Before there was WIVK, there was WIBK. The station went on the air on July 11, 1947 at 800kHz. The station was owned and operated by Rev J Harold Smith, who was later found by the FCC to have misrepresented the facts when the license was granted. Among other things, the FCC found he had invested $100,000 in a Mexican border station. They additionally found that his on-air sermons and preaching were "intemperate" and that he was an expert at "vituperation and vilification". The FCC moved to revoke his license in 1949 and numerous legal proceedings followed. When the Supreme Court refused to hear the case in 1952, WIBK was effectively forced to shut down. The station last broadcast in November 1952. When WKXV signed on the following February, they leased out the studio spaced that had been occupied by WIBK. And of course, a very similar sounding (and totally unrelated) set of call letters (WIVK) hit the air just up the dial the following March.