On February 13, 1947, WILK first signed on the air.[2] The first studios were located at 88 North Franklin Street in Wilkes-Barre. The station's original broadcast frequency was 1450 kHz, operating at 250 watts during its early years. In 1951 WSCR in Scranton moved from 1000 kHz to 1320, making it possible for WILK to move to AM 980 with a three tower array, increasing its power to 5000 watts non-directional by day and 1000 watts directional at night. It was an affiliate of the ABC Radio Network.
On February 6, 1954, the station signed on a television station, WILK-TV Channel 34.[3] Because WILK had been a long-time ABC Radio affiliate, WILK-TV took the ABC television affiliation. That station merged with Scranton's WARM-TV to form WNEP-TV on Channel 16.
From the 1990s until 2005, WILK was the originating station for the WILK Radio Network. However, that distinction now belongs to FM sister stationWILK-FM.
