All-news isn't likely...it does well in the top 10 markets, but most efforts elsewhere have failed. Could be since all-news needs to be ultra-local to pull in any significant numbers, and that requires a staff several times larger than music formats. Plus, there's just not as much going on in the Quad Cities as there is in Chicago, and news junkies in the QCA can already hear WBBM anyway. (On a side note...AP discontinued their all-news service last year, and WW1/CNN Headline News is actually talk shows six hours a day.)
There's no shortage of options if Cumulus does decide to try something different on 1170. They could go back to Sports, or go to Soft Oldies, Classic Country, or even using the 1170 heritage for "Real" Oldies. The Quad Cities is an under-radioed market, relatively speaking, so there should be room for growth at 1170.