WKKD (AM)

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".

On January 1, 2002, the station was sold to Kovas Communications, and it began simulcasting the ethnic programming of WONX. On January 31, 2005, the station adopted a "Health Radio" format, airing talk shows related to health, wellness and fitness. This format would later be simulcast on 1600 WMCW. In 2007, Kovas Communications applied with the FCC to move WKKD to Silvis, Illinois. In February 2008, the station was granted a construction permit to move WKKD to Silvis, Illinois, and increase its power to 1,000 watts during the day and 1,400 watts at night. In 2009, the station was taken off the air and Kovas Communications surrendered the station's license to the FCC. WKKD's license was surrendered, along with 1600 WMCW's and 1600 WCGO's, in order to enable 1590 WONX (now WCGO) to increase its daytime power from 3,500 watts to 7,000 watts.