The station began broadcasting September 25, 1949. In 1983, WKRS was sold to Roger E. Kaplan, owner of 102.3
WXLC, for $650,000. In 1987, the station was sold to H&D Radio Limited Partnership, along with WXLC, for $5.5 million. In 1997, it was sold to Spring Broadcasting, and in 1999 it was sold to Belvidere Broadcasting, along with WXLC, for $4.3 million. In 2000, the station was sold to
NextMedia Group, along with WXLC, for $9.4 million. Between 1949 and 2012, WKRS had been a longtime English language radio station broadcasting local news and information for the
Lake County region. Personalities heard on WKRS included national hosts
Laura Ingraham,
Michael Savage,
Bill O'Reilly, and
Dave Ramsey, along with local hosts
Al Salvi, Libby Collins, and Lenny Palmer, The Jack Taylor Program, among others. Known at times as "The Voice Of Lake County" and "The Talk of Lake County", WKRS also broadcast
Lake County Fielders minor league baseball games as well as
high school sports for the Lake County area. Among its alumni are Chicago TV reporters
Anita Padilla, Matt Rodewald, and
Susan Carlson.
Spanish-language era In January 2012, it was announced that the station would drop its longtime English-language talk format in favor of a Spanish-language sports format, with programming from
ESPN Deportes Radio, effective February 1, 2012. In 2016, Digity, LLC was purchased by
Alpha Media for $264 million. After ESPN Deportes Radio was discontinued on September 8, 2019, the station became an affiliate of TUDN Radio. Alpha Media merged with
Connoisseur Media on September 4, 2025. ==References==