98.1 KDD: Акрон және Кливленд радиосының тарихы

Radio station in Munroe Falls, Ohio, serving Akron
the Cleveland market radio station which identified as WKDD from 1977 to 2001

WKDD (98.1 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Munroe Falls, Ohio, United States, featuring a hot adult contemporary format known as "98.1 KDD". Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., the station serves both the Akron Canton metro area, with additional coverage in Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio. WKDD's studios are located in North Canton, while the transmitter is located in Cuyahoga Falls. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WKDD broadcasts over two HD Radio channels, and streams online via iHeartRadio.

In 1960, Edwin Mortenson moved to Canton, Ohio and began construction on a new 50,000 watt FM radio station: WTOF at 98.1 megahertz (MHz). Mortenson had tired of losing his radio ministry whenever a new station owner would come along and flip his affiliate's format; he resolved to build his own radio station to keep his religious shows on the air – WTOF FM was that station. Broadcasting a Christian format under the name "Tower of Faith" (the origin of the "WTOF" call letters), the station served the Canton area for decades, and was just the first of several stations to come under Mortenson's ownership – the start of Mortenson Broadcasting. In 1985, the station changed its callsign to WTOF FM after briefly owning WTOF (900 AM).

On October 29, 2008, the station became licensed to the Akron suburb of Munroe Falls, Ohio. WKDD had a construction permit to return to the Akron area broadcast facility once occupied by its 96.5 FM predecessor, in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. On December 18, 2009, 30 year morning host Matt Patrick hosted his last show on WKDD. Longtime co host Barbara "B. A." Adams returned to join Matt for his last show (Matt soon became the morning show host at WTRC and WTRC FM in South Bend, Indiana and later worked at KTRH in Houston, Texas). After playing "Home" by Michael Bublé, the new morning show "Keith & Krissy" was announced, hosted by WKDD Programming Operations Director Keith Kennedy, and Patrick's former co host, Krissy Taylor. The station also changed their on air branding at this time to "Akron's 98 1 The New WKDD" with the slogan "Akron's Hit Music Station." Each February since 2000, WKDD teams up with Akron Children's Hospital for the "Have a Heart, Do Your Part Radiothon" to benefit the hospital. Radiothon airs live on WKDD all weekend long. The event was hosted for many years by Matt Patrick and Barbara Adams, and later by Angela, Keith and Krissy. On September 7, 2010, WKDD moved its signal back to its Cuyahoga Falls broadcast location, formerly used by the station in their 96.5 days, to improve the quality of its signal in the Akron area, especially northern Summit County. The station also adopted a slightly new format playing music from "the '90s, 2k and Today", however some 1980's songs are also in the playlist. In early 2012, WKDD gradually moved to a pop/contemporary hit radio (CHR) format.

Local personalities on WKDD include the morning drive team of Keith Kennedy and "Captain" Tony McGinty; the majority of other programming is devoted to music, much of which is provided by iHeartMedia's internal Premium Choice network. American Top 40, syndicated via Premiere Networks, airs Sunday mornings.