WKKD (AM)
| City | Aurora, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1580 AM (kHz) |
| First air date | September 1960 |
| Power | 170 watts day 200 watts night |
| Callsign meaning | Will, Kane, Kendall and DuPage |
| Former callsigns | WKKD, WFVR |
WKKD 1580 AM was a radio station licensed to Aurora, Illinois. The station was originally owned by Russell G. Salter and began broadcasting in September 1960. The station initially ran 250 watts during daytime hours only with a three tower directional pattern towards Aurora. Russ Salter built a concrete block building on what was then, a rural piece of land on Aurora's east end. Surrounded by corn fields, it was very near the small town of Eola. This facility eventually housed both the WKKD AM and FM studios, along with the transmitters.
The station began simulcasting on 95.9 WKKD-FM in March 1961. The stations initially aired a full service format that focused heavily on Country music. In 1966, veteran Chicago weathercaster Tom Skilling began his career at WKKD, while he attended High School in Aurora.
By the early 1970s the simulcast had ended with WKKD-FM adopting a Beautiful music format. AM 1580's callsign was changed to WFVR, standing for "Fox Valley Radio", and it continued to air the country music format. WFVR's format was later changed to Adult Contemporary-MOR.
In the early 1980s the station's callsign was changed back to WKKD and it again simulcast WKKD-FM. On October 3, 1986, the station was granted a construction permit to broadcast during nighttime hours. By the late 1980s the simulcast had ended, and WKKD AM had begun airing an oldies format. In the early 1990s WKKD-FM began simulcasting the oldies format of WKKD AM, and the stations became known as "Pure Gold 96" In March 1995, 1580 left the simulcast and began airing the Real Country country music format. On July 1, 1996, the station adopted a Spanish language Tejano music format as "Viva 1580". In 1997, the station's format changed to CNN Headline News. In 2000, Salter Communications, the family run company started by the station's original owner Russell Salter, sold WKKD AM & FM to RadioWorks Inc. of Rockford, Illinois. In 2001, the station was sold to NextMedia Group, and it became known as "The Voice of the Fox Valley".
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