Station identifications - most interesting?

[mcdonaat]

Listening to different radio stations is part of the reason why I will drive out of my way - enjoying being able to pick up distant stations started about a year ago, and I will drive on long loops just to keep a station. Top-of-the-hour station IDs help me figure out where a station is coming from, and most stations have a bland "Sunny 106.9 is KEDG, Alexandria Pineville" or "KBKK, Ball, Pineville, Alexandria". However, listening to a few stations one or two clicks off of presets on those long-distance nights, I could pick up some very neat IDS.

One of those is for KQID-FM, aka Q-93. "The 100,000-watt gorilla station (with a normal voice changing to a deep and serious voice) KQID, Alexandria, Monroe, West Monroe, Natchez" and immediately going into a song.

Another is "KXRR, Monroe, West Monroe, 100,000 watts of whoop ass"

I've actually begun to get into the habit of using the voice recorder on my Nokia 822 and recording these station IDs as MP3 files, and I've got quite a collection. It's why I'll never use Sirius, or Pandora... commercials from local stations let me know where to eat when I'm hungry, or what radio shows are coming on later. FYI - I dodge Delilah whenever she comes on.

Any neat station IDs that any of you have heard on road trips? My number one favorite was the old Voodoo 104 ID. You heard a young teen saying "Voodoo!" then slowly "K-V-D-U Houma, New Orleans, an iHeartRadio station" then someone would say some voodoo chant in the background. Sadly, it went away when Cumulus streamlined their IDs.

[Buck87]

Every now and then 104.7 WIOT's will be something like "The station Toledo's strippers choose most"

[6a]

In the late '90s WROV in Virginia would say "broadcasting from the moonshine capital of the United States"

In the '80s WNCI here in Columbus would say "broadcasting with 175,000 watts of pure stereo power". At the time, being young, I didn't really gather what the significance of that statement was.

[Alps]

Not terribly interesting, but the best I can remember offhand is 92.3's statement, "Broadcasting from the top of the Empire State Building," back when they were K-Rock.

[AsphaltPlanet]

About a decade ago, Toronto's 102.1 The Edge used to have a promo for its website that featured the sound effects of lighting and hitting a bong, followed by a cough and then the words 'Edge.ca'.  It was pretty well done, but I just tried to find a soundbite online and can't.

[Brandon]

We used to have one at WMTU (91.9 FM) when I was at college.  This was back when the transmitter was on top of the 11 story building on campus, and our power was only 100 watts, and went something like this,

"WMTU Houghton, coming at you with 100,000 milliwatts of screaming power!"

Of course, now the transmitter is on top of a hill, and the power has been raised to 4,400 watts.

[bulldog1979]

"Broadcasting live from studios on historic Front Street in the heart of an All-American County, you're listing to the home of the Hit Music Three-Play Reply, Q107, WMQT: Ishpeming, Marquette."

What's interesting is that the "in the heart of an All-American County" portion changes from time to time to reflect various recognitions bestowed upon Marquette or Marquette County. For a time, the station identification used "in a Cool City" when Gov. Granholm included Marquette in her Cool Cities Initiative. They've also been using "in a Most Liveable Community" lately.

I think the current iteration has restored a mention of the New Music Magazine "Top 7 Radio Station" designation. From time to time, they also replace "the home of the Hit Music Three-Play Replay" with "radio put together by you". In any event, it is certainly one of the longer radio station identifications I've heard in Michigan, and the whole thing is set to the station's theme music.

Normally the station broadcasts at 100,000 W, but for the last few weeks they've been stuck at 1,000 W on a temporary antenna hundreds of feet lower than usual. Unfortunately that means the station pretty much can't be received indoors until the weather clears up enough to fix the transmitter and tower, otherwise I'd try to record the station identification.

[SidS1045]

Not terribly interesting, but the best I can remember offhand is 92.3's statement, "Broadcasting from the top of the Empire State Building," back when they were K-Rock.

NYC's best station ID, bar none, was the one voiced by Bill Rock for the late, lamented WNBC in the late 1970's:  (drum roll) "This is the flagship station of the National Broadcasting Company! (drum beat) 66, W-N-B-C New York!"

But, by far, the most easily identifiable was WABC's "chime time" ID: http://www.musicradio77.com/jingles/series30/jgding.wav  For over ten years, it was played after every song.

[txstateends]

There's a site ( www.tophour.com/audio ) that has many archived top-of-hour ID's.

[catch22]

We used to have one at WMTU (91.9 FM) when I was at college.  This was back when the transmitter was on top of the 11 story building on campus, and our power was only 100 watts, and went something like this,

"WMTU Houghton, coming at you with 100,000 milliwatts of screaming power!"

Of course, now the transmitter is on top of a hill, and the power has been raised to 4,400 watts.

Back in '69 to '71, I was a DJ at WMTU's predecessor,  WRS ("Wadsworth Radio Systems").  We were carrier-current AM (1600 KHz) back then so the FCC regs basically said we could call ourselves whatever we wanted.  The studio was in West Wadsworth Hall near the lobby.  A whopping 40 watts.  I used to ID with "WRS, Houghton ... on a good day you can hear us downtown."

Edit:  For those unfamiliar with carrier-current AM:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrier_current

[briantroutman]

I never actually heard this on the radio but thought it was interesting.

A station in Salt Lake City used a reworked version of the stinger from the WKRP in Cincinnati theme song as their top of the hour legal ID. It sounded like they were singing "WKRP in Salt Lake City" , but they were really singing "(W) KRPN Salt Lake City" . The station's actual calls were KRPN. I'm surprised that the FCC would allow the misleading "W"  at the beginning of the call sign (and the slight mangling of N to sound like "in" ), but they apparently did.

Also–not exactly a station ID, but–the FCC did ban this very '70s musical handling of an EBS test warning. It does include an ID for WHEN Syracuse.

[jbnv]

One of those is for KQID-FM, aka Q-93. "The 100,000-watt gorilla station (with a normal voice changing to a deep and serious voice) KQID, Alexandria, Monroe, West Monroe, Natchez" and immediately going into a song.

I've always had a warm spot for KQID. It was a better top 40 station "back in the day" than my home station (KSMB in Lafayette).

Any neat station IDs that any of you have heard on road trips? My number one favorite was the old Voodoo 104 ID. You heard a young teen saying "Voodoo!" then slowly "K-V-D-U Houma, New Orleans, an iHeartRadio station" then someone would say some voodoo chant in the background. Sadly, it went away when Cumulus streamlined their IDs.

Voodoo is actually owned by Clear Channel. I quit listening when they switched to "90s to now" (with too much now and too little '90s).

I don't actually care that much for slogans. Give me your brand and get back to the music. Give me a good ID and I may very well come back.

[signalman]

The best one that I can think of was when I lived in Lancaster, PA back in 2000. 
"On Classic 103 we play more classic rock than there are Amish in Blue Ball."

[golden eagle]

One of those is for KQID-FM, aka Q-93. "The 100,000-watt gorilla station (with a normal voice changing to a deep and serious voice) KQID, Alexandria, Monroe, West Monroe, Natchez" and immediately going into a song.

I've always had a warm spot for KQID. It was a better top 40 station "back in the day" than my home station (KSMB in Lafayette).

As one who used to pick up KQID a lot in Jackson, it was, hands down, one of the best stations ever. To be a small-market station, it had a big market sound. I also used to love the echo they had in their audio processing.

An interesting ID I used to like was KBIG in Los Angeles. I don't know if they do it now, but during my time in Cali, they would say something like, "It's four o' clock in the far west..."

[agentsteel53]

none.  I don't care about your autofellatio.

if you say "you're listening to ..." - there's a more than even chance that I will switch away from you to somewhere that is actually providing content.

[mcdonaat]

One of those is for KQID-FM, aka Q-93. "The 100,000-watt gorilla station (with a normal voice changing to a deep and serious voice) KQID, Alexandria, Monroe, West Monroe, Natchez" and immediately going into a song.

I've always had a warm spot for KQID. It was a better top 40 station "back in the day" than my home station (KSMB in Lafayette).

As one who used to pick up KQID a lot in Jackson, it was, hands down, one of the best stations ever. To be a small-market station, it had a big market sound. I also used to love the echo they had in their audio processing.

An interesting ID I used to like was KBIG in Los Angeles. I don't know if they do it now, but during my time in Cali, they would say something like, "It's four o' clock in the far west..."

I enjoy KQID, but KNOE-FM was amazing, until they switched formats.

Nexus 7

[golden eagle]

How about this for an ID:

"WKZW Sandersville-Laurel-Ellisville-Hattiesburg-Petal-Oak Grove"

[JMoses24]

One of those is for KQID-FM, aka Q-93. "The 100,000-watt gorilla station (with a normal voice changing to a deep and serious voice) KQID, Alexandria, Monroe, West Monroe, Natchez" and immediately going into a song.

I've always had a warm spot for KQID. It was a better top 40 station "back in the day" than my home station (KSMB in Lafayette).

As one who used to pick up KQID a lot in Jackson, it was, hands down, one of the best stations ever. To be a small-market station, it had a big market sound. I also used to love the echo they had in their audio processing.

An interesting ID I used to like was KBIG in Los Angeles. I don't know if they do it now, but during my time in Cali, they would say something like, "It's four o' clock in the far west..."

No, they no longer do that and haven't since 2003.

[english si]

none.  I don't care about your autofellatio.

if you say "you're listening to ..." - there's a more than even chance that I will switch away from you to somewhere that is actually providing content.

Aren't they required to identify what station it is every so often as part of them being able to broadcast?

Sure it can get overbearing, if it's a jingle, especially if you try and make it unique, but a quick "you're listening to..." or "this is..." can be done in 2 to 3 seconds.

Adding it to an introduction to a song, or a segment is good. "You are listening to Classic FM: 100-102 and here is Elgar's Pomp & Circumstance March No.1 in D major Opus 39" took me 10 seconds, but only as the song I chose (on about 10 minutes ago) has a long name, and Classic FM would give the key it is in and all that. If it was "You are listening to Classic FM: 100-102 and here is some Elgar" that is going to be less than a 60th of the 6 minutes that this particular version of "Land of Hope and Glory" runs for: hardly intrusive (and also useful on more obscure pieces as you don't try and play "guess the composer").

[jbnv]

Aren't they required to identify what station it is every so often as part of them being able to broadcast?

In the US, yes, once an hour, the ID being the station's call letters and city of license. This typically happens at the top of the hour. Some stations incorporate it into their branding. But many stations just do it in a short clip among the commercials.

[golden eagle]

Having once lived in San Diego a decade ago, I became accustomed to Mexican-licensed stations that did their IDs in Spanish. For instance, 91X: "Equis e te ere a, efe eme, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico." Mexican stations do it twice an hour, and are required to play the Mexican National Anthem at least once a day (most play it around midnight and/or near dawn).

[PHLBOS]

How can anybody not list this one?   

[agentsteel53]

In the US, yes, once an hour, the ID being the station's call letters and city of license. This typically happens at the top of the hour. Some stations incorporate it into their branding. But many stations just do it in a short clip among the commercials.

and some just keep droning on and on about the programming they're going to provide, at some point.  but no, here's some commercials first.

it's sufficient to say "this is KLOS.  we'll be back with Zeppelin after this break." 

but no, they have to say that they're a Cumulus, a Clear Channel, broadcasting out a dumpy little building in Culver City (only actually funny the first time), and on HD and on the internet, and you can stream it, you can download it, you can fold it, spindle it, mutilate it, and coming right up, it's Jimmy Page's birthday, and here in the studio he's busy licking whipped cream off the naked models, so why don't you go rent some rims?

[briantroutman]

Aren't they required to identify what station it is every so often as part of them being able to broadcast?

In the US, yes, once an hour, the ID being the station's call letters and city of license. This typically happens at the top of the hour. Some stations incorporate it into their branding. But many stations just do it in a short clip among the commercials.

Yes, as has been pointed out, it's an FCC requirement.

That's why radio stations with branding that doesn't even mention call letters (like "Magic 105"  or "Biff FM" ) will have a dry announcement at the top of the hour saying something like
"This is W-A-N-G - La Crosse, W-E-W-E - Tomah, and W267BJ - Hillsboro."

The same requirement applies to broadcast TV stations, which is why during long-form programs such as sporting events and movies, you'll see the station call letters and city show up on-screen seemingly at random.

[6a]

Aren't they required to identify what station it is every so often as part of them being able to broadcast?

In the US, yes, once an hour, the ID being the station's call letters and city of license. This typically happens at the top of the hour. Some stations incorporate it into their branding. But many stations just do it in a short clip among the commercials.

To expand, commercial stations have to ID within 10 minutes of the top of the hour. Quite different from amateurs, who must do so every ten minutes and at the end of a conversation.