool Sports
The Blitz 1170 AM will launch Tuesday, September 7 on 1170 AM and will be available to stream live on TheBlitzTulsa.com, The Blitz 1170 AM app and your favorite smart speaker.
Original Report 8/4: Griffin Communications will flip News/Talk “TalkRadio 1170” KFAQ Tulsa to Sports “The Blitz” on Monday, August 23.
The new format will be led by Jeremie ‘Pop’ Poplin, who has served as Program Director and 10am-12pm host on KFAQ since February 2020. Poplin previously programmed and hosted afternoons at iHeartMedia Sports “1430 The Buzz” KTBZ and “1300 The Buzz” KAKC Tulsa.
Poplin tweeted that the Blitz will feature local programming from 6am to 6pm, but has not disclosed what that will entail. KFAQ will continue to serve as the Tulsa affiliate for Oklahoma State University sports and Jenks High School football.
The “Blitz” name comes from the weekly “Oklahoma Sports Blitz” that airs on Griffin’s CBS television affiliates KWTV Oklahoma City and KOTV Tulsa on Sunday evenings.
KFAQ held a 1.1 share of the Tulsa audience in the June 2021 Nielsen Audio ratings well behind Cox Media Group’s market leading 740 KRMG/102.3 KRMG-FM’s 6.4 share. The new Sports format will place KFAQ in direct format competition with the iHeartMedia duo mentioned above and Stephens Media Group’s “Sports Animal” 97.1 KYAL-FM Muskogee and “ESPN 1550/99.9” 1550 KYAL/99.9 K260CR Sapulpa.
It’s out there now so I might as well address it. I am pretty excited for my next step and the development of a truly local product from 6A-6p More details to follow. pic.twitter.com/n3HQShxxPu
— Jeremie Poplin (@jeremiepoplin) July 30, 2021
