Radio Station Call Letters- Where did they come up with them

[Darkchylde]

There's two KCMOs on the FM dial here, but one is a low power simulcast of the AM station of the same call letters. The FM station with the actual calls is a different format.

Actually, calls leading in "KC" are as done to death here as "WV" ones are in West Virginia. The aforementioned KCMO (Kansas City, MissOuri) is one, but there's a few others I can name off the top of my head - KCTV (Channel 5), KCFX (101.1 FM, called "The Fox"), KCPT (Channel 19, PBS affiliate - Kansas City Public Television), KCUR (89.3 FM, NPR station). I'm sure there's a lot more.

There's also a KSMO (Channel 62) whose calls are for Kansas and Missouri's postal abbreviations, but most of the other stations starting with "KS" here didn't get them from the KS abbreviation.

Aside from the aforementioned WHB, there's another station here with W-calls - WDAF, which is one of the TV stations (Channel 4, Fox affiliate). The calls supposedly stand for "Why Dial Any Further." The calls came from a radio station with the same calls, though I don't believe the calls are on radio here anymore.

[bing101]

KFOX El Paso, TX surprised that Fox never used those calls for Fox 11 Los Angeles though.

Similarly, WFOX is used for a TV station (channel 30) in Jacksonville, FL and a radio station at 95.9 FM in Bridgeport, CT (as well as a former station at 97.1 FM in Atlanta, GA), but not Fox 5 New York.

A lot of the reason may have to be with the relative newness of the Fox network.  Those stations with KFOX and WFOX were probably broadcasting for years before there was a Fox network which was created in the late '80's.

Although it is surprising that FOX didn't just pay off those owners in El Paso and Jacksonville so that the FOX O&Os in LA and NY could have the expected call letters and match the practice.

Incidentally, it wasn't universal that the O&Os in Los Angeles had the call letters of K+network.  Channel 2 in L.A. was a CBS O&O since 1951.  The station was originally KTSL, then renamed KNXT (to match the local CBS radio station KNX), and only renamed to KCBS in 1984.  (I don't believe that there was any other tv station with KCBS before 1984, but San Francisco had a KCBS radio station.)

At least KFOX and WFOX are Fox affiliates, even if they are in relatively small markets.

http://www.theradiohistorian.org/Dixon/Dixon1.html

Interestingly K+Network call letters have their origins in the Sacramento area though out in Dixon,CA. Back in the 1940's KNBC was originally used for a shortwave station out in the Sacramento Valley and this was before NBC decided to move the call letters KNBC to San Francisco and later Los Angeles.

[mrsman]

KFOX El Paso, TX surprised that Fox never used those calls for Fox 11 Los Angeles though.

Similarly, WFOX is used for a TV station (channel 30) in Jacksonville, FL and a radio station at 95.9 FM in Bridgeport, CT (as well as a former station at 97.1 FM in Atlanta, GA), but not Fox 5 New York.

A lot of the reason may have to be with the relative newness of the Fox network.  Those stations with KFOX and WFOX were probably broadcasting for years before there was a Fox network which was created in the late '80's.

Although it is surprising that FOX didn't just pay off those owners in El Paso and Jacksonville so that the FOX O&Os in LA and NY could have the expected call letters and match the practice.

Incidentally, it wasn't universal that the O&Os in Los Angeles had the call letters of K+network.  Channel 2 in L.A. was a CBS O&O since 1951.  The station was originally KTSL, then renamed KNXT (to match the local CBS radio station KNX), and only renamed to KCBS in 1984.  (I don't believe that there was any other tv station with KCBS before 1984, but San Francisco had a KCBS radio station.)

At least KFOX and WFOX are Fox affiliates, even if they are in relatively small markets.

http://www.theradiohistorian.org/Dixon/Dixon1.html

Interestingly K+Network call letters have their origins in the Sacramento area though out in Dixon,CA. Back in the 1940's KNBC was originally used for a shortwave station out in the Sacramento Valley and this was before NBC decided to move the call letters KNBC to San Francisco and later Los Angeles.

That might be true, but from my personal persepective, having grown up in LA in the late 70's and early 80's, I actually remember channel 2 being KNXT, but having channel 4 as KNBC, and channel 7 as KABC.  I often wondered why channel 2 wasn't KCBS, and then I found out about the radio station in SF.  Then, channel 2 became KCBS and that was that.

Incidentally, I wonder if anyone knows why in many large cities (NY and LA, but even a few other cities as well) NBC is usually on 4 (true in NY,LA,DC), CBS is usually on 2 (true in NY,LA,Chicago), and ABC   is usually on 7 (true in NY,LA,Chicago,DC)?  It certainly made it easier for me to keep track of the networks because aside from 3 years in the Sacramento area, I've lived exclusively in the LA, NY, and DC areas.

A related question is how come in LA, NY, and DC-Baltimore*, the channels in the VHF range (2-13) that are used are 2,4,5,7,9,11,13. (in the pre-2009 era of course, the channel numbers no longer reflect ffrequency after the digital conversion.) I understand that you may not want to have every channel used up to avoid interference, but I find it interesting that they utilize the exact same channels. I know many other cities where it is different, like in Philly (2,3,4,6,10,12).  So it is interesting that NY,LA, and the combined DC and Baltimore markets pick the exact same list.

*DC: 4,5,7,9.  Baltimore:2,11,13.  I live in an area where I can receive both sets of stations, so to me it seems like one market even though the prime time programming is duplicated.  But it is interesting that it still manages to come up with the same list as NY and LA.

[GenExpwy]

A related question is how come in LA, NY, and DC-Baltimore*, the channels in the VHF range (2-13) that are used are 2,4,5,7,9,11,13. (in the pre-2009 era of course, the channel numbers no longer reflect frequency after the digital conversion.) I understand that you may not want to have every channel used up to avoid interference, but I find it interesting that they utilize the exact same channels. I know many other cities where it is different, like in Philly (2,3,4,6,10,12).  So it is interesting that NY,LA, and the combined DC and Baltimore markets pick the exact same list.

*DC: 4,5,7,9.  Baltimore:2,11,13.  I live in an area where I can receive both sets of stations, so to me it seems like one market even though the prime time programming is duplicated.  But it is interesting that it still manages to come up with the same list as NY and LA.

In the analog era, VHF stations on adjacent channels had to be at least 60 miles apart. Note that while 4 and 5 are consecutive numbers, they are not adjacent in the radio spectrum; likewise with 6 and 7. VHF stations on the same channel had to be 170 miles apart (in the Northeast and Midwest; 220 miles along the Gulf Coast; 190 miles elsewhere).

So the maximum that could be assigned to one city, or two closely-spaced cities, is seven VHF channels:
2 3 4  in the 54—72 MHz band
5 6 (or vice-versa)  in the 76—88 MHz band
7 8 9 10 11 12 13  in the 174—216 MHz band

This leaves 3—6—8—10—12 for the next market(s), such as Philadelphia—Wilmington—Lancaster.

In the 1947 channel assignment plan, there was a noticeably stronger trend to put most cities entirely in either the 2—4—5—7—9—11—13 group or the 3—6—8—10—12 group. [The linked table has a few typos; also, this was the last gasp of channel 1 (44—50 MHz).]

The interference issue was much more complicated with UHF, which had spacing rules for co-channel and 1st-, 2nd-, 3rd-, 4th-, 5th-, 7th-, 8th-, 14th-, and 15th-adjacent channels. So in cities with multiple UHF stations, the channels often counted by six.

[briantroutman]

Incidentally, I wonder if anyone knows why in many large cities...NBC is usually on 4...CBS is usually on 2...and ABC is usually on 7?

In addition to the issues with interference and adjacent channels necessitating the creation of 2-4-5-7 markets and 3-6-8-10 markets as explained by GenExpwy, here's my half-educated guess as to why CBS occupies channel 2 in some of the largest markets, NBC is on 4, and ABC is on 7.

It strikes me as a consequence of the "pecking order"  of the networks at that time. CBS was the strongest network with the deepest pockets and was able to either secure the license for the lowest dial position, purchase that station, or sign the owners of that station as a CBS affiliate. In some cases, that was an experimental channel 1 station that was moved to channel 2 after the FCC decided to remove channel 1 from commercial VHF.

NBC was a close second, particularly considering its ownership by television pioneer RCA at the time, and it secured the next-lowest slot (4) in many cities. In fact in New York, it was NBC that had snagged the channel 1 slot before being reassigned–not to channel 2 but channel 4–essentially reverse-leapfrogging behind CBS.

ABC, being a distant third in all regards, was stuck with channel 7–behind DuMont or whoever else had snagged the Channel 5 spot. The DuMont station would go on to be "Metromedia 5"  and finally "Fox 5"  today.

With at least some commonality of station numbers, networks could spread the cost of creating station IDs across more outlets, allowing them to develop more refined logo packages (like ABC's Circle 7).

Obviously, the above includes some guesswork on my part, and not all of it applies in all cases, but I think at least some of it is true in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, and some other cities.

[ftballfan]

Incidentally, I wonder if anyone knows why in many large cities...NBC is usually on 4...CBS is usually on 2...and ABC is usually on 7?

In addition to the issues with interference and adjacent channels necessitating the creation of 2-4-5-7 markets and 3-6-8-10 markets as explained by GenExpwy, here's my half-educated guess as to why CBS occupies channel 2 in some of the largest markets, NBC is on 4, and ABC is on 7.

It strikes me as a consequence of the "pecking order"  of the networks at that time. CBS was the strongest network with the deepest pockets and was able to either secure the license for the lowest dial position, purchase that station, or sign the owners of that station as a CBS affiliate. In some cases, that was an experimental channel 1 station that was moved to channel 2 after the FCC decided to remove channel 1 from commercial VHF.

NBC was a close second, particularly considering its ownership by television pioneer RCA at the time, and it secured the next-lowest slot (4) in many cities. In fact in New York, it was NBC that had snagged the channel 1 slot before being reassigned–not to channel 2 but channel 4–essentially reverse-leapfrogging behind CBS.

ABC, being a distant third in all regards, was stuck with channel 7–behind DuMont or whoever else had snagged the Channel 5 spot. The DuMont station would go on to be "Metromedia 5"  and finally "Fox 5"  today.

With at least some commonality of station numbers, networks could spread the cost of creating station IDs across more outlets, allowing them to develop more refined logo packages (like ABC's Circle 7).

Obviously, the above includes some guesswork on my part, and not all of it applies in all cases, but I think at least some of it is true in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, and some other cities.

The CBS on 2, NBC on 4, ABC on 7 does hold in Los Angeles. In Chicago, CBS is on 2 and ABC is on 7, but NBC is on 5 (channel 4 was assigned to Milwaukee, which is incidentally an NBC affiliate). In DC, NBC is on 4 and ABC is on 7, but CBS is on 9 (channel 2 was assigned to Baltimore).

On FM, the largest cities had their FM stations allocated like (92.3, 93.1, 93.9, 94.7, 95.5, 96.3, 97.1, 97.9, 98.7, 99.5, 100.3, 101.1, 101.9, 102.7, 103.5, 104.3, 105.1, 105.9, 106.7, 107.5). These cities were New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit/Windsor, and (mostly) Washington/Baltimore. Salt Lake City follows from 96.3 on up, while Denver follows from 99.5 on up. Other large cities do have several of those allocations in a row, such as Dallas-Fort Worth (96.3 through 101.1).

[SP Cook]

While we are discussing frequency allocations, one historical thing I find interesting is the concept of a "UHF Island" which is a town that otherwise would not get local TV getting covered by assigning all the channels to UHF.  Lexington, KY is an example of this, there are about 15 of these across the country, mostly in the eastern half.  There are also about 10 cities that got only one VHF station, with the rest being UHF.  The nature of signal reception in the pre-cable era meant that whoever got the one VHF had a big advantage.

Back in the 70s and 80s, pre-cable and when special effects were much lower tech, a lot of period piece movies set in the 1930s and 40s used Youngstown, OH, a "UHF Island" for the exterior shooting, because the town's major buildings were from that era and nobody had a traditional "yagi" type TV antenna on their roof that would have to be airbrushed out.

[Road Hog]

Incidentally, I wonder if anyone knows why in many large cities...NBC is usually on 4...CBS is usually on 2...and ABC is usually on 7?

In addition to the issues with interference and adjacent channels necessitating the creation of 2-4-5-7 markets and 3-6-8-10 markets as explained by GenExpwy, here's my half-educated guess as to why CBS occupies channel 2 in some of the largest markets, NBC is on 4, and ABC is on 7.

It strikes me as a consequence of the "pecking order"  of the networks at that time. CBS was the strongest network with the deepest pockets and was able to either secure the license for the lowest dial position, purchase that station, or sign the owners of that station as a CBS affiliate. In some cases, that was an experimental channel 1 station that was moved to channel 2 after the FCC decided to remove channel 1 from commercial VHF.

NBC was a close second, particularly considering its ownership by television pioneer RCA at the time, and it secured the next-lowest slot (4) in many cities. In fact in New York, it was NBC that had snagged the channel 1 slot before being reassigned–not to channel 2 but channel 4–essentially reverse-leapfrogging behind CBS.

ABC, being a distant third in all regards, was stuck with channel 7–behind DuMont or whoever else had snagged the Channel 5 spot. The DuMont station would go on to be "Metromedia 5"  and finally "Fox 5"  today.

With at least some commonality of station numbers, networks could spread the cost of creating station IDs across more outlets, allowing them to develop more refined logo packages (like ABC's Circle 7).

Obviously, the above includes some guesswork on my part, and not all of it applies in all cases, but I think at least some of it is true in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, and some other cities.

The CBS on 2, NBC on 4, ABC on 7 does hold in Los Angeles. In Chicago, CBS is on 2 and ABC is on 7, but NBC is on 5 (channel 4 was assigned to Milwaukee, which is incidentally an NBC affiliate). In DC, NBC is on 4 and ABC is on 7, but CBS is on 9 (channel 2 was assigned to Baltimore).

On FM, the largest cities had their FM stations allocated like (92.3, 93.1, 93.9, 94.7, 95.5, 96.3, 97.1, 97.9, 98.7, 99.5, 100.3, 101.1, 101.9, 102.7, 103.5, 104.3, 105.1, 105.9, 106.7, 107.5). These cities were New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit/Windsor, and (mostly) Washington/Baltimore. Salt Lake City follows from 96.3 on up, while Denver follows from 99.5 on up. Other large cities do have several of those allocations in a row, such as Dallas-Fort Worth (96.3 through 101.1).

Little Rock is similar with NBC on 4 and ABC on 7, but CBS is on 11.

The Dallas FM market is completely saturated. Stations have to be 0.4 MHz apart by FCC rules, and the only open frequencies available are 99.9 FM (which is a popular frequency for Christmas light displays, funny enough) and 104.1 (which went dark after the Cumulus-CBS merger due to FCC market ownership rules).

[Beltway]

Down in Charlottesville, WUVA and WTJU are obvious.

In the DC area, WAVA refers to "Arlington, Virginia," as that's where the station is based. WTOP took those call letters because it used to be at the "top" of the AM band; it no longer is, but the brand was well-established. WAMU is affiliated with American University. WFED, which has WTOP's old AM slot, is "Federal News Radio." WHUR is affiliated with Howard University ("R" denoting "Radio"). WRQX (used to be Q-107) apparently means "Washington RoQX"; they later went to one of those annoying "Mix" formats but kept the call letters, and now apparently they are Top 40 again (I haven't listened to them in years). WMAL refers to its founder's initials.
WINC-FM is based in Winchester and its call letters reflect that.

I figured that WMAL came from "Washington Mall", as the station is based in the D.C. area.

WRVA is rather obvious being based in Richmond, VA.

[bing101]

http://bayarearadio.org/audio/kqw/kqw_30th-anniv_nov-10-1945.shtml

KQW-AM San Jose it was the previous call letters for KCBS-AM. And its been noted for being the first radio station in the USA. Its interesting that Entercom has two radio stations that claim first radio station in the USA one is KCBS-AM in San Francisco and KDKA-AM in Pittsburgh.

[DTComposer]

http://bayarearadio.org/audio/kqw/kqw_30th-anniv_nov-10-1945.shtml

KQW-AM San Jose it was the previous call letters for KCBS-AM. And its been noted for being the first radio station in the USA. Its interesting that Entercom has two radio stations that claim first radio station in the USA one is KCBS-AM in San Francisco and KDKA-AM in Pittsburgh.

It depends how you choose to define KQW/KCBS. Charles Herrold did start broadcasting from San Jose in 1909 and is generally considered the first broadcast station in the country. But all commercial stations were suspended during World War I, and Herrold started broadcasting again by early 1921, it was under a different license, and at least three other stations (including KDKA) had started broadcasting in 1920. Herrold applied for a third license (which was assigned KQW) and began operating as that in late 1921.

So while Herrold could certainly be considered the first commercial radio broadcaster in the country, whether KQW/KCBS itself could be considered the first station is a matter of debate.

[bing101]

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/122829/kqv-to-be-resurrected/










Here is an update on KQV

[CapeCodder]

KMOX 1120 Kirkwood MissOuri X-mas (at least that's the legend )

KTRS 550 K-Talk Radio Saint louis

KWRE 730 K-WaRrEnton

WEW 770 We Enlighten the World

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

KHOG-TV Fayetteville, AR in the 60's it was an AM radio station. Now it's Channel 29.

KUAF FM Fayetteville  University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

KFSA Radio Fort Smith, AR

KNWA-TV Northwest Arkansas was an FM station in the 60's and 70's,

KSMU FM -Missouri State University (formerly Southwest Missouri State University), Springfield, MO

KARN-FM Little Rock, AR  HQ if the Arkansas Radio Network

KEMV-TV Mountain View, AR part of AETN (Arkansas PBS)

From what I've read, KFSM used to be a radio turned news station back in the 60's. Named after the airport before they dropped the "˜K' from it's callsign.


iPhone

[US71]

KHOG-TV Fayetteville, AR in the 60's it was an AM radio station. Now it's Channel 29.

KUAF FM Fayetteville  University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

KFSA Radio Fort Smith, AR

KNWA-TV Northwest Arkansas was an FM station in the 60's and 70's,

KSMU FM -Missouri State University (formerly Southwest Missouri State University), Springfield, MO

KARN-FM Little Rock, AR  HQ if the Arkansas Radio Network

KEMV-TV Mountain View, AR part of AETN (Arkansas PBS)

From what I've read, KFSM used to be a radio turned news station back in the 60's. Named after the airport before they dropped the "˜K' from it's callsign.

Donrey Media owned KFSA radio and TV, plus the Southwest Times Record, plus billboards.  Donrey was forced to sell their broadcast units, so the TV and radio went to separate owners, and KFSA TV had to change to KFSM  A little known fact is if the FCC had rejected KFSM, their alternate choice would have been  KOAV (Oklahoma-Arkansas (Channel) 5 )

But yeah, the airport is FSM.

[thenetwork]

A had a pair of 10-watt "pirate" radio station stations I briefly ran where I used to live.  One was WAST (waste radio) and the other was WRPT (warped radio).

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

A had a pair of 10-watt "pirate" radio station stations I briefly ran where I used to live.  One was WAST (waste radio) and the other was WRPT (warped radio).

I'm guessing the first one was a waste of time? 🤣


iPhone

[jasonh300]

I'm late to this discussion, but New Orleans has:

WRNO - 99.5 FM - "We're The Rock of New Orleans" , or officially Westbank Radio New Orleans, due to the location of the transmitter–a mile west of the Mississippi (hasn't played rock or any other type of music since around 2006 when iHeartMedia bought it from its independent owner and turned it all talk)

We also have WGNO-TV26 which happens to work out to Greater New Orleans, but also happens to be owned by WGN-Chicago

WTUL 91.5FM - Tulane University radio.

WBYU 95.7FM - originally a Schulke Beautiful Music Station, but has had a dozen other formats in the last 25 years, has always been called Bayou

WSMB was New Orleans' first professional radio station starting in 1925. SMB stood for Saenger Maison Blanche, with Saenger being the local theater that provided the broadcast, and Maison Blanche being the huge local department store, just down Canal Street from the Saenger, where they pushed radios and promoted the station. The station was originally 1350 AM, but at some point moved to 103.7 FM and became WWWL, as it's now owned by Entercomm, which owns WWL 870AM/105.3FM/Channel 4 CBS-TV (our 3-letter station). Incidentally, WWL-870 still claims to be a clear channel station, and can be picked up all across the Gulf Coast and elsewhere. In around 2008, I was with friends in New York City on a car buying trip, and the Saints were in the playoffs, and, after sunset, we were able to pick up WWL way up in that area for a little while on the 30 year old analog car radio.


iPhone

[jwolfer]

My friend grew up in Buffalo listening to "alternative music" on CFNY from Toronto.

She told me it stood for C F*** New York

Z981

[bing101]

My friend grew up in Buffalo listening to "alternative music" on CFNY from Toronto.

She told me it stood for C F*** New York

Z981

  Damn

[briantroutman]

^ Not a call sign, but the above comment brought this to mind.

Bruce Williams, who used to do a nightly national radio show on practical business and financial matters, once told a story about meeting and talking with...I believe it was Jack Goeken, the founder of MCI. The upstart long distance provider had been in a decades-long battle with AT&T, and the tooth-and-nail fighting made Goeken a tenacious little opponent.

Anyway, Goeken managed to secure the toll-free number (800) 382-5288 ...which they always advertised using just the digits.

But (not so) coincidentally, the digits correspond to (800) F___-ATT.



But back to the original topic, I wonder how many licenses were truly random.  I have to think that the desire to pick letters that sounded good in sequence–or even the temptation just to use your children's initials or something like that–would be too great.

Some call letters that I long assumed were random, like my hometown's legacy talk station, WRAK, I later learned were the initials of the station's founder, Rudolph A. King.

[jflick99]

There's two KCMOs on the FM dial here, but one is a low power simulcast of the AM station of the same call letters. The FM station with the actual calls is a different format.

Actually, calls leading in "KC" are as done to death here as "WV" ones are in West Virginia. The aforementioned KCMO (Kansas City, MissOuri) is one, but there's a few others I can name off the top of my head - KCTV (Channel 5), KCFX (101.1 FM, called "The Fox"), KCPT (Channel 19, PBS affiliate - Kansas City Public Television), KCUR (89.3 FM, NPR station). I'm sure there's a lot more.

There's also a KSMO (Channel 62) whose calls are for Kansas and Missouri's postal abbreviations, but most of the other stations starting with "KS" here didn't get them from the KS abbreviation.

Aside from the aforementioned WHB, there's another station here with W-calls - WDAF, which is one of the TV stations (Channel 4, Fox affiliate). The calls supposedly stand for "Why Dial Any Further." The calls came from a radio station with the same calls, though I don't believe the calls are on radio here anymore.

There's 610 Sports Radio - KCSP (Kansas City SPorts), KC 102.1 - KCKC (Kansas City Kansas City), X105.1 - KCJK (Kansas City's JacK FM; a holdover from when it was Jack FM, it rebranded as X105.1, an alternative rock station; Jack FM is now on 102.5 KCMO-HD2), and 99.7 The Point - KZPT (KanZas PoinT)

[allniter89]

WDOV a.m. radio in DOVer DE
WKEN a.m. radio in KENt county, DE

[KEVIN_224]

In Hartford/New Britain/Middletown:

WTIC-AM 1080 Hartford...Traveler's Insurance Corporation (original owners), sometimes The Insurance Capitol
WMRD-AM 1150 Middletown...MeRiDen, CT? (Borders Middletown to the west)
WATR-AM 1320 Waterbury...WATeRbury
WDRC-AM 1360 Hartford...Doolittle Radio Company
WPOP-AM 1410 Hartford...POPular music, which they were heavy on about 50 years ago.

WESU-FM 88.1 Middletown...WESleyan University
WRTC-FM 89.3 Hartford...Radio Trinity College (?)
WNPR-FM 90.5 Meriden...NPR public radio affiliate (National Public Radio?)
WWUH-FM 91.3 West Hartford...University of Hartford
WZMX-FM 93.7 Hartford...Mix, referring to The New Mix 93.7, the station's format about 25 years ago.
WYBC-FM 94.3 New Haven...Yale Broadcasting Company
WKSS-FM 95.7 Hartford/Meriden...KISS 95.7 and 95.7-WKSS going back several years
WTIC-FM 96.5 Hartford...see WTIC-AM 1080
WUCS-FM 97.9 Windsor Locks/Hartford...Ultimate Connecticut Sports (?) [It's our ESPN Radio affiliate]
WILI-FM 98.3 Willimantic...WILlImantic, a section of Windham in eastern Connecticut
WRCH-FM 100.5 New Britain...RICH FM-100, back in the station's beautiful music days, pre-1989.
WDRC-FM 102.9 Hartford...see WDRC-AM
WMRQ-FM 104.1 Waterbury/Hartford...Modern Rock (also had those letters when they were modern before)
WIHS-FM 104.9 Middletown...We're In His Spirit (religious station)
WHCN-FM 105.9 Hartford...Hartford Concert Network, informally Hartford, CoNnecticut.

[golden eagle]

More Mississippi call letters...

WLBT-TV is named for Lamar Broadcast Television. Lamar is Lamar Life Insurance.
WJTV-TV: Jackson TeleVision
WAPT-TVWe're American Public Television (American Public Life Insurance)
WLOO-TougaLOO College (My Network affiliate)
WDAM-TV: David A. Madison (original owner's initials)
WXXV-TV: XXV is the Roman numeral for 25, their former analog dial position.  It's the same for KXXV in Texas.

One interesting set of calls: WJKK (Mix 98.7) in Jackson. JKK stood for "Jackson's Kapitol Kountry" (no lie). The format changed to its current adult contemporary format 20 years ago, but the call letters were never changed.