WERV-FM

WERV-FM
City Aurora, Illinois
Broadcast area West Suburban Chicago
Branding 95.9 The River
Slogan Rock 'n Roll Favorites
Frequency 95.9 MHz (also on HD Radio)
95.9-2 FM (WERV-2 - The Rapids!)
First air date February 12, 1961[1]
Format Classic hits
ERP 2,850 watts
HAAT 103 meters
Class A
Facility ID 73171
Callsign meaning W E RiVer
Former callsigns WKKD-FM
Owner Alpha Media
(Alpha Media Licensee LLC)
Sister stations WCCQ, WJOL, WKRS, WRXQ, WSSR, WXLC
Webcast Listen Live
Website 959theriver.com

WERV-FM, also known as 95.9 The River, is a classic hits radio station, playing familiar rock and pop songs that span from the early 1970s through the mid 1990s. Its digital HD 2 channel "The Rapids!" plays hard rock/heavy metal from the 1970s through the late 1990s. The Aurora/Naperville, Illinois station serves the suburban Chicago market and is owned by Alpha Media, through licensee Alpha Media Licensee LLC.

WERV broadcasts two channels in the HD Radio format.[2]

History

This station was the radio dream of WLS Radio engineer Russ Salter, who put this station (then WKKD-FM); along with WKKD-AM on the air. WKKD-AM debuted in September 1960 and WKKD-FM in March 1961.[3] Both stations broadcast out of a very small block building, on the east side on Plain Avenue. At the time, this was a remote part of the Aurora area, bordering the small town of Eola. Studios, transmitters and the towers were all at this location.

In the 1960s the stations served the Will, Kane, Kendall and DuPage County areas (hence the call letters W-K-K-D) airing a full service format that focused heavily on Country music,[4][5][6][7] with the FM extending the AM's programming into the evening hours. In 1966, veteran Chicago weathercaster Tom Skilling began his career at WKKD, while he attended High School in Aurora.[8] By the early 1970s the stations had separated and the AM station changed its calls to WFVR (Fox Valley Radio) continuing to air a country music format.[9]

WKKD-FM aired a Beautiful music format in the 1970s.[10] In the 1980s, this format would evolve into soft AC,[1] as "Lite Mix",[11] with the branding changing to "K-Lite" in 1989.[12][13] The station would keep this format into the early 1990s.[14][15][16] By 1993, WKKD-FM had again begun simulcasting WKKD AM 1580.[17] Its format switched to oldies at this time and it became known as "Pure Gold 96".[17] In 1998 the station changed its branding to "Kool 95.9," while continuing to air an oldies format.[18][19]

In 2000, the Salter family got out of broadcasting and sold WKKD-AM & FM, as well as WRWC in Rockford, Illinois to Radioworks.[20][21] WKKD-FM & AM were sold to NextMedia Group in 2001, for $3.4 million.[19][22] On January 25, 2001 the new owners switched the FM to WERV "95.9 The River,"[23] airing a classic hits format with the slogan "Rock 'N Roll Favorites for the 'Burbs".[24][25] Its AM sister station holding onto the WKKD calls as a local and satellite delivered news/talk outlet.

NextMedia sold WERV-FM and their 32 other radio stations to Digity, LLC at a price of $85 million; the transaction was consummated on February 10, 2014.

Effective February 25, 2016, Digity and its 124 radio stations were acquired by Alpha Media for $264 million.

WERV-FM serves the Aurora/Naperville area as well as much of DuPage, northern and eastern Cook and parts of Kane and Will counties. The River's air talent line up is the morning show of "Mackay in the Morning" with Scott Mackay and Danielle Tufano(who doubles as Program Director), Beth Reynolds in middays, the legendary Mitch Michaels "Doin' the Cruise" in afternoon drive and Nick Jakusz in the evenings from 7p - midnight. Weekend air talent includes Laura Vaughn, Jessi Barretta, Chris Miles and Rich Dale.

In the spring of 2005, WERV-FM became the first suburban Chicago station to broadcast a digital HD Radio signal. By 2006, the station debuted it HD-2 secondary signal. It is a hard rock gold format reminiscent of 103.5 The Blaze, called "The Rapids!"

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1984, Broadcasting/Cablecasting, 1984. p. B-75. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  2. ↑ http://www.hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=25
  3. ↑ Salter Communications:Russell G. Salter wkkd.com. Internet Archive. April 14, 1997. Accessed January 2, 2014
  4. ↑ Folk Talent & Tunes Sachs, Bill. (p. 8) Billboard. July 10, 1961. Accessed January 2, 2014
  5. ↑ Folk Talent & Tunes Sachs, Bill. (p. 38) Billboard. July 18, 1960. Accessed January 2, 2014
  6. ↑ Folk Talent & Tunes Sachs, Bill. (p. 47) Billboard. May 16, 1960. Accessed January 2, 2014
  7. ↑ Nashville Scene Whisenhunt, Elton. (p. 50) Billboard. February 5, 1966. Accessed January 2, 2014
  8. ↑ Tom Skilling Chicago Tribune. Accessed January 3, 2013
  9. ↑ Ghrist, John R. "Valley Voices: A Radio History" 1996. (p. 106)
  10. ↑ Stations, everywhere: a listeners' guide to the AM and FM bands Chicago Tribune Magazine. March 4, 1979. Accessed January 2, 2014
  11. ↑ Chicagoland Radio Waves, MediaTies. Summer 1988. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  12. ↑ Chicagoland Radio Waves, MediaTies. Summer 1989. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  13. ↑ "WKKD FM 95.9", Radio Chicago. Fall 1989. (p. 35) Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  14. ↑ Radio In Du Page Wilhelmson, Brenda. Chicago Tribune. February 25, 1990. Accessed January 2, 2014
  15. ↑ "WKKD FM 95.9", Radio Chicago, Spring 1991. p. 53. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  16. ↑ The Home Team Kening, Dan. Chicago Tribune. April 07, 1992. Accessed December 30, 2013
  17. 1 2 Lettermen Bring Valentine Spirit To Norris Todorovich, Lisa. Chicago Tribune. February 12, 1993. Accessed January 2, 2014
  18. ↑ Welcome to the new KOOL 95.9 web site! wkkd.com. Internet Archive. May 22, 1998. Accessed January 2, 2014
  19. 1 2 Elsewhere", The M-Street Journal. Vol. 18 No. 01. January 4, 2001. p. 10. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  20. ↑ Application Search Details fcc.gov. Accessed January 3, 2014
  21. ↑ Rockford Firm Adds To Its Reach Kirk, Jim. Chicago Tribune. July 28, 1999. Accessed January 3, 2014
  22. ↑ Application Search Details fcc.gov. Accessed January 3, 2014
  23. ↑ "Chicago Media Headlines - January". DJHeadlines.com. January 24–26, 2001. Archived from the original on October 31, 2005. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  24. ↑ Devine, Cathy (2002-2003). The M-Street Radio Directory, 11th Edition. p. 183. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  25. ↑ "95-9 The River". 959theriver.fm. Archived from the original on January 3, 2002. Retrieved July 13, 2018.

Coordinates: 41°46′08″N 88°16′01″W / 41.769°N 88.267°W / 41.769; -88.267

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.