Upon hearing the news of the sale, Steve Dahl pointed to WLUP-FM's legacy and heritage, saying:  On March 9, 2018, Dahl gave listeners a chance to say goodbye to WLUP-FM via a simulcast of his afternoon program on WLS. Dahl also brought back alumni Sky Daniels and Kevin Matthews to help give WLUP-FM a proper send off, while WDRV paid homage to the station with a day long tribute led by Bob Stroud, another WLUP-FM veteran, with guests and surprises. WGN's 'Dave Plier Show' also aired a reunion of ex-WLUP-FM DJs, including Kevin Matthews, current WGN hosts Wendy Snyder and Bill Leff, and broadcast executive Larry Wert, paying tribute to its legacy. The LMA with EMF took effect March 10, 2018 at midnight, at which point The Loop switched to K-Love. In a last jab at the impending transition to Christian music, WLUP-FM closed by playing "Shout at the Devil" by Mötley Crüe, "The Number of the Beast" by Iron Maiden, and (as Dahl suggested) "Highway to Hell". The first song played on WLUP-FM as K-Love was "Whom Shall I Fear" by Chris Tomlin. EMF also took the station's HD Radio digital signal off the air, resulting in not only the loss of the digital simulcast of the analog FM signal, but also the digital subchannels airing automated stand-up comedy programming and smooth jazz/soft adult contemporary music, effectively leaving the latter format's only presence in the Chicago market over-the-air on WKSC-HD2 and WTMX-HD2. On January 16, 2020, EMF changed the station's call sign from WCKL-FM to WCKL.