As we all know the FCC controls what part of the radio dial (the frequency) a radio station is to broadcast at as well as the range and area it is to be covered. Stations west of the Mississippi River are to begin with the letter "K" and those east of it are to begin with "W."
However, the rest of the lettering is determined by the person applying for the radio station license upon availability. Two stations cannot have the same exact call letters as they are identification codes rather than for listeners. In Florida there are two WFLA stations, however one is officially WFLF and states it at the top of the hour when all radio stations and TV broadcasters are required by law to state their licensed call letters.
Did anyone ever give a thought to where the stations obtained their call letters for their license?
Well in Dover, NJ WDHA came up with it as an abbreviation for the company that originally owned them: Drexel Hill Associates.
WPLJ, the long defunct Rock Station now American Top 40, actually used the phrase Pure Lemon Juice.
WVNJ, now Z100 in NYC, was based in Verona, NJ which is where the letters came from.
WPAT, the station that all the pre WWII born generation listened to that the baby boomers and the rest of the generations coined as "Sleepy elevator music" that died in Northern, NJ after most of the generation that supported it passed away, was obviously named for the city it broadcasted from which was Paterson.
In Melbourne, FL WDMC is a Catholic Radio Station for the Space and Treasure Coast listening area in Florida and is named for the Divine Mercy, a name given to a vision that was seen by a Catholic nun several centuries ago, plus the last "C" is for "Catholic."
I believe the defunct WDIZ in Orlando got its name from Disney.
Then we know that WABC and KABC got their names from the network we call "The American Broadcasting Company."
Any other stations in your area that you know of how they obtained their call letters for the FCC?
I heard that KFWB is acronym for Keep Filming Warner Brothers
WABC once stood for Atlantic Broadcasting Company back in the 1930-1940's in New York before CBS had to change 880am to WCBS to prevent confusion with 770 AM.
There has to be quite a few call letters that are based on their location. A few that come to mind are WQAD in the Quad Cities and WLNS in Lansing, MI. KWQC in the Quad Cities also has makes regional sense (I don't know if this is true, but the K and W seem to represent the two sides of the Mississippi and QC stands for Quad Cities).
Apparently, a lot of the older ones are based on acronyms, like WGN (World's Greatest Newspaper) and WLS (World's Largest Store, referring to Sears) in Chicago, and WOC (Wonders of Chiropractic) in Davenport. Actually, the wikipedia pages for a lot of radio stations give meanings, but I'm not sure how many of them are actually true.
KFOG San Francisco got its name from the weather.
KIIS Los Angeles got its name from 1150 am.
KGO and KNBR got their names from their original owners NBC and GE.
Interesting enough though KGO was NBC Blue for San Francisco and KNBR was NBC Red San Francisco in their initial years until there was an order that KGO and KNBR need to go to different owners due to laws FCC had to enforce in the 1940's. KGO went to ABC, Disney, Citadel before Cumulus in 2011. kNBR went to NBC then there were other owners before Cumulus got to KNBR.
Cumulus is the only group that I could think of that reunited the Former NBC Red and NBC Blue stations KGO and KNBR in 2011 via Citadel takeover.
KCBS San Francisco and KCBS Los Angeles from CBS inc
A few I know of:
WEWS in Cleveland comes from E.W. Scripps, founder of the station's parent company.
WCVB in Boston stands for Channel V Boston (they were on analog channel 5). Not even the only one with Roman numerals in town....WLVI's LVI is for its analog channel number, 56.
WGBH in Boston refers to Great Blue Hill (where the original TV transmitter was and the radio transmitter still is; God Bless Harvard is an urban myth).
Quote from: roadman65 on January 31, 2015, 02:15:53 PMWPLJ, the long defunct Rock Station now American Top 40, actually used the phrase Pure Lemon Juice.
Nope. "White Port and Lemon Juice," a Four Deuces song, repeated the letters "W-P-L-J." Zappa covered it, and made it cool to the FM rock crowd, WPLJ's audience.
Nothing defunct about WPLJ, just the rock radio format (whose audience is the modern equivalent of the dying/dead easy-listening crowd you cited). Not many stations have kept a consistent format as long as PLJ has, close to 35 years.
Quote from: roadman65 on January 31, 2015, 02:15:53 PM
Stations west of the Mississippi River are to begin with the letter "K" and those east of it are to begin with "W."
I always wondered how KDKA in Pittsburgh and KYW in Philadelphia got K call letters.
KDKA is the oldest radio station I think and got its K before the rule. Others were WOC Davenport and the still WHO in Des Moines
Chicagos all news WBBM was We broadcast better music
From Wikipedia:
"The KDKA callsign was assigned sequentially from a list maintained for the use of US-registry maritime stations"
The best station in all of Massachusetts, WMBR, is named for its location in the basement of the MIT building Walker Memorial:
Walker
Memorial
Basement
Radio.
Its earlier call letters were purchased by some redneck from Atlanta for the price of a station equipment overhaul. Guess the dude thought "WTBS" (Technology Broadcasting Service when at MIT) had a future.
Quote from: Pete from Boston on January 31, 2015, 03:18:56 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on January 31, 2015, 02:15:53 PMWPLJ, the long defunct Rock Station now American Top 40, actually used the phrase Pure Lemon Juice.
Nope. "White Port and Lemon Juice," a Four Deuces song, repeated the letters "W-P-L-J." Zappa covered it, and made it cool to the FM rock crowd, WPLJ's audience.
Nothing defunct about WPLJ, just the rock radio format (whose audience is the modern equivalent of the dying/dead easy-listening crowd you cited). Not many stations have kept a consistent format as long as PLJ has, close to 35 years.
Since I graduated high school WPLJ has been the way it has. 1983 when I went away to Florida for vacation right after graduation to be exact. You are right that they kept their format as long as they did as many die out within a decade or two.
KFAB:
Fine
Automobile:
Buick
I want to say WPVI is Philadelphia (P), Channel 6 (Roman Numeral VI).
WPHL - Which one would correctly assume is a Philly station, goes to a rather low-key channel: Philly's Channel 17, now a MyTV network.
Quote from: jemacedo9 on January 31, 2015, 03:19:52 PM
I always wondered how...KYW in Philadelphia got K call letters.
I think they moved from another city and were permitted to transfer the call letters.
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.
Coos Bay OR (and Coos County) got their first commercial AM radio station on 1230 Khz in 1924. The callsign reflected that: KOOS.
Rick
Radio stations these days have such stupid names.
In the '80s, Cincinnati got WWNK, which meant Wink 94.1. I have no idea why they called their station Wink 94.1, because they should have known everyone would call it Stink 94.1.
Many in this area are geographically based.
WCBJ stands for Campton, Beattyville, Jackson.
WJSN is in JackSoN
WMOR in Morehead, Ky.; WMKY is the Morehead State University public radio station.
WVLK is the Voice of Lexington, Ky.
WIRV is in Irvine.
I've heard that WLAP is for Lexington And Paris.
The radio station (and now TV station) in my town is religious-based. Its call letters are WLJC, for Wonderful Lord Jesus Christ (or alternately, We Love Jesus Christ).
KQRS Minneapolis/St. Paul - Quality Radio Station
KSFO San Francisco, from the city
KING Seattle, from King County
KQED San Francisco from QED the end of a formal proof
KUOW Seattle, from Univ. of Washington
KPLU Seattle, from Pacific Lutheran Univ.
KPFA Berkeley, from Pacifica Radio the owning chain
Pretty much every station in the US has the origin of its callsign listed in its Wikipedia article, usually right in the infobox at the top.
Clarkson's student-run radio station is WTSC, from Thomas S. Clarkson, the man the university is named after.
WNET New York stands for the former Public TV Network now known as PBS
WNYC New York City initials are given.
WNEW Washington,DC stands,for New York
KPBS San Diego stands for Public Broadcasting System but its really owned by San Diego state university and they have not only TV 15 but also have the NPR newstalk feed for San Diego.
Quote from: 3467 on January 31, 2015, 03:34:21 PM
KDKA is the oldest radio station I think and got its K before the rule. Others were WOC Davenport and the still WHO in Des Moines
Chicagos all news WBBM was We broadcast better music
CBS has 2 radio stations that hold the claim first radio station in america KCBS San Francisco from its previous owner of 740 am San Francisco KQW-AM by,Doc herrod in 1909. And KDKA in 1920.
WQED Pittsburgh,Pa has the same meaning as KQED and they are both public broadcasters in their markets
KCSM San Mateo College of San Mateo
KPCC Los Angeles (Pasadena City College) currently owned by American Public Media.
KRAK Sacramento that used to exist but 1140am Sacramento is now known as KHTK am
KRAK does not sound good these days.
KOIT an entercom station in San Francisco stands for Coit Tower in the city.
KXJZ Capital Public Radio stands for excellence in jazz but its really a Public News talk station for Sacramento.
In Hartford/New Britain/Middletown:
WZMX-FM 93.7 Hartford (Hot 93.7) alluded to a prior station format of The New Mix 93.7. A previous life of the station was as WLVH-FM, the "Latin Voice Of Hartford."
WKSS-FM 95.7 Hartford/Meriden (Kiss 95.7) alluded to a prior station format of beautiful music. The station became a Top 40 station in 1984, rebranded as 95.7-Kiss FM and competed with WTIC-FM 96.5 of Hartford.
WTIC-FM 96.5 Hartford, alluded to prior station ownership by the Traveler's Insurance Corporation with sister station WTIC-AM 1080. Both stations are owned by CBS Radio today.
WUCS-FM 97.9 Windsor Locks/Hartford is our ESPN Radio affiliate. The letters mean "Ultimate Connecticut Sports."
WRCH-FM 100.5 New Britain/Hartford is A/C powerhouse Lite 100.5 today. The letters alluded to "Rich - FM 100" and a pre-1989 beautiful music format.
WDRC-FM 102.9 Hartford alluded to the Doolittle Radio Company. It's is considered to the state's first FM station.
WMRQ-FM 104.1 Waterbury/Hartford alludes to the station's Modern Rock/Alternative format times: From 1994 to 2003 and from the late 2000s to today. When Clear Channel owned the station, it had a life as WPHH-FM, and was Urban-formatted Power 104.1.
WIHS-FM 104.9 Middletown is a non-commercial religious station. The letters mean "We're In His Service."
WHCN-FM 105.9 Hartford is presently Classic Hits "The River 105.9." The letters may mean "Hartford, Connecticut" for some. They actually stood for "Hartford - Concert Network". It was part of a regional group with then-WBCN-FM 104.1 of Boston and WRCN-FM 103.9 in Riverhead, NY (Long Island).
WCCC-FM 106.9 Hartford was once owned by a prominent Hartford business man named Bill Savitt. a long time jeweler store owner. Supposedly, the letters alluded to something like Cut, Carat and Clarity. I'm not 100% sure though. The station became a long time rocker in the 1970s and even employed Howard Stern. Today, they're a religious K-Love station. (Yawn!)
West Virginia area, mostly:
Obviously the easy "WV" is used to death.
TV:
WSAZ - assigned sequentially, reputed to be "worst station from A to Z" but that is an ex post facto joke
WCHS - from radio station.
WVAH - West Virginia Almost Heaven
WOWK - W Ohio West Virginia Kentucky
WKAS - W Kentucky AShland
WVPB - WV Public Broadcasting
WOAY - was supposed to be WOAK, for Oak Hill, WV, FCC misread hand written application
WVVA - West Virginia/Virginia
WVNS - WV's News Station
WSWP - W Southern West (Virginia) Public (Broadcasting)
WVPN - West Virginia Public (Broadcasting) North
WTRF - from radio station
WTOV - W TV for the Ohio Valley
WVFX - WV Fox (network)
RADIO:
WBES - BESt music (actually has been a talk station for decades)
WCHS - CHarleSton (ironically the airport code for the other Charleston)
WCWV - W Central West Virginia
WJLS - W Joe L. Smith (original owner)
WMON - MONtgomery
WSCW - W South Charleston West (Virginia)
WVAF - West Virginia AM and FM
WVPB - WV Public Broadcasting
WFGH - W Fort Gay High (student station, since consolidated into Tolsia High)
WVSR - WV Stereo Radio
WVTS - WV's Talk Station
WMXE - Mix of Entertainment.
WVHU - WV HUntington
WCMI - Where Coal Meets Iron (city motto of Ashland, KY, and my person favorite call sign in the country)
WIRO- W IROnton
WLGC - Wealthy Lawyers of Greenup County (may be apocryphal)
WRVC - W RiVer Cities
WMUL - W Marshall University Labs (student station)
WBKW - W BecKley West (Virginia)
WTNJ - W Tony (Gonzales) and Nicky Joe (Rahall, recently tossed out congressman)
WWNR - WW Nicky (Joe) Rahall
WAJR - W Agnes J. Reaves (owner)
WCLG W C. Lesslie Goldays (owner)
WWVU - W WVU (student station)
WFBY - FM station in Clarksburg, home of the FBI labs. Wanted WFBI, but FCC would not let them
WHIS - W Hugh Ike Shott (Senator and former owner)
WHAJ - W Hank and Jim (Shott) his sons
WTRF - W Two Radio Frequencies (first AM FM pair in area)
WWVA - Wheeling West Virginia
WBAL (TV Channel 11, 1090 AM radio) - Baltimore
WMAR (TV Channel 2) - Maryland
WBFF (TV Channel 45) - Baltimore's Finest Features
WMPT (TV Channel 22) - Maryland Public Television
WJLA (TV Channel 7) - Initials of former owner
WUSA (TV Channel 9) - USA today (station is owned by Gannet)
WRC (TV Channel 4) - RCA televisions and other electronic hardware (NBC was formerly owned by RCA)
WPGC (FM 95.5) - Prince George's County, Maryland
WASH (FM 97.1) - Washington, D.C.
WWDC (FM 101.1) Washington, D.C.
@ SP COOK: I'm curious about WBOY-TV (NBC) channel 12 in the Clarksburg/Weston market. (LOL). WDTV-TV (CBS) channel 5 of Weston sounds like a generic FCC assignment. Does WTRF-TV (CBS) channel 7 of Wheeling have any meaning with the call letters?
@ CPZILLIACUS: Gannett also owns and operates KUSA-TV (NBC) channel 9 in Denver. :P
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on February 01, 2015, 10:09:48 AM
@ SP COOK: I'm curious about WBOY-TV (NBC) channel 12 in the Clarksburg/Weston market. (LOL). WDTV-TV (CBS) channel 5 of Weston sounds like a generic FCC assignment. Does WTRF-TV (CBS) channel 7 of Wheeling have any meaning with the call letters?
WBOY, AFAIK, is just a random call letters set.
WDTV was originally the calls of KDKA in Pittsburgh, standing for DuMont TV, after the failed DuMont network of the 1950s, when DuMont went under, that station became KDKA. Meanwhile WJPB in Weston, WV got to move from UHF (where it was failing) to VHF and took over the WDTV calls, as the area was (and remains) heavily cabled and the call were familiar to people there, as they got TV from Pittsburgh along with local stations.
WTRF stands for "Two Radio Frequencies" and comes from the pre-TV radio stations, the first in the area to be an AM-FM pair.
Quote from: bing101 on February 01, 2015, 12:30:04 AM
KDKA is the oldest radio station I think and got its K before the rule?
KDKA isn't even close to being the oldest radio station, nor did Westinghouse, its original owner, ever claim it was.
KDKA went on the air on November 2, 1920, in time to report the results of the presidential election, but there were many stations transmitting programs to the general public many years prior to KDKA's inaugural broadcast, most notably the already mentioned KQW, which went on the air in 1909.
Westinghouse's claim was that KDKA was the first station to have a license to broadcast issued by a governmental regulatory agency (at that time, the Department of Commerce). However, again, licenses had been issued by the DoC to radio stations long before KDKA's was issued. The myth of "the first licensed station" was a product of Westinghouse's aggressive PR department, and thus in some circles the myth became fact, despite reams of evidence to the contrary.
As to KDKA's call sign, for a brief period of time in 1920 radio station call signs were assigned sequentially from a block of call signs reserved for maritime stations. There were less than ten stations assigned call signs by this method and KDKA is the only one still on the air.
Quote from: bing101 on January 31, 2015, 02:49:43 PM
WABC once stood for Atlantic Broadcasting Company back in the 1930-1940's in New York before CBS had to change 880am to WCBS to prevent confusion with 770 AM.
Er, not quite.
WABC/880, owned by CBS, changed its call sign to WCBS in 1946. WJZ/770, owned by The Blue Network (divested by NBC in 1943) which became ABC, changed its call sign to WABC in 1953. ABC deliberately waited for a while after its corporate name changed to make sure the public no longer associated WABC with the station on 880.
WDKX in Rochester is named for Frederick Douglass, M. L. King, and Malcolm X. Must be a country & western station.
WXXI is Roman numerals for 21, the corresponding TV channel.
I always wondered where WMJQ came from. Remember WMJQ?
If KQW-AM now known as KCBS-AM 740 is 106 years old why did KDKA end up getting credit for First radio station in America. KCBS got that claim of First station in America from its previous owner Doc Herrod in 1909 and KQW was based in San Jose,CA. KQW did not move to San Francisco until World War II and CBS later took over KQW San Francisco and renamed it KCBS.
WKZO in Kalamazoo.
I wonder, when stations have names that are similar to their call letters, which came first? I imagine quite a few stations that go by things like "WAAA, Aaaah" took advantage of how their call letters sounded.
More Windy City goodies:
WCGO-Chicago
WFLD-Field Broadcasting (original owner before sale to Fox)
WKSC-Kiss Chicago
WLIT-Lite FM
WLS-World's Largest Store
WNUA-Nu (New) Age (predecessor to longtime Smooth Jazz format)
WSCR-Score
WTMX-The Mix
WPOZ in Orlando, known as Z88 music safe for the little ears, is called that for the fact they like to call the very music that Bugo here hates, as being positive music for the whole family.
A little bit of southern Maine:
WCSH-TV (NBC) channel 6 Portland: Original studios were in the Congress Square Hotel.
WMTW-TV (ABC) channel 8 Poland Spring: Original transmitter site was on Mount Washington, NH.
WCBB-TV (PBS) channel 10 Augusta: PBS affiliate started up with a combined effort of Colby, Bates and Bowdoin Colleges.
WGME-TV (CBS) channel 13 Portland: Alluded to previous owners, Guy Gannett Broadcasting. Not to be confused with Gannett Broadcasting, Inc., the current owners of WCSH-TV channel 6.
WPFO-TV (FOX) channel 23 Waterville: "P"ortland "FO"x.
WPME-TV (MY) channel 35 Lewiston: "P"ortland, "ME" (postal abbreviation).
WPXT-TV (CW) channel 51 Portland: "P"ortland "F"ox "T"elevision (was FOX from network's launch until 2001).
WGAN-AM 560 Portland: Alludes to Guy Gannett Broadcasting. See channel 13 above (former sister station).
Quote from: bing101 on February 01, 2015, 01:17:20 PM
If KQW-AM now known as KCBS-AM 740 is 106 years old why did KDKA end up getting credit for First radio station in America.
As I stated previously, it was due to Westinghouse's PR department. Their claim has been repeatedly discredited, although some continue to believe it.
The defunct CFCF AM station in Montreal was for "Canada's First, Canada's Finest". It got a spin-off with the tv station CFCF-12.
CHLT 630 AM (now known as CKOY-FM) in Sherbrooke is for the newspaper "La Tribune" who also owned briefly CHLT-TV.
CKAC in Montreal is for "Canadien-Kilocycle-Amérique-Canada".
Quote from: Stephane Dumas on February 01, 2015, 06:31:42 PM
The defunct CFCF AM station in Montreal was for "Canada's First, Canada's Finest". It got a spin-off with the tv station CFCF-12.
CHLT 630 AM (now known as CKOY-FM) in Sherbrooke is for the newspaper "La Tribune" who also owned briefly CHLT-TV.
CKAC in Montreal is for "Canadien-Kilocycle-Amérique-Canada".
My friend grew up near Buffalo. Listening to alternative music on CFNY Which supposedly stood for C--Fuck New York
Jacksonville's Fox TV affiliate just changed to WFOX last year after being WAWS since signing on. I am surprised New York didn't get that.
When channel 47 in Jax first came on it was WXAO a religious station standing for "Christ (written as X shorthand) the alpha and the omega " ( it makes me laugh when some church person gets all bent out of shape about X-mas. Dumbass X is short for Jesus Christ)
WTLV is for channel 12
WJAX is obvious.
We used to have WAIA a reference so The iconic SR A1A
And I used to like WIOI they said w101 for FM 100.7 which in radio dial days was 101 FM
Well WKY in Oklahoma City is west of the Mississippi starting with a W. Back in the day, 60s & 70s, when I was young, WKY and KOMA also Oklahoma City were the stations with the music. KOMA was extremely strong back then. I picked it up in Yellowstone and Big Bend National Parks in a 1970 Impala with an "in the windshield" antenna.
WKY is Oldest in Oklahoma, 3rd oldest west of the Mississippi, second west of the Mississippi, to have W as the initial letter, 28th oldest in the nation.
WBAP is west of the Mississippi, one of a few. It is a very strong station.
These are only two examples but there are several others because they were "grandfathered" in before the FCC moved the line to the Mississippi.
Radio is horrible anymore. I can't even stand to listen to it now.
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 of the Arkansas Radio Network (formerly KARK radio)
KEMV-TV Mountain View, AR part of AETN (Arkansas PBS)
Quote from: leroys73 on February 01, 2015, 09:07:20 PM
These are only two examples but there are several others because they were "grandfathered" in before the FCC moved the line to the Mississippi.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fearlyradiohistory.us%2Fkwbigmap.gif&hash=b3e7352b6af41caad43324f61700245ba8f5e830)
This map shows all the current K/W anomalies on the AM band (excluding Louisiana and Minnesota, which are divided by the Mississippi River):
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fearlyradiohistory.us%2Fkwtoday.gif&hash=9e99e44c4a57f9f570bf611b2cc8f59587438324)
The key to the colors:
Purple: 1920-1921 anomaly--KDKA.
Blue: pre-January 1923 boundary shift--WBAP, WDAY, WEW, WHB, WJAG, WKY, WNAX, WOAI, WOC, WOI, WTAW.
Gray: ex-portable--WBBZ, WIBW, WMBH.
Dark Green: moved to other side of the Mississippi-- KSGM.
Red: requested call--KFNS, KWAM, WDBQ, WHO, WMT, WSUI, WUMY.
Light Green: government assigned call--KTGG.
Black: reason unknown--KFIZ, KQV, KYW.
I do know this: Back in the '80s, KWK-AM in St. Louis purchased an FM station that they wanted to call KWK-FM. But the city of license for the FM was Granite City IL, so they had to give it a 'W' call sign. So the FM became WWWK, not KWK.
http://radioinsight.com/community/
For more in depth discussion in radio
Well KECA once stood for Earl C Anthony former Owner of 790 am Los Angeles.
Today Its known as KABC Los Angeles
KABC TV 7 is owned by Disney but KABC Radio is owned by Cumulus
KSAN San Francisco stands for San Francisco
KSJO stand for San Jose
KMET stands for MetroMedia.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/KFOX-TV
KFOX in El Paso Texas but the station is not a Fox Owned station its a Fox Contract station.
The odd part is that KTTV Los Angeles never got the KFOX letters in 1986-1987 when Fox started.
KTWV Los Angeles is The Wave.
KNEW San Francisco based on previous owner Metromedia
KPFK Los Angeles based on Pacifica Radio Ownership
KPFT Pacifica Radio Texas.
KXPR Sacramento Excellence in Public radio, Owned by Capital Public Radio and Sacramento State University.
KOFY San Francisco Coffee.
WINS New York based on Initial Owner International News Service.
Quote from: kendancy66 on January 31, 2015, 02:30:14 PM
I heard that KFWB is acronym for Keep Filming Warner Brothers
WB was definitely Warner Brothers, but they also had KDWB in Minneapolis. There was also KEWB, but I don't know where that was (currently licensed near Redding, CA).
In Los Angeles, KMPC was based on McMillan Petroleum Company.
In Minneapolis, WCCO was Washburn Carlson Company (now Pillsbury).
Lots of stations with the location name incorporated into the call signs.
A local UHF TV station near the Twin Cities, KXLI, was on Channel 41. (Notice the Roman numerals).
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWJ_(AM)
A second CBS O&O WWJ-AM Detroit has evidence that they signed on 3 months before KDKA went on the air.
KDIS Los Angeles named after Disney radio
KSPN Los Angeles named after ESPN Radio
KSAC named after the city of Sacramento.
KNTU is named for the University of North Texas. For some reason they decided to rearrange the letters. :-D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KAMU-TV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KAMU-TV)
Well KAMU Means Texas A&M University.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KUT
KUT means University of Texas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KUHT
University of Houston.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KKYX
Wikipedia Claims that KABC Used to exist in Texas before Los Angeles 790 Got KABC?
Many stations in Mississippi are named after the cities they serve:
WVBG Vicksburg
WJXN Jackson
WCLD Cleveland
WTUP Tupelo
We also have some named for the colleges they located at (WJSU-Jackson State University and WUSM-University of Southern Mississippi).
Re: the K-W anomaly, there was a station licensed to Sardis, MS, named KBUD. I don't know how this ever came to be because it wasn't licensed to any community west of the Mississippi, and the station came in the air in the 2000s. They've changed calls since and it now begins with a W.
Soon after I read some of this thread, this article popped up on the Asbury Park Press:
http://www.app.com/story/entertainment/2015/01/29/faye-gade-owner-of-whtg-and-alt-rock-pioneer-dies/22558427/ (http://www.app.com/story/entertainment/2015/01/29/faye-gade-owner-of-whtg-and-alt-rock-pioneer-dies/22558427/)
Now I know where they got the "HTG" in WHTG.
I used to listen to this station a lot in college in the 90s, when it was still "Modern Rock at the Jersey Shore". They played a good dose of local and up and coming bands. Matt Pinfield, later of MTV and VH1 fame, got his start here. They later switched over to a much more commercial rock format, and eventually went down the tubes as expected, before reinventing themselves as a country station.
In TV land, WGTW (the more recent of channel 48s in the Philadelphia market) used to identify themselves as "Good Television to Watch".
WMMR in Philadelphia, like KNEW is named for Metro Media Radio.
Also anybody care to comment on WKTU in NYC? It has been used twice, first on the station that was once K Rock (forgot its call letters) and then later applied to another NYC market station. I remember in the 70's it was the Tri State area's Disco Station. In fact it was called Disco 92, WKTU. Then when disco died and rap came into existence (as the station was classified as Urban Contemporary) the Disco name was dropped only to use Ninety- Two WKTU extending the "U" at the end.
WOGL 98.1 in Philly is Old GoLd, it's an oldies station
WTAF-29 now WTXF (FOX29) used to mean W TAFt for Taft commnications, the owners prior to FOX.
WHYY-12 (PBS) Wider Horizons for You and Yours
WDPB-64 (PBS/Satellite Station for WHYY) W-Delaware Public Broadcasting
WPSG-57, W-Paramount Stations Group, former owners under UPN.
WPPX-61 Philadelpia PaX
WUVP-65 UniVision Philadelphia
WPHL-17 Philadelphia
Quote from: roadman65 on February 03, 2015, 06:45:11 AM
WMMR in Philadelphia, like KNEW is named for Metro Media Radio.
KNEW is named for Metromedia? WNEW in New York was a Metromedia station, but it was named for New York, not Metromedia. In fact, the WNEW letters predate Metromedia.
Quote from: Pete from Boston on February 03, 2015, 10:14:08 AM
WNEW in New York was a Metromedia station, but it was named for New York, not Metromedia.
No it wasn't.
John Zarpaylic, an engineer for the station, claimed years ago to having been privy to a conversation between the station's original owners, Milton Biow and Arde Bulova (yes, he also ran a watch-making business), during the construction of the transmitter site in Carlstadt NJ, concerning what to call the station. Biow supposedly said, "We haven't had a station built in this area since 1928. I think the best call letters we could have are WNEW, which says
new. New in the metropolitan area. The newest thing in radio."
Quote from: roadman65 on February 03, 2015, 06:45:11 AM
Also anybody care to comment on WKTU in NYC? It has been used twice, first on the station that was once K Rock (forgot its call letters) and then later applied to another NYC market station. I remember in the 70's it was the Tri State area's Disco Station. In fact it was called Disco 92, WKTU. Then when disco died and rap came into existence (as the station was classified as Urban Contemporary) the Disco name was dropped only to use Ninety- Two WKTU extending the "U" at the end.
K Rock was WXRK. It went to WFNY (for Free New York) when it went to an all-talk format following Howard Stern's departure in 2006. It went back to WXRK within a year or two, then eventually to WNOW, and now is WBMP, branded as Amp 92.3.
KOAM-TV Pittsburg, KS "Kansas/Oklahoma/Arkansas/Missouri"
There's a series of stations "KSN--" Kansas State News --".
KSNW Wichita
Quote from: SidS1045 on February 03, 2015, 11:17:06 AM
Quote from: Pete from Boston on February 03, 2015, 10:14:08 AM
WNEW in New York was a Metromedia station, but it was named for New York, not Metromedia.
No it wasn't.
John Zarpaylic, an engineer for the station, claimed years ago to having been privy to a conversation between the station's original owners, Milton Biow and Arde Bulova (yes, he also ran a watch-making business), during the construction of the transmitter site in Carlstadt NJ, concerning what to call the station. Biow supposedly said, "We haven't had a station built in this area since 1928. I think the best call letters we could have are WNEW, which says new. New in the metropolitan area. The newest thing in radio."
If you dare argue with the great and infallible Wikipedia then I shall have to ask you to step outside!
But seriously, I think we all just assumed when I was growing up that it as New York. So it's not New York, and it's not Metromedia.
Quote from: SidS1045 on February 01, 2015, 10:55:10 PM
This map shows all the current K/W anomalies on the AM band (excluding Louisiana and Minnesota, which are divided by the Mississippi River):
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fearlyradiohistory.us%2Fkwtoday.gif&hash=9e99e44c4a57f9f570bf611b2cc8f59587438324)
The key to the colors:
Purple: 1920-1921 anomaly--KDKA.
Blue: pre-January 1923 boundary shift--WBAP, WDAY, WEW, WHB, WJAG, WKY, WNAX, WOAI, WOC, WOI, WTAW.
Gray: ex-portable--WBBZ, WIBW, WMBH.
Dark Green: moved to other side of the Mississippi-- KSGM.
Red: requested call--KFNS, KWAM, WDBQ, WHO, WMT, WSUI, WUMY.
Light Green: government assigned call--KTGG.
Black: reason unknown--KFIZ, KQV, KYW.
In addition to these AM anomalies I know of WRR-FM in the Dallas/Fort Worth area
WSB Atlanta stands for "Welcome south, brother".
Quote from: Roadrunner75 on February 03, 2015, 12:31:14 AM
Soon after I read some of this thread, this article popped up on the Asbury Park Press:
http://www.app.com/story/entertainment/2015/01/29/faye-gade-owner-of-whtg-and-alt-rock-pioneer-dies/22558427/ (http://www.app.com/story/entertainment/2015/01/29/faye-gade-owner-of-whtg-and-alt-rock-pioneer-dies/22558427/)
Now I know where they got the "HTG" in WHTG.
I used to listen to this station a lot in college in the 90s, when it was still "Modern Rock at the Jersey Shore". They played a good dose of local and up and coming bands. Matt Pinfield, later of MTV and VH1 fame, got his start here. They later switched over to a much more commercial rock format, and eventually went down the tubes as expected, before reinventing themselves as a country station.
In TV land, WGTW (the more recent of channel 48s in the Philadelphia market) used to identify themselves as "Good Television to Watch".
FM106.3...listened to it all thru the end of hs and college.. Great music back in the day.
WKRP either stands for nothing or for "crap," but were a compromise because the preferred choices were being used by real radio stations.
It was fictional and in real life such a station would not work. A boss that does nothing in his office except play childish games. An overpaid secretary who does not even type or take notes. A nieve news reporter who reports things that the general public cares hardly anything. A narcissistic salesman who gets the station into trouble with sleazy clients. Then a space cowboy DJ who is out of it.
The only two normal people in the office were Andy Travis and Venus Flytrap who really had no quirks, but if it were not for the former that station would have never made it to the point they did.
Even though not practical, a very funny sitcom though.
Quote from: roadman65 on February 04, 2015, 09:46:58 AM
It was fictional and in real life such a station would not work. A boss that does nothing in his office except play childish games. An overpaid secretary who does not even type or take notes. A nieve news reporter who reports things that the general public cares hardly anything. A narcissistic salesman who gets the station into trouble with sleazy clients. Then a space cowboy DJ who is out of it.
The only two normal people in the office were Andy Travis and Venus Flytrap who really had no quirks, but if it were not for the former that station would have never made it to the point they did.
Even though not practical, a very funny sitcom though.
Can anyone think of a show that's both funny and practical?
Quote from: empirestate on February 04, 2015, 10:03:54 AM
Quote from: roadman65 on February 04, 2015, 09:46:58 AM
It was fictional and in real life such a station would not work. A boss that does nothing in his office except play childish games. An overpaid secretary who does not even type or take notes. A nieve news reporter who reports things that the general public cares hardly anything. A narcissistic salesman who gets the station into trouble with sleazy clients. Then a space cowboy DJ who is out of it.
The only two normal people in the office were Andy Travis and Venus Flytrap who really had no quirks, but if it were not for the former that station would have never made it to the point they did.
Even though not practical, a very funny sitcom though.
Can anyone think of a show that's both funny and practical?
I find these foolish sitcoms most impractical.
Funny not practical, I said. Yes it was funny because it made you laugh especially when Les Nesman butchered the famous golfer's name Chi Chi Rodriguez with Ch-eye Ch-eye Rod rig ooh wiz. The fact that he is supposed to be professional at his job and know a simple name like Rodriquez and hardly knew it made it laughable.
As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
And while we're on the subject of fictional radio stations, the call letters KACL in the sitcom Frasier stood for the last names of the show's creators: Angell, Casey and Lee. Easy to remember.
Quote from: 6a on February 03, 2015, 05:41:53 PM
In addition to these AM anomalies I know of WRR-FM in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
...which exists because, once upon a time, there was a WRR(AM) on that map.
There's also WIL-FM in St. Louis, named after yet another AM station gone from that map. Even though WIL was licensed to St. Louis (west of the Mississippi), their transmitter site was in East St. Louis IL, east of the Mississippi, therefore a "W" call sign. (Historical footnote, for those of you who are NYC radio aficionados: WIL was the "farm team" for the great air staff of the 1960's and 1970's at WABC/New York. Jack Carney, Ron Lundy (who debuted on WIL as the "Wil' Child"), Dan Ingram, Bob Dayton ("Rockin' Robin Scott") and George Michael all worked at both stations.)
Quote from: SidS1045 on February 04, 2015, 02:35:54 PM
Quote from: 6a on February 03, 2015, 05:41:53 PM
In addition to these AM anomalies I know of WRR-FM in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
...which exists because, once upon a time, there was a WRR(AM) on that map.
There's also WIL-FM in St. Louis, named after yet another AM station gone from that map. Even though WIL was licensed to St. Louis (west of the Mississippi), their transmitter site was in East St. Louis IL, east of the Mississippi, therefore a "W" call sign. (Historical footnote, for those of you who are NYC radio aficionados: WIL was the "farm team" for the great air staff of the 1960's and 1970's at WABC/New York. Jack Carney, Ron Lundy (who debuted on WIL as the "Wil' Child"), Dan Ingram, Bob Dayton ("Rockin' Robin Scott") and George Michael all worked at both stations.)
I've always found a certain mystique about the three letter call signs - I think it's just the novelty and old school nature of the ones still in use. Most especially the oddball ones like WGY in Schenectady that were powerhouses in old power towns. Not to mention the original clear channels (like WGY) where there might have been a total of two stations on that frequency in the country, which says something about the lack of power line interference in a lot of the country at the time. Oh, to be a DXer back then!
QuoteAs we all know the FCC controls what part of the radio dial (the frequency) a radio station is to broadcast at as well as the range and area it is to be covered. Stations west of the Mississippi River are to begin with the letter "K" and those east of it are to begin with "W."
Of note, amateur radio callsigns appear to be the opposite. I got my "ham" license in North Carolina and my callsign starts with a K.
KNBA 1190 Vallejo stood for North Bay Area.
KOVR Sacramento stood for Coverage.
KOCE PBS SoCal stands for Orange County Educational TV.
KCAL Los Angeles stands for California but KCal in Metric stands for kilocalorie
KXTV Sacramento stands for TV 10
KRON stands for San Francisco Chronicle Former Owner.
KBHK Stands for Henry Kaiser
According to a very early broadcast recording that they play occasionally, WGY, one of the earliest stations, selected its call letters W for wireless, G for General Electric, and Y for the last letter in Schenectady.
Quote from: 6a on February 04, 2015, 06:02:12 PMNot to mention the original clear channels (like WGY) where there might have been a total of two stations on that frequency in the country, which says something about the lack of power line interference in a lot of the country at the time. Oh, to be a DXer back then!
If you go back farther, you'll find that on the original clear channels (640, 650, 660, 670, 700, 720, 750, 760, 770, 780, 820, 830, 840, 870, 880, 890, 1020, 1030, 1040, 1100, 1120, 1160, 1180, 1200 and 1210) there was only *one* station on each frequency. The definition of "clear channel" is a frequency which is "clear" of interference from other stations.
However, since the early 1980's there have been no "clear" channels on the AM band. WOAI/San Antonio, on 1200, was the last station to occupy a truly "clear" channel.
Quote from: roadman65 on February 04, 2015, 10:48:21 AM
Funny not practical, I said. Yes it was funny because it made you laugh especially when Les Nesman butchered the famous golfer's name Chi Chi Rodriguez with Ch-eye Ch-eye Rod rig ooh wiz. The fact that he is supposed to be professional at his job and know a simple name like Rodriquez and hardly knew it made it laughable.
My favorite Les line is in the episode when Herb has briefly separated from his wife, and when the guys are all at Johnny's apartment hanging out and Herb wants to go to a club to meet women, Les says "One-night stands get a little old after awhile, Herb!" Everyone turns to look at him as if to say "how would you know?"
Quote from: Pete from Boston on February 04, 2015, 09:30:46 AM
WKRP either stands for nothing or for "crap," but were a compromise because the preferred choices were being used by real radio stations.
I read that a station in Salt Lake City changed its call letters to KRPN so that they could have a musical top-of-the-hour ID that modified the close of the show's theme song to "WKRP 'n Salt Lake City" . Apparently (surprisingly), adding an extraneous "W" to the ID didn't run afoul of FCC regulations.
Quote from: roadman65 on February 04, 2015, 09:46:58 AM
It was fictional and in real life such a station would not work. ...Even though not practical, a very funny sitcom though.
Perhaps it would have been impractical in real life, but I recall hearing more than a few broadcasters say that WKRP–more than any other fictional radio station–came the closest to representing life in radio.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on January 31, 2015, 05:00:08 PM
I want to say WPVI is Philadelphia (P), Channel 6 (Roman Numeral VI).
That is correct.
WJBR in northern Delaware comes from "Just Beautiful Radio", its slogan up until 1985 when it changed formats.
WILM is for Wilmington, Delaware.
WDEL is for Delaware.
KSAL in Salina, KS is named for the city of Salina.
@ ELSMERE241: Do the letters of WSTW-FM 93.7 Wilmington mean anything?
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on February 08, 2015, 07:59:58 PM
@ ELSMERE241: Do the letters of WSTW-FM 93.7 Wilmington mean anything?
I have no idea.
The call sign KTAR in Phoenix supposedly once stood for "Keep Taking the Arizona Republic" newspaper.
KAZG, an oldies station in Phoenix, stands for "Arizona Gold."
KBAQ, the local classical music outlet in Phoenix calls themselves "K-Bach."
KWTO Springfield, MO "Keep Watching The Ozarks"
KOLR-TV Springfield, MO "Color"
KUOA: originally the University of Arkansas, sold to John Brown University in Siloam Springs. Now it broadcasts ESPN Radio
WBNS, Columbus - stood for Wolfe Banks, News, and Shoes. Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WBNS-TV
WXIX 19, Cincinnati - XIX=19 in roman numerals
The Hawaiian island of Kauai has a station called KUAI.
WBUF - Buffalo, NY
WATR-AM 1320 of Waterbury, CT. We even had a WATR-TV channel 20 of Waterbury once. Today, that's WCCT-TV (CW).
From my knowledge on local radio stations' call letters: K-Des stands for "desert", K-PSI for "Palm Springs/Indio", K-PLM simply for "palm", KWXY is still a mystery (ROFL) and K-UNA for "one" in Spanish, the Spanish language station owned by KESQ-TV (ABC), owner of sister TV stations KCWQ (CW), KDFX (Fox) and KPSP (CBS). I can look it up on Wikipedia's articles on radio and TV stations, but take it with a pinch of salt since it's on Wikipedia...stations' official web sites can explain more in detail.
When I lived in Hawaii, I was just barely within reach of an album-rock station in Honolulu called KDUK--"The Duke 98-Rock." They later became KPOI, poi being a Hawaiian staple side dish.
KNPR Las Vegas stands for Nevada Public Radio
KUOP Stockton stands for University of the Pacific.
Quote from: hm insulators on February 10, 2015, 04:44:05 PM
The call sign KTAR in Phoenix supposedly once stood for "Keep Taking the Arizona Republic" newspaper.
KAZG, an oldies station in Phoenix, stands for "Arizona Gold."
KBAQ, the local classical music outlet in Phoenix calls themselves "K-Bach."
KTAR indeed stood for "Keep Taking (the) Arizona Republic. The paper owned the station from 1928 to 1946 and it became KTAR in 1929. It was KFAD from its 1922 sign-on until the Republic bought it and changed it to KREP. After too many "misunderstandings" of the callsign, they changed it to KTAR a year later. Now, it's just ESPN Radio 620 on Ancient Modulation, with news/talk on FM 92.3.
Also in Phoenix, both radio and TV:
Various abbreviations for Phoenix or Phoenix, AZ: KPHO-TV Ch. 5 (and KPHO radio between 1940 and 1971), KPNX Ch. 12, KPAZ-TV Ch. 21, KFNX 1100, KPHX 1480 (currently silent), KNIX 102.5 (and AM 1580 in the 1980s).
KAET Ch. 8: Originally stood for Arizona Educational Television.
KSAZ-TV Ch. 10: Originally stood for "The Spirit of Arizona" before it was bought by Fox.
KNXV-TV Ch. 15: Originally stood for "New 15," for New Television of Arizona, its original owner.
KFYI 550: "For Your Information," a right-wing talker.
KGME 910: "The Game" when it first signed on in 1994 on AM 1360. Now Fox Sports 910.
KKNT 960: Don't ask! Somebody at Salem really screwed that one up. :pan:
KDUS 1060: Sports station originally known as "The Deuce." Later known as "The Fan" and now NBC Sports Radio 1060.
KKKQ 1060: An early '90s predecessor to KDUS. Another gem of a call letter choice -- it was a station catering to African-Americans with "KKK" in the call. It quickly was changed to KUKQ. :pan:
KFNN 1510: "Financial News Network," although I don't think it was ever affiliated with the old TV broadcaster of that name.
KFLR 90.3: Family Life Radio, originally on AM 1230.
KJZZ 91.5: Phoenix's public radio station used to air jazz music for 12 hours a day, now cut back to 3.
KDKB 93.3: "Dwight-Karma Broadcasting," who owned the station in the 1970s. Also AM 1510 at that time.
KOOL 94.5: "It's always KOOL in Phoenix," a slogan from the 1940s and '50s when it was on AM 960. Also the original call letters for Channel 10.
KYOT 95.5: "Coyote," a smooth-jazz station until a few years ago. Now known as a classic-rock station called The Mountain.
KUPD 97.9: "Cupid" was its original name back in the early 1960s, then simulcasted on AM 1060.
KMVP 98.7: "Most Valuable Player," a sports station originally on AM 860.
KMLE 107.9: "Camel Country 108"
Quote from: Jim on February 04, 2015, 11:13:10 PM
According to a very early broadcast recording that they play occasionally, WGY, one of the earliest stations, selected its call letters W for wireless, G for General Electric, and Y for the last letter in Schenectady.
Most 3-letter calls were sequentially assigned, but there were exceptions like WGY:
WGN Chicago: World's Greatest Newspaper (Chicago Tribune)
WLS Chicago: World's Largest Store (original owner Sears-Roebuck)
KUT Austin: University of Texas
WMT Cedar Rapids: Waterloo Morning Tribune
Also, if you look it up, you'll find that there were no 3-letter callsigns in the KAA to KCZ block. Those calls were assigned to Germany prior to 1929, which was around the same time that the FRC stopped issuing them. It's also why Westinghouse got KDKA in 1920, rather than, say, KAAA.
Quote from: froggie on February 04, 2015, 08:07:56 PM
QuoteAs we all know the FCC controls what part of the radio dial (the frequency) a radio station is to broadcast at as well as the range and area it is to be covered. Stations west of the Mississippi River are to begin with the letter "K" and those east of it are to begin with "W."
Of note, amateur radio callsigns appear to be the opposite. I got my "ham" license in North Carolina and my callsign starts with a K.
All new Technician and General class ham licenses are issued 2x3 callsigns starting with K, and have since late 1978. Prior to that, all new hams got 2x3 calls starting with W. Why they changed it, I have no idea.
It has nothing to do with how broacast calls are assigned, though. The ham assignments have changed several times since the Feds first assigned callsigns in 1912.
Quote from: KeithE4Phx on December 04, 2017, 12:21:46 PM
All new Technician and General class ham licenses are issued 2x3 callsigns starting with K, and have since late 1978. Prior to that, all new hams got 2x3 calls starting with W. Why they changed it, I have no idea.
1978 is when they made the change to automated sequential callsign assignment. K < W.
KUNT is a pirate radio station in Denton, named for the University of North Texas in that city.
South Bend:
WNDU (NBC TV plus FM and formerly AM) = Notre Dame University (though it's actually University of Notre Dame), orignal owner
WSBT (CBS TV plus AM) = South Bend Tribune, original owner
WSJV (formerly ABC TV, then FOX TV, now H&I TV) = Saint Joseph Valley
WBND (ABC TV) = south BeND
WCWW (CW TV) = self-explanatory
WNIT (PBS TV) = Northern Indiana Television
WHME (LeSea TV) = World Harvest Michiana Entertainment
WSND (FM) = Students of Notre Dame
WVFI (AM) = Voice of the Fighting Irish
Quote from: jeffandnicole on January 31, 2015, 05:00:08 PM
Quote from: jemacedo9 on January 31, 2015, 03:19:52 PM
I always wondered how...KYW in Philadelphia got K call letters.
I think they moved from another city and were permitted to transfer the call letters.
That is correct. KYW started in Chicago circa 1921, then moved to Philadelphia circa 1934. It would move to Cleveland circa 1956 and then back to Philadelphia in 1965. They started their present
all-news all-the-time format some 3 months after returning to Philly.
Wiki Account of KYW Radio History (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KYW_(AM))
WKY radio in Oklahoma City, also the name of a TV station (now KFOR 4 NBC).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WKY
Now a Spanish-language radio station, similar to KHJ 930 in L.A. from 1990-2015.
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on February 01, 2015, 01:25:00 AM
In Hartford/New Britain/Middletown:
WZMX-FM 93.7 Hartford (Hot 93.7) alluded to a prior station format of The New Mix 93.7. A previous life of the station was as WLVH-FM, the "Latin Voice Of Hartford."
WKSS-FM 95.7 Hartford/Meriden (Kiss 95.7) alluded to a prior station format of beautiful music. The station became a Top 40 station in 1984, rebranded as 95.7-Kiss FM and competed with WTIC-FM 96.5 of Hartford.
WTIC-FM 96.5 Hartford, alluded to prior station ownership by the Traveler's Insurance Corporation with sister station WTIC-AM 1080. Both stations are owned by CBS Radio Entercom today.
WUCS-FM 97.9 Windsor Locks/Hartford is our ESPN Radio affiliate. The letters mean "Ultimate Connecticut Sports."
WRCH-FM 100.5 New Britain/Hartford is A/C powerhouse Lite 100.5 today. The letters alluded to "Rich - FM 100" and a pre-1989 beautiful music format.
WDRC-FM 102.9 Hartford alluded to the Doolittle Radio Company. It's is considered to the state's first FM station.
WMRQ-FM 104.1 Waterbury/Hartford alludes to the station's Modern Rock/Alternative format times: From 1994 to 2003 and from the late 2000s to today. When Clear Channel owned the station, it had a life as WPHH-FM, and was Urban-formatted Power 104.1.
WIHS-FM 104.9 Middletown is a non-commercial religious station. The letters mean "We're In His Service."
WHCN-FM 105.9 Hartford is presently Classic Hits "The River 105.9." The letters may mean "Hartford, Connecticut" for some. They actually stood for "Hartford - Concert Network". It was part of a regional group with then-WBCN-FM 104.1 of Boston and WRCN-FM 103.9 in Riverhead, NY (Long Island).
WCCC-FM 106.9 Hartford was once owned by a prominent Hartford business man named Bill Savitt. a long time jeweler store owner. Supposedly, the letters alluded to something like Cut, Carat and Clarity. I'm not 100% sure though. The station became a long time rocker in the 1970s and even employed Howard Stern. Today, they're a religious K-Love station. (Yawn!)
WHCN dj's used to joke that CCC stood for Copy Copy Copy. Also a running joke that the PLR in WPLR in New Haven stands for Play a Lotta Repeats, and might have been part of a network including WPLJ. WMRQ was once WWCO, sister station to WWCO-AM (still exists as part of the Talk of Connecticut network run by WDRC-AM) , then WIOF (sort of looks like 10Four) in it's country and "Magic 104" soft AC days, then WYSR when it was rebranded "Star 104". BTW, I fixed WTIC ownership to Entercom.
Hartford/New Haven Television Call Letters:
WFSB 3 (CBS): Once known as WTIC (see above), and was a sister station to the radio stations. Became WFSB when sold to the Washington Post and named after broadcasting division president
Frederick
S Beebe.
WTNH 8 (ABC):
Television
New
Haven. Once known as WNHC which stood for New Haven, Connecticut (WPLR mentioned above was originally WNHC-FM)
WUVN 18 (Univision): Has to do with its Univision affiliation. Once known as WHCT, standing for Hartford, Connecticut
WCCT 20 (CW): Once known as WATR (see above) and WTXX (Television and the roman numeral for 20). Now stands for
CW and the postal sign
CT. Sister station of WTIC
WEDH 24/ WEDW 49/ WEDN 53/ WEDY 65 (PBS): All part of CPTV (Connecticut Public Television). The ED stands for educational, the last letters stand for location: H for Hartford, W for Western CT, N for Norwich, and Y for Yale (New Haven)
WVIT 30 (NBC): Call letters associated with its old owner Viacom (now an O&O), and stands for
Viacom
International
Television. Once known as WNBC for New Britain, Connecticut before the network flagship took th letters, then as WHNB, standing for Hartford/New Britain
WCTX 59 (My Network): CT the postal code, and the station was once branded as "The X" when it became a UPN affiliate. Was once a repeater for WVIT, then became a low-powered WTVU before becoming WBNE (Warner Brothers New England) when it was a WB affiliate (swapped affiliations with WCCT in 2001). Sister station of WTNH.
WTIC 61 (FOX): Revival of old WTIC call letters (see above), but no relation to the radio stations other than shared weather resources. Proposed call letters were WETG in honor of former governor Ella T Grasso. Sister station of WCCT.
Quote from: wxfree on December 04, 2017, 01:44:09 PM
KUNT is a pirate radio station in Denton, named for the University of North Texas in that city.
Maybe there's a pirate using that call for comedic purposes, but the call of the university station is actually KNTU.
WJR in Detroit is for Jewitt Radio the original owners.
WDIV in Detroit is for Detroit 4 as it's on channel 4, the NBC station.
WJBK in Detroit stands for Jesus Be Kind.
WOMC in Detroit comes from Wayne, Oakland, Macomb Counties.
Tulsa:
KFMJ: Fred & Mary Jones -- Jones owned a Ford Motor CO. re-manufacturing plant in OKC, as well as Ford dealerships in OKC and Tulsa.
KRMG: From names of Kerr-McGee oil company partners Senator Robert S. Kerr & Dean McGee.
KTUL: Tulsa. Originally a radio station, now Channel 8.
KWGS: William G. Skelly -- Tulsa oilman & philanthropist.
KVOO: Voice of Oklahoma (from 50,000-watt AM days).
Tulsa's first UHF station was (short-lived) KCEB in the mid-'50s. Founder Elfred Beck's last name spelled backwards.
The state of Utah has a large radio/TV market, including eastern NV, and parts of ID, WY, CO and Az. - KENV (NBC) 10 of Elko, Nev. with a translator on 7 in Winnemucca (KWNV). And KKOH 780 Reno Nv. covers the entire west...west of the Rockies, that is (night time).
Quote from: briantroutman on February 05, 2015, 02:25:03 PM
Perhaps it would have been impractical in real life, but I recall hearing more than a few broadcasters say that WKRP–more than any other fictional radio station–came the closest to representing life in radio.
Soon my video game podcast is going to have a special episode about mine and my co-host's radio careers.
Let's just say, in my experience, WKRP is a documentary.
Quote from: Pete from Boston on February 04, 2015, 09:30:46 AM
WKRP either stands for nothing or for "crap," but were a compromise because the preferred choices were being used by real radio stations.
If I recall correctly there was a WKRC in Cincinatti around the time of the sitcom.
Oh. The Radio station I worked for..
WKAN - I'm assuming it stands for Kankakee
WYKT - Not sure, but they called themselves THE KAT! (Later changed, for a short while to "The Pickle" for some unknown reason)
and WXNU - No idea. This was a new radio station Star Radio created when a new frequency became available.
Quote from: inkyatari on December 07, 2017, 05:15:24 PM
Quote from: Pete from Boston on February 04, 2015, 09:30:46 AM
WKRP either stands for nothing or for "crap," but were a compromise because the preferred choices were being used by real radio stations.
If I recall correctly there was a WKRC in Cincinatti around the time of the sitcom.
And there still is. The CBS/CW TV affiliate, and an iHeart radio station have those call letters.
Quote from: Road Hog on December 05, 2017, 02:44:24 PM
Quote from: wxfree on December 04, 2017, 01:44:09 PM
KUNT is a pirate radio station in Denton, named for the University of North Texas in that city.
Maybe there’s a pirate using that call for comedic purposes, but the call of the university station is actually KNTU.
Somehow, don't think the FCC (or Industry Canada) would allow those last three letters in that order. Maybe they would if they were assigned to another school in Texas: Sam Houston Institute of Technology
Holy City was a purported utopian community along CA-17 between Los Gatos and Santa Cruz founded by William Riker in 1919. In the 1920s he operated a radio station with the call letters KFQU. I'm surprised they let those letters through.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_City,_California (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_City,_California)
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on December 07, 2017, 10:45:56 PM
Quote from: Road Hog on December 05, 2017, 02:44:24 PM
Quote from: wxfree on December 04, 2017, 01:44:09 PM
KUNT is a pirate radio station in Denton, named for the University of North Texas in that city.
Maybe there's a pirate using that call for comedic purposes, but the call of the university station is actually KNTU.
Somehow, don't think the FCC (or Industry Canada) would allow those last three letters in that order. Maybe they would if they were assigned to another school in Texas: Sam Houston Institute of Technology
I don't know if it's still running. According to the Dallas Observer, it was run by a student from his dorm room in 2013. It's likely he's graduated by now. The station's Facebook page, linked to in the article, hasn't been updated since 2014.
http://www.dallasobserver.com/music/meet-the-mad-scientist-operating-pirate-radio-station-kunt-out-of-a-denton-dorm-room-7049249 (http://www.dallasobserver.com/music/meet-the-mad-scientist-operating-pirate-radio-station-kunt-out-of-a-denton-dorm-room-7049249)
Quote from: DTComposer on December 07, 2017, 11:05:52 PM
Holy City was a purported utopian community along CA-17 between Los Gatos and Santa Cruz founded by William Riker in 1919. In the 1920s he operated a radio station with the call letters KFQU. I'm surprised they let those letters through.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_City,_California (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_City,_California)
I heard of Holy City, one of a few cities disincorporated in CA history (in 1959, after 33 years being a city). It was founded on the principle of religious living, esp. prohibition and temperance. Prohibition was federal law: the 18th amendment of the US constitution from 1919 to its repeal by the 21st amendment in 1933.
I'd be surprised if a radio station existed with the calls KCUF, as that is a major swearword spelled backwards.
Is there a list of callsigns that are banned for vulgar use, like there is one for vanity plates?
Quote from: Henry on December 08, 2017, 09:02:17 AM
I'd be surprised if a radio station existed with the calls KCUF, as that is a major swearword spelled backwards.
Is there a list of callsigns that are banned for vulgar use, like there is one for vanity plates?
Going through some of Mr. Carlin's seven deadly words and a couple others. There is no CRAP in Canada, none involving 3 or 4 letters of the F-word or the vulgar (or slightly less vulgar) word for urination, none involving the "T" word for bosoms, no W or K SHT, no WUSS, C or K RZY, or WTF. There is a KRAP in Missouri, a W and K DAM in Mississippi and South Dakota, a W and K MFR in North Carolina and Texas, and a WHOP in Kentucky. The most interesting is KSKR in Oregon
KSXY, a FM station in Fresno in the 1990s...an interesting call sign if you ask me. "KDAM" (KDMM) 103.1 in the Parker AZ area covers nearby Lake Havasu City on one side of the Colorado river and Needles with Blythe CA on the other. And KFBK 1530 from Sacramento is one letter too close to the F word, heard across California and the western states.
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on December 08, 2017, 11:01:54 AM
There is no CRAP in Canada...
That's because CR callsigns are assigned to Portugal, part of that country's CQ-CU block, not Canada. Canada's "C" blocks includes CF-CK plus CY-CZ and, unoficially, CB. The latter two are not (yet) used for broadcasters, and they have a long-standing agreement with Chile to use the CB block (Chile owns the CA-CE block) for CBC-owned stations.
QuoteThe most interesting is KSKR in Oregon
There's KKNT in Phoenix.
Quote from: bing101 on January 31, 2015, 02:49:43 PM
WABC once stood for Atlantic Broadcasting Company back in the 1930-1940's in New York before CBS had to change 880am to WCBS to prevent confusion with 770 AM.
880 changed call letters from WABC to WCBS in 1946, three years after the NBC Blue Network became ABC. 770 changed from WJZ to WABC in 1953.
Quote from: bing101 on February 01, 2015, 12:26:52 AMWNEW Washington,DC stands,for New York
Nope.
The call letters came from the station on 1130 in New York City. The original owners of the station, Milton Biow and Arde Bulova (who also founded a well known watch company), wanted to convey to their listeners that theirs was a NEW station in the New York area.
Quote from: SidS1045 on December 09, 2017, 07:53:05 PM
Quote from: bing101 on January 31, 2015, 02:49:43 PM
WABC once stood for Atlantic Broadcasting Company back in the 1930-1940's in New York before CBS had to change 880am to WCBS to prevent confusion with 770 AM.
880 changed call letters from WABC to WCBS in 1946, three years after the NBC Blue Network became ABC. 770 changed from WJZ to WABC in 1953.
WJZ supposedly stood for New Jersey when WJZ was signed for NBC Blue affiliate in New York in the 1930's and 1940's.
But WJZ was later used for a CBS-TV affiliate in Baltimore, MD.
Jacksonville FL has WFOX for the fox affilliate. Which surprises me it's not in NYC
WTLV is channel TweLVe NBC
WJAX is channel 47 the CBS affiliate
WJXT for JaXTv is the oldest TV station in Jacksonville long time CBS affiliate
Channel 47 started as a Christian Station it's call letters were WXAO X (shorthand for Christ) the Alpha and the Omega
----------------
Some Jax Radio call letters from the past I liked were
WIOI " w one o one" for 100.7 FM back when radio dials were used
WAIA was 93.3 FM after the iconic a1a.. the roadgeeks favorite station LOL
WDBO is the big talk station in Orlando.. used to be am 580.. I always assumed it was for 'Daytona Beach Orlando" back when Orlando split media with Daytona Beach and it was a small unknown mid Florida city but apparently it was for "Way Down By Orlando"
WPBF is a tv station in West Palm Beach Florida .. like WWVA is Wheeling WV
Z981
Here's a few more:
WJOL - AM 1340 in JOLiet, Illinois.
WLUP - FM 97.9 in Chicago, as The Loop (pronounce LUP).
WTMX - FM 101.9 in Chicago, as The MiX.
WSCR - AM 670 in Chicago, as The SCoRe.
WDRV - FM 97.1 in Chicago, as The DRiVe.
WMBI - AM 1110 and FM 90.1 for the Moody Bible Institute.
WMTU - FM 91.9 in Houghton, MI for Michigan Technological University - the student-run station yours truly was a DJ on. :sombrero:
Here in Huntsville, a local station, WLRH, has a (slightly) interesting story behind it's call letters. The station was started in the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library, so they used it's location and what they were providing as the letters, with each having a specific meaning (other than the W):
L - Library
R - Radio
H - Huntsville
The station is now located on UAH's campus, and is the station that broadcasts NPR for the Huntsville, AL area on 89.3 FM.
KFOX El Paso, TX surprised that Fox never used those calls for Fox 11 Los Angeles though.
KOIT San Francisco for Coit tower
KIOI San Francisco for 101.3 fm
KRAK Sacramento
KUIC Vacaville for Suisun
KECA Los Angeles for Earl c Anthony.
Twin Cities:
KQRS: Quality Radio Station
KARE (NBC): obvious
KMSP (FOX)/KSTP (ABC): should be obvious
WCCO: previously detailed
Duluth:
WDSE (PBS): Duluth-Superior Educational
KDLH (CBS): obvious
WIRT (Hibbing-based satellite of ABC): Iron Range Television
KQDS (FOX/leading FM station): Quality Duluth Superior
North Louisiana stations:
KSLA (Ch. 12): Shreveport, LA
KTAL (Ch. 6): Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana
KTBS (Ch. 3): Texarkana, Bossier City, Shreveport (a guess)
KNOE (Ch. 8): Named for James A. Noe, owner of the station.
KTVE, KARD, KMSS, are other stations I can't figure out.
Quote from: cjk374 on December 10, 2017, 09:58:37 AM
North Louisiana stations:
KTVE, KARD, KMSS, are other stations I can't figure out.
Is KMSS close enough to Mississippi that it could be named after Mississippi (either the state or the river)?
Quote from: 1 on December 10, 2017, 11:53:23 AM
Quote from: cjk374 on December 10, 2017, 09:58:37 AM
North Louisiana stations:
KTVE, KARD, KMSS, are other stations I can't figure out.
Is KMSS close enough to Mississippi that it could be named after Mississippi (either the state or the river)?
According to the Wikipedia article, it stands for the original owner - Media South Shreveport.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KMSS-TV
KTXL Sacramento - Television 40.
KTLA Los Angeles Television Los Angeles
KTSF San Francisco -Television San Francisco.
KOSF San Francisco - Oldies San Francisco
Formerly, 600 KRCR, also a TV station on channel 7 (ABC) in Northern California, based in the (R)edding-(C)hico-(R)ed Bluff area. Used to be the signals of both radio and TV stations went as far south as Yuba City-Marysville and Colusa, and far north as Yreka, Mount Shasta and Tule Lake on the OR-CA state line. They used to have transmitters in the area between 40N and 42 Latitude, from the NV-CA state line (Alturas and Susanville in the Reno NV TV market, to the Pacific coast (Fort Bragg and Ukiah in Mendocino county in the Eureka CA TV market). Now in CA, 600 AM is reserved for KOGO San Diego at night time hours to be received throughout the 800-some mile long state.
CFCF AM radio (the owners created later CFCF-TV 12 who became later CTV Montreal) was for
Canada's
First
Canada's
Finest
In the 1980s, KECY-FM 92.7 - had their antennae in the eastern Coachella Valley by the Salton sea to serve both Palm Springs, and the Imperial and Yuma valleys. It was a country music station, before changing call letters and genres. KECY TV channel 9 in El Centro (ast the time, a CBS affiliate for the Imperial and Coachella valley region) owned the radio station. Today, CBS radio (former owner of KECY) owns KEZN 103.1 based in Palm Desert (Palm Springs radio market), but was formerly KCPS (was on 1300) in Indio until 1990. The radio and TV markets of Yuma Az includes Blythe CA and Parker AZ to the north.
Quote from: Brandon on December 09, 2017, 11:37:39 PM
Here's a few more:
WJOL - AM 1340 in JOLiet, Illinois.
WLUP - FM 97.9 in Chicago, as The Loop (pronounce LUP).
WTMX - FM 101.9 in Chicago, as The MiX.
WSCR - AM 670 in Chicago, as The SCoRe.
WDRV - FM 97.1 in Chicago, as The DRiVe.
WMBI - AM 1110 and FM 90.1 for the Moody Bible Institute.
WMTU - FM 91.9 in Houghton, MI for Michigan Technological University - the student-run station yours truly was a DJ on. :sombrero:
WIND, AM 560: It's in Chicago, and we know Chicago's nickname. And no, the nickname doesn't have and never has had anything to do with the weather.
On the TV side, WTTW (Ch. 11 in Chicago) got its call letters by using an acronym that stands for "Window to the World."
Quote from: Super Mateo on December 12, 2017, 11:02:20 PM
WIND, AM 560: It's in Chicago, and we know Chicago's nickname. And no, the nickname doesn't have and never has had anything to do with the weather.
Except that WIND was originally licensed to Gary,
Indiana.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KSWD_(FM)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KKLQ_(FM)
KSWD Los Angeles and now Seattle (Entercom) Sound
KRAK Sacramento Later Victor Valley not what we think of Crack today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KMPS_(AM)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KHTK
Quote from: bing101 on December 13, 2017, 04:31:36 PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KSWD_(FM)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KKLQ_(FM)
KSWD Los Angeles and now Seattle (Entercom) Sound
KRAK Sacramento Later Victor Valley not what we think of Crack today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KMPS_(AM)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KHTK
Why would you do this ?
Quote from: renegade on December 14, 2017, 03:31:06 AM
Quote from: bing101 on December 13, 2017, 04:31:36 PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KSWD_(FM)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KKLQ_(FM)
KSWD Los Angeles and now Seattle (Entercom) Sound
KRAK Sacramento Later Victor Valley not what we think of Crack today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KMPS_(AM)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KHTK
Now corrected.
No. The problem is that it's 2-size font for no reason.
KQV Pittsburgh stood for "King of the Quaker Valley" when it chose those call letters in 1921.
I say "stood" because, as of December 31, KQV is no more. It's signing off after 98 years on the air (starting as experimental 8ZAE in 1919). The owners just can't justify the business model of an independent all-news outlet in what is now a secondary market. It's been all-news since 1975. No potential buyer and/or format change was contemplated. They're just turning off the transmitter and will probably find a buyer -- likely a religious broadcaster -- later.
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2017/12/15/KQV-radio-going-off-the-air-Dec-31-all-news-format-Robert-W-Dickey-Jr/stories/201712150145
Quote from: US71 on February 03, 2015, 12:09:38 PM
KOAM-TV Pittsburg, KS "Kansas/Oklahoma/Arkansas/Missouri"
In an irony, this station no longer serves Arkansas
Some call signs in northern/western Michigan:
WTOM (NBC 4) Cheboygan: Top Of Michigan
WPBN (NBC 7) Traverse City: Paul Bunyan Network
WWTV (CBS 9) Cadillac: Water Wonderland Television
WWUP (CBS 10) Sault Ste. Marie: WWTV Upper Peninsula
WGTU (ABC 29) Traverse City: Grand Traverse UHF (was the first UHF station in its market)
WFQX (FOX 32) Cadillac: FOX (with the Q instead of O)
WTCM (AM 580/FM 103.5) Traverse City: Traverse City, Michigan; the FM could also stand for Today's Country Music (its branding) or Traverse Cadillac Manistee (the three largest cities in the FM's coverage area)
WCCW (AM 1310/FM 107.5) Traverse City: Cherry Capital of the World
WLDR (FM 101.9) Traverse City: Long Distance Radio (ironic as WLDR now has one of the weakest signals in Traverse City in part due to an incompetent owner)
WJZQ (FM 92.9) Cadillac: Jazz Q (used to have a smooth jazz format; now top 40 as Z93)
WKZC (FM 94.9) Scottville: KZ Country (hasn't used that slogan in 25+ years but has been country since)
WMBN (AM 1340) Petoskey: Michigan's Beautiful North
WKLT (FM 97.5) Kalkaska: Kilt 98 (when it was on 97.7)
WKJF (formerly on AM 1370 and FM 92.9 in Cadillac): Kalamazoo's John Fetzer (Fetzer owned these two stations, along with WWTV [the FM was once WWTV-FM])
Some from the Jersey Shore...
WJLK was owned by the Asbury Park Press.. the publisher at the time the AM station began was J Lyle Kinmoth
WOBM in Toms River covered Ocean Burlington and Monmouth Counties... Ocean and Monmouth are usually grouped together.. Burlington not so much, the Ocean-Burlington border is the Pinelands National Preserve... I guess they didn't want it to spell WOMB
Z981
Quote from: bing101 on December 10, 2017, 07:28:19 AM
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.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WBFF (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WBFF) WBFF-TV Baltimore (Sinclair Owned station) Baltimore Forty-Five.
KRON San Francisco (Nexstar Television) Former owner San Francisco Chronicle
Quote from: Henry on December 19, 2017, 09:49:03 AM
Quote from: bing101 on December 10, 2017, 07:28:19 AM
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.
Quote from: mrsman on December 25, 2017, 01:25:04 PM
Quote from: Henry on December 19, 2017, 09:49:03 AM
Quote from: bing101 on December 10, 2017, 07:28:19 AM
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.
WFOX in Jacksonville was WAWS until about 2 years ago
Z981
Quote from: mrsman on December 25, 2017, 01:25:04 PM
Quote from: Henry on December 19, 2017, 09:49:03 AM
Quote from: bing101 on December 10, 2017, 07:28:19 AM
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.
Interestingly KCBS and KNBC were initially used in San Francisco in the 1940's for their radio stations. This had something to do with San Francisco being seen as a larger media market than Los Angeles. That was until 1954 when ABC renamed KECA-TV to KABC-TV 7 Los Angeles that's when Los Angeles was seen as a larger media market than San Francisco. Note Entercom has the KCBS call letters on AM 740 in San Francisco while CBS has the KCBS calls for channel 2 Los Angeles.
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.
Quote from: mrsman on December 25, 2017, 01:25:04 PM
Quote from: Henry on December 19, 2017, 09:49:03 AM
Quote from: bing101 on December 10, 2017, 07:28:19 AM
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.
Quote from: bing101 on December 27, 2017, 12:31:35 PM
Quote from: mrsman on December 25, 2017, 01:25:04 PM
Quote from: Henry on December 19, 2017, 09:49:03 AM
Quote from: bing101 on December 10, 2017, 07:28:19 AM
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.
Quote from: mrsman on January 02, 2018, 11:10:31 AM
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 (http://jeff560.tripod.com/1947tvalloc.html), 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.
Quote from: mrsman on January 02, 2018, 11:10:31 AM
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.
Quote from: briantroutman on January 03, 2018, 12:03:48 PM
Quote from: mrsman on January 02, 2018, 11:10:31 AM
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).
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.
Quote from: ftballfan on January 03, 2018, 01:19:39 PM
Quote from: briantroutman on January 03, 2018, 12:03:48 PM
Quote from: mrsman on January 02, 2018, 11:10:31 AM
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).
Quote from: 1995hoo on January 31, 2015, 05:21:54 PM
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.
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.
Quote from: bing101 on January 13, 2018, 10:39:59 PM
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.
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/122829/kqv-to-be-resurrected/
Here is an update on KQV
KMOX 1120 Kirkwood MissOuri X-mas (at least that's the legend :awesomeface:)
KTRS 550 K-Talk Radio Saint louis
KWRE 730 K-WaRrEnton
WEW 770 We Enlighten the World
Quote from: US71 on February 01, 2015, 10:04:38 PM
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 "ËœK' from it's callsign.
iPhone
Quote from: TheArkansasRoadgeek on February 04, 2018, 12:01:51 PM
Quote from: US71 on February 01, 2015, 10:04:38 PM
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 "ËœK' 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 KFS
M 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.
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).
Quote from: thenetwork on February 05, 2018, 08:36:27 AM
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
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
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
Quote from: jwolfer on February 10, 2018, 10:57:49 AM
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
:colorful: :bigass: Damn
^ 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.
Quote from: Darkchylde on December 26, 2017, 11:59:00 PM
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)
WDOV a.m. radio in DOVer DE
WKEN a.m. radio in KENt county, DE
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.
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.
Sounds like WRCH-FM 100.5 of New Britain/Hartford, CT. The station was known as Rich FM-100 in their days of beautiful music. They became Lite 100.5 in 1989, when they changed to an adult contemporary format. It has more of a pop sound now, but still not quite Hot AC like sister station WTIC-FM 96.5 of Hartford (96.5-TIC).
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on February 17, 2018, 09:59:50 PM
Sounds like WRCH-FM 100.5 of New Britain/Hartford, CT. The station was known as Rich FM-100 in their days of beautiful music.
That makes no sense. If you set the station to 100, you would get a weak signal for 99.9 or 100.1, if either one existed. Definitely not 100.5.
From the midwest:
Detroit:
WDIV-TV Channel 4, Detroit+IV (Roman numeral 4)
WKBD-TV Channel 50, Kaiser Broadcasting Detroit (later became Field Communications)
Toledo:
WTOL-TV Channel 11, short for TOLedo, also the airport code
WTOD-FM 106.5, also for TOleDo
WXEZ-FM 105, "EZ" listening, changed call letter at least twice
Dayton:
WHIO (radio and TV), presumably OHIO except for first letter
WDTN-TV Channel 2, short for DayToN
WRGT-TV Channel 45, for the hometown of the WRiGhT Brothers (they were not from NC, contrary to popular belief)
WDAO, while probably named for the city and state combination, there was a widespread joke, since it largely played an African-American format, that it stood for "White Days Are Over".
WVUD, the Voice of UD (Univerity of Dayton). Those same call letters are now used a radio station from the University of Delaware!
WPTD, Channel 14, Public Television of Dayton (paired with WPTO in Oxford; recognize the pattern here?)
Columbus:
WCMH-TV Channel 4, CMH are the airport's call letters
WSYX-TV Channel 6, phonetically SIX
WOSU, PBS from Ohio State University
WNCI-FM, Nationwide Communications International
WSNY-FM, "Sunny" 95 (but not sure if the call letters came first or vice-versa)
Additionally, there are a number of smaller-town Public radio stations, such as
WYSO, Yellow Springs Ohio
WMUB, Miami University Broadcasting
New York City (these radio stations may not still be around)
WAPP, Big APPle nickname
WNEW, NEW York
WNSR, New York Soft Rock
Quote from: 1 on February 17, 2018, 10:04:12 PM
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on February 17, 2018, 09:59:50 PM
Sounds like WRCH-FM 100.5 of New Britain/Hartford, CT. The station was known as Rich FM-100 in their days of beautiful music.
That makes no sense. If you set the station to 100, you would get a weak signal for 99.9 or 100.1, if either one existed. Definitely not 100.5.
Spoken like someone who has never tuned a radio with an analog dial. :-P
Quote from: empirestate on February 18, 2018, 09:39:47 AM
Quote from: 1 on February 17, 2018, 10:04:12 PM
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on February 17, 2018, 09:59:50 PM
Sounds like WRCH-FM 100.5 of New Britain/Hartford, CT. The station was known as Rich FM-100 in their days of beautiful music.
That makes no sense. If you set the station to 100, you would get a weak signal for 99.9 or 100.1, if either one existed. Definitely not 100.5.
Spoken like someone who has never tuned a radio with an analog dial. :-P
(Numbers correspond to FM only.)
I have a radio with an analog dial, but I don't know the exact station it's set to if it's not on, because the printed numbers don't match up with the actual numbers for some reason (they're about 1.5 off), and the slider that indicates which station it is about 3 inches long, which means that I can't tell what the tenths place of what I set it to is (each tenth is 0.4 mm).
Are you saying that a difference of 0.1 is too much to get a weak signal of an adjacent station?
What I think he was getting at:
The station was known as "Rich FM-100" back then. Their frequency, then and now, is 100.5 FM. An analog display may not have shown it correctly. Any digital tuner would indeed show "100.5 MHZ".
Connecticut is also home to "WEBE 108". That's WEBE-FM 107.9 of Westport, which is in the Bridgeport radio market.
The Boston radio market has WXKS-FM 107.9 of Medford, a.k.a. Top 40/CHR "Kiss 108".
Quote from: 1 on February 18, 2018, 09:48:18 AM
Quote from: empirestate on February 18, 2018, 09:39:47 AM
Quote from: 1 on February 17, 2018, 10:04:12 PM
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on February 17, 2018, 09:59:50 PM
Sounds like WRCH-FM 100.5 of New Britain/Hartford, CT. The station was known as Rich FM-100 in their days of beautiful music.
That makes no sense. If you set the station to 100, you would get a weak signal for 99.9 or 100.1, if either one existed. Definitely not 100.5.
Spoken like someone who has never tuned a radio with an analog dial. :-P
(Numbers correspond to FM only.)
I have a radio with an analog dial, but I don't know the exact station it's set to if it's not on, because the printed numbers don't match up with the actual numbers for some reason (they're about 1.5 off), and the slider that indicates which station it is about 3 inches long, which means that I can't tell what the tenths place of what I set it to is (each tenth is 0.4 mm).
Are you saying that a difference of 0.1 is too much to get a weak signal of an adjacent station?
Prior to around 1990, when digital tuners became the standard, radio stations never gave their frequency as ##.# (digital tuners existed in cars as far back as the early 80s to my knowledge...we had one in a 1985 Lebaron, but they still weren't common). For advertisign purposes, and even top-of-the-hour station identification, they just rounded it off to whatever was closest. On the analog radio, you just tuned it to around that number and then felt it out until you had a clear signal. Then, if you were in the car, you could engage the mechanical preset so you could get back to it easily.
In New Orleans, we had B-97, which later became known as B-97.1. Bayou 96, the easy listening station was actually 95.7. WRNO, the Rock of New Orleans was known as FM-99 back in the 70s, and then someone decided that FM-100 sounded better, so they started calling it that, and even issued little yellow and blue "100" stickers to cover up the 99 on their bumper stickers that were so prevalent in that era. Their actual frequency, then and now (although it's a talk station now) is 99.5. Joy 102, later Magic 102 was 101.9. Lite 105 was 105.3.
Similarly, some AM stations didn't bother with exact frequency in their advertising. WQUE - Q-93 FM (93.3) had a simulcast on AM for a while that they called 13Q. It was actually 1280 AM.
Back then, at least in our market, there were no station frequencies on FM that were close enough together that they would try to advertise the same number. BUT, under certain conditions, you could pick up two B-97s...one was local on 97.1 and the other was in Mobile, Alabama on (I believe) 97.5. And we had Joy 102 on 101.9 and Baton Rouge had WFMF-FM102 on 102.5, so if you were on the western edge of the New Orleans suburbs, you could get both sometimes. They weren't close enough in frequency to interfere with each other.
Quote from: 1 on February 17, 2018, 10:04:12 PM
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on February 17, 2018, 09:59:50 PM
Sounds like WRCH-FM 100.5 of New Britain/Hartford, CT. The station was known as Rich FM-100 in their days of beautiful music.
That makes no sense. If you set the station to 100, you would get a weak signal for 99.9 or 100.1, if either one existed. Definitely not 100.5.
Back in the day of dials it was pretty common for stations to approximate in their name... Here in north FL in the 1980s Jacksonville had "Rock 105" at 104.5 and Gainesville had "Rock 104" at 103.7... FWIW that used to really bother me when I was my 11 year old road geek self
Z981
WHO and WOC in Des Moines and Davenport IA respectively were assigned randomly but and early owner was BJ Palmer the Developer of Chiropractic gave meaning to the call letters..
Wonders Of Chiropractic
With Hands Only
Z981
Quote from: jasonh300 on February 18, 2018, 11:15:19 AM
Quote from: 1 on February 18, 2018, 09:48:18 AM
Quote from: empirestate on February 18, 2018, 09:39:47 AM
Quote from: 1 on February 17, 2018, 10:04:12 PM
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on February 17, 2018, 09:59:50 PM
Sounds like WRCH-FM 100.5 of New Britain/Hartford, CT. The station was known as Rich FM-100 in their days of beautiful music.
That makes no sense. If you set the station to 100, you would get a weak signal for 99.9 or 100.1, if either one existed. Definitely not 100.5.
Spoken like someone who has never tuned a radio with an analog dial. :-P
(Numbers correspond to FM only.)
I have a radio with an analog dial, but I don't know the exact station it's set to if it's not on, because the printed numbers don't match up with the actual numbers for some reason (they're about 1.5 off), and the slider that indicates which station it is about 3 inches long, which means that I can't tell what the tenths place of what I set it to is (each tenth is 0.4 mm).
Are you saying that a difference of 0.1 is too much to get a weak signal of an adjacent station?
Prior to around 1990, when digital tuners became the standard, radio stations never gave their frequency as ##.# (digital tuners existed in cars as far back as the early 80s to my knowledge...we had one in a 1985 Lebaron, but they still weren't common). For advertisign purposes, and even top-of-the-hour station identification, they just rounded it off to whatever was closest. On the analog radio, you just tuned it to around that number and then felt it out until you had a clear signal. Then, if you were in the car, you could engage the mechanical preset so you could get back to it easily.
In New Orleans, we had B-97, which later became known as B-97.1. Bayou 96, the easy listening station was actually 95.7. WRNO, the Rock of New Orleans was known as FM-99 back in the 70s, and then someone decided that FM-100 sounded better, so they started calling it that, and even issued little yellow and blue "100" stickers to cover up the 99 on their bumper stickers that were so prevalent in that era. Their actual frequency, then and now (although it's a talk station now) is 99.5. Joy 102, later Magic 102 was 101.9. Lite 105 was 105.3.
Similarly, some AM stations didn't bother with exact frequency in their advertising. WQUE - Q-93 FM (93.3) had a simulcast on AM for a while that they called 13Q. It was actually 1280 AM.
Back then, at least in our market, there were no station frequencies on FM that were close enough together that they would try to advertise the same number. BUT, under certain conditions, you could pick up two B-97s...one was local on 97.1 and the other was in Mobile, Alabama on (I believe) 97.5. And we had Joy 102 on 101.9 and Baton Rouge had WFMF-FM102 on 102.5, so if you were on the western edge of the New Orleans suburbs, you could get both sometimes. They weren't close enough in frequency to interfere with each other.
WCIB 101.9-Cool 102
WPXC 102.9-Pixy 103
KWWR 95.7-Country '96
KSHE 94.7- K-SHE 95
WKSS-FM 95.7 of Hartford/Meriden, CT once went by "FM 96". This was with their prior format before going CHR/Top 40 in 1984. I always thought it was silly going by that, considering we have WTIC-FM 96.5 of Hartford. They were already a CHR/Top 40 station since 1977 (moving to a Hot AC format in 1994). The station nickname was 96 TIC-FM. A TV ad for WKSS-FM after the change even had a "caller" ask the DJ "Is this 96?", meaning TIC-FM? Cathy Fox, the jock in the ad, proudly beams and says "No! This is 95.7-KISS FM!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zSxOXjGBLA
When Newfoundland was its own country, radio stations were assigned with the prefix VO
VOCM, which still exists to this day and is baded in St John's supposedly stands for Voice of the Common Man.
Quote from: jwolfer on February 18, 2018, 11:33:21 AM
Quote from: 1 on February 17, 2018, 10:04:12 PM
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on February 17, 2018, 09:59:50 PM
Sounds like WRCH-FM 100.5 of New Britain/Hartford, CT. The station was known as Rich FM-100 in their days of beautiful music.
That makes no sense. If you set the station to 100, you would get a weak signal for 99.9 or 100.1, if either one existed. Definitely not 100.5.
Back in the day of dials it was pretty common for stations to approximate in their name... Here in north FL in the 1980s Jacksonville had "Rock 105" at 104.5 and Gainesville had "Rock 104" at 103.7...
Still happens today. KSFI on 100.3FM in Salt Lake City is still commonly referred to as “FM 100” and their website is fm100.com, although it appears they’ve changed their name to “FM 100.3”.
A few of the Seattle stations that I can find the origins of (some overlap with TV stations):
KING-FM: Formerly owned by KING-TV (named for King County, in which Seattle resides)
KIRO-FM: Owned by KIRO-TV, but derived from an earlier radio station (KIRO-AM) whose call letters were chosen to be pronounceable (having lost the race to grab "KING")
KNKX: Stands for "Connects"; formerly KPLU (Pacific Lutheran University) until it was nearly taken over by another NPR affiliate (KUOW; University of Washington)
KEXP: "Experience (https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/radio-ga-ga/Content?oid=7007)"
KTTH: "The TrutH" (ironic, given that this conservative talk radio regularly spews lies about local and national news)
KVI: Vashon Island, where the transmitter is located.
Quote from: Bruce on February 19, 2018, 01:09:06 AM
KTTH: "The TrutH" (ironic, given that this conservative talk radio regularly spews lies about local and national news)
You mean, of course, expresses opinions different from your own.
Quote from: SP Cook on February 19, 2018, 12:57:13 PM
Quote from: Bruce on February 19, 2018, 01:09:06 AM
KTTH: "The TrutH" (ironic, given that this conservative talk radio regularly spews lies about local and national news)
You mean, of course, expresses opinions different from your own.
Just because it's conservative talk radio doesn't mean it's true OR mean that it's false. If you haven't listened to the station itself, you don't know which it is. Take for example, Fox News, which is extremely biased but still not fake, and something like Infowars that is fake. Both are far right-wing.
Quote from: SP Cook on February 19, 2018, 12:57:13 PM
Quote from: Bruce on February 19, 2018, 01:09:06 AM
KTTH: "The TrutH" (ironic, given that this conservative talk radio regularly spews lies about local and national news)
You mean, of course, expresses opinions different from your own.
I can respect conservative opinions, but the hosts on this radio station regularly skew stories to fit their narrative. It's the exact opposite of good journalism.
One of the hosts, for example, rags on anything transit-related without even trying to dress up his points as factual: trains are 600 percent slower than a plane! (http://mynorthwest.com/877700/wsdot-train-scam/) voter-approved car tab fees are illegal (and I break the law to avoid them)! (http://mynorthwest.com/900392/dont-follow-an-illegal-law/) blaming the recent Amtrak derailment here on money instead of human error, as the NTSB found (http://mynorthwest.com/850669/dupont-amtrak-deadly-crash-tax-dollars/)...etc.
Quote from: Bruce on February 19, 2018, 05:37:58 PM
Quote from: SP Cook on February 19, 2018, 12:57:13 PM
Quote from: Bruce on February 19, 2018, 01:09:06 AM
KTTH: "The TrutH" (ironic, given that this conservative talk radio regularly spews lies about local and national news)
You mean, of course, expresses opinions different from your own.
I can respect conservative opinions, but the hosts on this radio station regularly skew stories to fit their narrative. It's the exact opposite of good journalism.
One of the hosts, for example, rags on anything transit-related without even trying to dress up his points as factual: trains are 600 percent slower than a plane! (http://mynorthwest.com/877700/wsdot-train-scam/) voter-approved car tab fees are illegal (and I break the law to avoid them)! (http://mynorthwest.com/900392/dont-follow-an-illegal-law/) blaming the recent Amtrak derailment here on money instead of human error, as the NTSB found (http://mynorthwest.com/850669/dupont-amtrak-deadly-crash-tax-dollars/)...etc.
Where are any of those factually wrong? A plane is 6 times faster than a train, and pointing out a train ride costing more than said plane ride is exposing some pretty strange pricing. The train derailment story doesn't blame money. In fact, YOU placed incorrect verbiage in the hyperlink to make your point by saying they blamed money instead of human error when the first sentence of the story states "The DuPont Amtrak crash that killed three people was, in part, a now deadly race for federal tax dollars." In part does not equal instead.
Quote from: Bruce on February 19, 2018, 01:09:06 AM
A few of the Seattle stations that I can find the origins of (some overlap with TV stations):
KING-FM: Formerly owned by KING-TV (named for King County, in which Seattle resides)
KIRO-FM: Owned by KIRO-TV, but derived from an earlier radio station (KIRO-AM) whose call letters were chosen to be pronounceable (having lost the race to grab "KING")
KNKX: Stands for "Connects"; formerly KPLU (Pacific Lutheran University) until it was nearly taken over by another NPR affiliate (KUOW; University of Washington)
KEXP: "Experience (https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/radio-ga-ga/Content?oid=7007)"
KTTH: "The TrutH" (ironic, given that this conservative talk radio regularly spews lies about local and national news)
KVI: Vashon Island, where the transmitter is located.
Does KIXI 880 still exist?
Per radio-locator.com, KIXI is still on the air.
Quote from: roadguy2 on February 19, 2018, 12:33:47 AM
Quote from: jwolfer on February 18, 2018, 11:33:21 AM
Quote from: 1 on February 17, 2018, 10:04:12 PM
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on February 17, 2018, 09:59:50 PM
Sounds like WRCH-FM 100.5 of New Britain/Hartford, CT. The station was known as Rich FM-100 in their days of beautiful music.
That makes no sense. If you set the station to 100, you would get a weak signal for 99.9 or 100.1, if either one existed. Definitely not 100.5.
Back in the day of dials it was pretty common for stations to approximate in their name... Here in north FL in the 1980s Jacksonville had "Rock 105" at 104.5 and Gainesville had "Rock 104" at 103.7...
Still happens today. KSFI on 100.3FM in Salt Lake City is still commonly referred to as "FM 100" and their website is fm100.com, although it appears they've changed their name to "FM 100.3" .
There is a 99.9 not too far away in Bridgeport, and most people in southern Hartford and northern New Haven county can get both, and there is no overlap. In addition to WEBE 108, WRKI-FM at 95.1 in Danbury still bills itself as "i95", because "i95.1" would sound dumb. And there's also WAQY "Rock 102" in Springfield, MA at 102.1
Atlanta has Q100, which is at 99.7. But they also called themselves Q100 when they were on 100.5.
Mississippi has a number of radio stations that don't use their frequencies in their names. In Jackson, there's US96, 99 Jams, Y101 (though their logo is 101.7), MISS 103 and Kixie 107. In Hattiesburg/Laurel, SL100 and B95 (at 95.9). Meridian has Q101 and 97OKK. On the Gulf Coast, there's Kicker 108 and K99.
Back in the day (pre-90s), actual call letters were remembered by most people when tuning around or naming off their favorite station(s). Nowadays, everything is Jack-this, Mix-that, Hot-whatever, ESPN Radio, The River, etc..., and the frequency, which seems to be all that matters. I couldn't even tell you whose call letters are in my town anymore, save for maybe 2 or 3 stations out of 20-25 total.
Same thing with the air talent or DJs on most stations (what few there are anymore). Back in the day I used to know even many of the the jocks who were on stations I didn't even listen to since they all made dozens of area appearances, or had individual billboards, ads or commercials somewhere in the non-radio media.
It's gonna be nice to finally see iHeart media, nee Clear Channel, go down in flames later this week when they officially announce they are bankrupt. They were the leaders in bastardizing the radio medium over the last 20 years. The only people who escape are the executives with the golden parachutes who got their bonuses last week. Hope the 'chutes don't open right for any of them.
Quote from: thenetwork on March 04, 2018, 08:12:17 PM
It's gonna be nice to finally see iHeart media, nee Clear Channel, go down in flames later this week when they officially announce they are bankrupt. They were the leaders in bastardizing the radio medium over the last 20 years. The only people who escape are the executives with the golden parachutes who got their bonuses last week. Hope the 'chutes don't open right for any of them.
They just switched formats in Little Rock. 94.9 KHKN just switched from Classic Rock to Billboard 100 after 2 years. Before that, they were TOM FM for 4 years. A friend claims this is just an elaborate April Fool's prank, but most people disagree.
IHeart also owns the country station KSSN , often referred to as "kissin in my car"
Quote from: Brandon on December 09, 2017, 11:37:39 PM
WMTU - FM 91.9 in Houghton, MI for Michigan Technological University - the student-run station yours truly was a DJ on. :sombrero:
WONU - FM89.7 -
Olivet
Nazarene
University - where I went to school for broadcasting. I was only on the over the air station once on a thanksgiving. I had many shifts on the "most dorms don't get it because we're too cheap to fix the signal" intra campus station U-54
Just found this thread - it's exactly in my area of expertise, being in the industry for 30 years...
Most call letter "meanings" are actually "backronyms", or acronyms given to the call letters after the fact. Stations such as WBBM received sequential call letters - they weren't chosen - so the meaning was given to them after the fact.
Of course nowadays the FCC makes it easy to change call letters so pretty much everyone picks them to fit whatever slogan they want to use.
As for the "decimal", early on not only did it have to do with analog vs. digital tuning, but also with Arbitron ratings. If you were "FM95" and you were at 94.7, someone may think that you are the station at 95.5 (if one existed), which wasn't a good thing in the ratings world, since (unless FM95 was clearly determined on the listener's diary) "FM95" could get credited to the wrong station.
With the new PPM technology in the top radio markets, that isn't a thing anymore, so that isn't as much of a thing as it uses to be.
Quote from: GeekJedi on June 24, 2018, 09:20:19 PM
Most call letter "meanings" are actually "backronyms", or acronyms given to the call letters after the fact
My personal favorite belongs to WGST in Atlanta - when a fire broke out in their broadcast booth at the old Fulton County Stadium, the backronym was "World's Greatest Stadium Torch."
Quote from: NYhwyfan on February 24, 2015, 07:05:31 PM
WBUF - Buffalo, NY
More from the B=lo:
WGR: AM - World's Greatest Radio. WGRQ-FM (Q-FM-97, now WGRF) - unsure. (TV changed to WGRZ in 1983.)
WBEN: from the original owners, the Buffalo Evening News (TV changed to WIVB in 1977 - and thus, the slogan We're 4 Buffalo).
WKBW: A number of acronyms: Well-Known Bible Witness; We Know Buffalo Weather (more modern promotional TV tagline).
WBBZ (MeTV): from a local program no longer extant, the Daily Buzz. Was formerly WNGS (Wings, as in Chicken), with UPN.
WNED: Western N-y EDucational TV.
WNLO: Western N-y/buffaLO. Originally WNEQ, sibling to WNED.
WNYO: Western NY/Ontario. Originally Fox, then WB, now MyTV.
WUTV: from original owners UlTraVision. Long-standing indy station that went to Fox (permanently) in the late 1980s.
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171898/amp-radio-98-7-detroit-drops-chr-for-the-rudolph-network/
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171891/wisx-really-stunting-with-christmas-music/
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171869/iheartmedia-to-launch-soft-ac-92-5-the-breeze-sacramento/
3 radio stations renamed themselves as "The Breeze"
The Detroit Breeze is owned by Entercom
The Sacramento and Philadelphia editions of the Breeze are owned by IheartRadio and is named after the San Francisco edition of the Breeze
https://981thebreeze.iheart.com/
Here is the San Francisco edition of the Breeze.
I'm not sure if channel 40 in Springfield, Mass. is still WGGB, but I know that that was a backronym "Good Guys Broadcasting."
But some of these are frontronyms. WTIC in Hartford, Conn. stood for the already existing Traveler's Insurance Company. (someone's gonna tell me it's actually Corporation; not Company.)
WGGB-TV letters are still there. It may have stood for Guy Gannett Broadcasting, a prior owner of channel 40. I think they once owned WGME-TV (CBS) channel 13 of Portland, ME.
As for WTIC-TV...old channel 3 version...I'm certain the "C" stood for corporation.
Call letters are no longer used in Spain. Radio Huesca, a station in my area, was EAJ22, EAJ was the letters all early radio stations in Spain had, and 22 meant it was the 22nd radio station created. Radio Barcelona was the very first radio station in Spain, and thence got EAJ1.
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on November 13, 2018, 06:20:22 PM
WGGB-TV letters are still there. It may have stood for Guy Gannett Broadcasting, a prior owner of channel 40. I think they once owned WGME-TV (CBS) channel 13 of Portland, ME.
As for WTIC-TV...old channel 3 version...I'm certain the "C" stood for corporation.
Heh. I wasn't sure and too busy to look it up. Our workflow system at work has been slow enough for me to make posts while waiting for docs to appear. But it isn't slow enough to allow for well-researched posts.
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on November 13, 2018, 06:20:22 PM
As for WTIC-TV...old channel 3 version...I'm certain the "C" stood for corporation.
Nope.
WTIC was named after its original owner, Travelers Insurance Company.
Quote from: pianocello on January 31, 2015, 02:51:11 PM
There has to be quite a few call letters that are based on their location. A few that come to mind are WQAD in the Quad Cities and WLNS in Lansing, MI. KWQC in the Quad Cities also has makes regional sense (I don't know if this is true, but the K and W seem to represent the two sides of the Mississippi and QC stands for Quad Cities).
WHBF (CBS affiliate) stood for
Where
Historical
Black Hawk
Fought, a reference to Chief Black Hawk.
KCRG in Cedar Rapids stood for its original owners, the
Cedar
Rapids
Gazette, and KRNT radio stood for the Des Moines
Register a
nd
Tribune.
One of the more creative ones for radio stations around here is for KXNO 1460 AM in Des Moines, a sports talk station, which is derived from the "X's and O's" in football playbooks.
Quote from: bing101 on November 13, 2018, 08:08:22 AM
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171898/amp-radio-98-7-detroit-drops-chr-for-the-rudolph-network/
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171891/wisx-really-stunting-with-christmas-music/
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171869/iheartmedia-to-launch-soft-ac-92-5-the-breeze-sacramento/
3 radio stations renamed themselves as "The Breeze"
The Detroit Breeze is owned by Entercom
The Sacramento and Philadelphia editions of the Breeze are owned by IheartRadio and is named after the San Francisco edition of the Breeze
https://981thebreeze.iheart.com/
Here is the San Francisco edition of the Breeze.
IIRC, the heritage ACs in those respective markets are WNIC, B101, Mix 96 and KOIT. It's going to be interesting how the new ones will stack up against their competitors.
Quote from: Henry on November 15, 2018, 09:35:01 AM
Quote from: bing101 on November 13, 2018, 08:08:22 AM
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171898/amp-radio-98-7-detroit-drops-chr-for-the-rudolph-network/ (https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171898/amp-radio-98-7-detroit-drops-chr-for-the-rudolph-network/)
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171891/wisx-really-stunting-with-christmas-music/ (https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171891/wisx-really-stunting-with-christmas-music/)
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171869/iheartmedia-to-launch-soft-ac-92-5-the-breeze-sacramento/ (https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171869/iheartmedia-to-launch-soft-ac-92-5-the-breeze-sacramento/)
3 radio stations renamed themselves as "The Breeze"
The Detroit Breeze is owned by Entercom
The Sacramento and Philadelphia editions of the Breeze are owned by IheartRadio and is named after the San Francisco edition of the Breeze
https://981thebreeze.iheart.com/ (https://981thebreeze.iheart.com/)
Here is the San Francisco edition of the Breeze.
IIRC, the heritage ACs in those respective markets are WNIC, B101, Mix 96 and KOIT. It's going to be interesting how the new ones will stack up against their competitors.
https://www.iheart.com/live/the-breeze-8143/
An update Iheart has just released a national feed for "the Breeze" on their app. So far I've heard rumors that other parts of the country will have Iheart owned station flip to "The Breeze" after Christmas or New Years. Not sure how that will play outside of Sacramento or San Francisco.
Quote from: bing101 on November 17, 2018, 09:01:07 PM
Quote from: Henry on November 15, 2018, 09:35:01 AM
Quote from: bing101 on November 13, 2018, 08:08:22 AM
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171898/amp-radio-98-7-detroit-drops-chr-for-the-rudolph-network/ (https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171898/amp-radio-98-7-detroit-drops-chr-for-the-rudolph-network/)
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171891/wisx-really-stunting-with-christmas-music/ (https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171891/wisx-really-stunting-with-christmas-music/)
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171869/iheartmedia-to-launch-soft-ac-92-5-the-breeze-sacramento/ (https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171869/iheartmedia-to-launch-soft-ac-92-5-the-breeze-sacramento/)
3 radio stations renamed themselves as "The Breeze"
The Detroit Breeze is owned by Entercom
The Sacramento and Philadelphia editions of the Breeze are owned by IheartRadio and is named after the San Francisco edition of the Breeze
https://981thebreeze.iheart.com/ (https://981thebreeze.iheart.com/)
Here is the San Francisco edition of the Breeze.
IIRC, the heritage ACs in those respective markets are WNIC, B101, Mix 96 and KOIT. It's going to be interesting how the new ones will stack up against their competitors.
https://www.iheart.com/live/the-breeze-8143/
An update Iheart has just released a national feed for "the Breeze" on their app. So far I've heard rumors that other parts of the country will have Iheart owned station flip to "The Breeze" after Christmas or New Years. Not sure how that will play outside of Sacramento or San Francisco.
Well, obviously they'd have to be branded as Lite, Magic, Soft Rock, whatever for this to happen, meaning that my hometown station could be known as 93.9 The Breeze in 2019. But I guess we'll find out when the last Christmas song has been played.
Quote from: elsmere241 on February 08, 2015, 10:00:38 PM
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on February 08, 2015, 07:59:58 PM
@ ELSMERE241: Do the letters of WSTW-FM 93.7 Wilmington mean anything?
I have no idea.
I saw on Wikipedia a while ago that they stood for a station owner. I'd have to double-check.
Quote from: bing101 on November 17, 2018, 09:01:07 PM
Quote from: Henry on November 15, 2018, 09:35:01 AM
Quote from: bing101 on November 13, 2018, 08:08:22 AM
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171898/amp-radio-98-7-detroit-drops-chr-for-the-rudolph-network/ (https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171898/amp-radio-98-7-detroit-drops-chr-for-the-rudolph-network/)
Philadelphia's "The Breeze" has changed formats - again.
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171891/wisx-really-stunting-with-christmas-music/ (https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171891/wisx-really-stunting-with-christmas-music/)
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171869/iheartmedia-to-launch-soft-ac-92-5-the-breeze-sacramento/ (https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171869/iheartmedia-to-launch-soft-ac-92-5-the-breeze-sacramento/)
3 radio stations renamed themselves as "The Breeze"
The Detroit Breeze is owned by Entercom
The Sacramento and Philadelphia editions of the Breeze are owned by IheartRadio and is named after the San Francisco edition of the Breeze
https://981thebreeze.iheart.com/ (https://981thebreeze.iheart.com/)
Here is the San Francisco edition of the Breeze.
IIRC, the heritage ACs in those respective markets are WNIC, B101, Mix 96 and KOIT. It's going to be interesting how the new ones will stack up against their competitors.
https://www.iheart.com/live/the-breeze-8143/
An update Iheart has just released a national feed for "the Breeze" on their app. So far I've heard rumors that other parts of the country will have Iheart owned station flip to "The Breeze" after Christmas or New Years. Not sure how that will play outside of Sacramento or San Francisco.
I grew up in Green Bay, so that's the only area I know about some of the station names.
- WBAY TV - after the eponymous bay of Green Bay
- WTAQ AM - the old WBAY AM now a talk radio station
- WIXX FM - the old WBAY FM. Changed when station changed owners to random letters
- WFRV TV - Fox River Valley
- WLUK TV - No idea. Probably random assignment.
- WGBA TV - Assume Green Bay Area but the A may stand for Ashwaubenon where the station building is located
- WPNE FM and TV - Public North East (Wisconsin)
- WDUZ AM and FM - No idea. Probably random assignment.
- WNFL AM - name changed about 1970 when it broadcast NFL Packers games
- WGBW FM - Green Bay Wisconsin
This is by no means a complete listing. I haven't lived there in 35 years.
I really don't feel like scrolling through 9 pages right now to see if it was previously mentioned but WJR in Detroit stands for Jewett Radio which was the original owner.
Quote from: Flint1979 on March 22, 2022, 12:50:02 PM
I really don't feel like scrolling through 9 pages right now to see if it was previously mentioned but WJR in Detroit stands for Jewitt Radio which was the original owner.
You mentioned it yourself in 2017.
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=14619.msg2280829;topicseen#msg2280829
Use the search feature.
Quote from: 1 on March 22, 2022, 12:50:58 PM
Quote from: Flint1979 on March 22, 2022, 12:50:02 PM
I really don't feel like scrolling through 9 pages right now to see if it was previously mentioned but WJR in Detroit stands for Jewitt Radio which was the original owner.
You mentioned it yourself in 2017.
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=14619.msg2280829;topicseen#msg2280829
Use the search feature.
LOL I figured I probably did but don't remember since it was 5 years ago.
Quote from: 1 on March 22, 2022, 12:50:58 PM
Quote from: Flint1979 on March 22, 2022, 12:50:02 PM
I really don't feel like scrolling through 9 pages right now to see if it was previously mentioned but WJR in Detroit stands for Jewitt Radio which was the original owner.
You mentioned it yourself in 2017.
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=14619.msg2280829;topicseen#msg2280829
Use the search feature.
And also both times I spelled the word Jewett wrong.
Quote from: skluth on March 22, 2022, 12:41:49 PM
- WIXX FM - the old WBAY FM. Changed when station changed owners to random letters
- WLUK TV - No idea. Probably random assignment.
- WDUZ AM and FM - No idea. Probably random assignment.
WIXX, WI -Wisconsin and X's for placeholders, such as LAX for Los Angeles.
WLUK - for "Lucky" 11.
WDUZ - Named for a brand of soap.
Quote from: elsmere241 on March 22, 2022, 11:53:56 AM
Quote from: elsmere241 on February 08, 2015, 10:00:38 PM
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on February 08, 2015, 07:59:58 PM
@ ELSMERE241: Do the letters of WSTW-FM 93.7 Wilmington mean anything?
I have no idea.
I saw on Wikipedia a while ago that they stood for a station owner. I'd have to double-check.
We're Stereo To Wilmington - as the first stereo FM in Wilmington
Uh oh... Back in the old days, Hurricane, West Virginia had WPNS, which stands for Putnam News Service. In the mid-1970s, WPNS hired a DJ from the northeast who talked much faster than the locals. Almost immediately (while blushing), the station applied for new call letters (which weren't granted). In desperation, a second FCC application was approved a month later and the station got new the call letters WZTQ in August 1975. They've had a few more changes since then.
One of my best friends in high school got his Ham license at an early age, which allowed him to become a DJ as soon as he turned 16. I got to be a regular in the WZTQ studio, but since I didn't have a radio license I wasn't permitted to go live on the air (probably a station rule). My friend hated doing live news and weather, so he talked me into taping those segments during the middle of music tracks (sometimes, this was an excuse to play Don McLean, Lynard Skynard, Boston or Ted Nugent). Next thing I know, he roped me into basketball broadcasting (which almost became my career path). I sometimes wonder if I could still do the weather during the middle of the long track of Freebird.
Adding to the list of current and former call signs in Jacksonville (Florida), there was once a sign known as Wonderful Miami Beach Radio (WMBR) or something like that. But that one actually came from the Tampa Bay Area, which is connected to South Florida via the Tamiami Trail. There was apparently some time-sharing with another radio station down there.
WMBR had a FM sister at one point, but both had to be sold not long after the Post (Washington D.C.) acquired the stations and the TV station which became WJXT. Unfortunately WJXT came to have a grudge with CBS and went independent 20 years ago, losing the 60s-vintage Eyewitness News moniker (apparently shared with what is now WUSA in D.C.) in the process (it is now News4Jax), and eventually the affiliation with the Post once Bezos purchased it.
What is now WJNJ was originally WJHP, which actually signed on the first NBC area affiliate in the early to mid 50s, before its thunder was (apparently illegally) stolen by the Florida Georgia Television Company, which gave us the longtime NBC affiliate here, originally known as WFGA. WFGA became WTLV in 1972. It wasn't long after that that the station was sold to San Antonio-based Harte-Hanks. That was around the time (roughly) when the area got the first round of Action News, despite dropping NBC for ABC in 1980 (then back to NBC in 1988, around the time that Gannett purchased the station).
WJAX was the first big radio station in town...but the call sign apparently came from Cleveland. Appears to have been assigned randomly.
WJGL was the first FM station in town, and was the counterpart to WJHP. JHP stands for John Holliday Perry, the guy whose family used to run the competitor to the Times-Union, the Jacksonville Journal.
The Times-Union had a short lived radio station called WDAL (for Duval, nothing to do with the Jags nor Dallas Texas nor even the Cowboys), and tried to get a TV station and was denied.
ABC's first affiliate in town was WJKS and is easy to figure out the meaning. Dedham, Massachusetts-based Rust Craft signed it on 1966. It was eventually sold to Ziff (now one-half of Ziff Davis) in 1979. Media General then bought the station in 1982, and then remained under the same owner until 2009, when it was sold to Nexstar Media. Several years later there was an awkward moment where Nexstar was forced to sell the station to Graham Media upon acquiring Media General...the former owner of the station! Wow. Anyway, Graham Media ended up with its own duopoly.
I should note that WJKS was no longer a ABC affiliate in 1997, after the current ABC affiliate, WJXX, signed on. It became a WB affiliate, and was known as WJWB. Once WB was replaced by The CW, it became known as WCWJ.
Actually, WJWB sounds like a Cleveland affiliate...which, in reality, would be WJW. Even WCWJ sounds like out-of-town (but only WJWB would be more like it).
WBSG would stand for BrunSwick Georgia. It was originally a independent station, but became a charter affiliate of the WB network, then became the ABC affiliate for South Georgia. This setup, done in tandem with WJXX, did not last long when Gannett bought WJXX and merged it with WTLV. While it has since became known as WPXC, it is now under a E.W. Scripps subsidiary. Gosh, that's another Cleveland reference...
WBHJ Birmingham (BirmingHam Jams, a hip-hop station)
WBHK Birmingham (BirmingHam Kiss, adult R&B)
WNSL Laurel-Hattiesburg (New South Laurel--New South were the original owners)
WKNN Biloxi (K Ninety Nine)
WZNF Gulfport: Was previously a rock station named Z95 (WZNinetyFive). Prior to that, the calls WLNF to reflect the name Live 95.
It's hard to find one in West Virginia that doesn't have some meaning:
WAJR (1440AM) Morgantown - named after Agnes J. Reeves Greer, owner of Preston County Power and Light and Greer Steel Company; wife of Deckers Creek coal baron Herbert Greer
WAGE (106.5FM) Oak Hill - Hourly Wages - on campus at Southern Appalachian Labor School
WAMN (1050AM) Green Valley - West Virginia Amen - formerly a Christian Music format station
WBES (950AM) Charleston - formerly West Virginia's Beautiful Entertainment Station
WBRB (101.3FM) Buckhannon - The Bear in Buckhannon
WBTH (1400AM) Williamson - named after founders Francis Wagner, William Booker, George Taylor, and William Hogg
WBTQ (102.3FM) Weston - formerly WSSN
WBYG (99.5FM) Point Pleasant - Byg Country 99.5
WCBC (107.1FM) Keyser - Cumberland Broadcasting Corporation
WCHS (580AM) Charleston - city abbreviation
WCIR (103.7FM) Beckley - Christianity in Radio, formerly Christ is Risen
WCLG (100.1FM) Morgantown - named after WCLG-AM founder C. Leslie Golliday
WCST (1010AM) Berkeley Springs - named after Charles Samuel Trump, a major player in the founding of the station
WCWV (92.9FM) Summersville - Central West Virginia
WCDE (89.9FM) Elkins - on campus of Davis and Elkins College
WDNE (1240AM/98.9FM) Elkins - home town of Davis and Elkins College
WDTF (107.9LP) Berkeley Springs - Defenders of the Faith, Inc.
WDUQ (99.1FM) Benwood - owned by Kol Ami Havurah, named after the Hebrew root דוח; call letters formerly associated with Duquesne University in Pittsburgh
WEIR (1430AM) Weirton
WELC (1150AM/98.7FM) Welch
WELK (94.7FM) Elkins
WEMM (107.9FM) Huntington - named after founder Dr. E. M. Mortenson - former sister station WHRD named after the Marshall Thundering Herd
WEPM (1340AM) Martinsburg - Eastern Panhandle Mountaineer, the local WVU sport broadcast
WETZ (1330AM) New Martinsville - the county seat of Wetzel County
WFBY (93.5FM) Buckhannon - named after the FBI Fingerprint Headquarters in nearby Clarksburg
WFSP (1560AM) Kingwood - Free State of Preston - county seat of Preston County
WFGH (90.7FM) Fort Gay - named after the former Fort Gay High School
WHAW (980AM) Lost Creek - named after founder Harold A. McWhorter and his wife Wilma - he applied for WHAM which was already assigned to the power station in Rochester, New York
WHIS (1440AM) Bluefield - named after founder Hugh Ike Shott
WHJC (1360AM) Matewan - We Herald Jesus Christ - Southern Gospel format
WJAW (630AM) St. Marys - named after owner John A. Wharf III dba JAWCO
WJLS (560AM/95.7FM) Beckley - named after founder Joe L. Smith
WJYP (1300AM) St. Albans - Joyful Praise - formerly Christian Music format
WKEE (100.5FM) Huntington - originally WHTN-FM - city abbreviation
WKJL (88.1FM) Clarksburg - Where King Jesus Live - local KLove station
WKLP (1390AM) Keyser - simulcast of WCMD-AM/WCMD-FM Cumberland MD - city abbreviation
WKMM (96.7FM) Kingwood - Kingwood Mountain Music
WKVW (93.3FM) Marmet - Kanawha Valley, West Virginia
WKYW (102.9LP) Keyser - KeYser, West Virginia
WLOL (89.7FM) Star City - Light of Light Catholic Community
WLUX (1450AM) Dunbar / WNUX (98.7FM) Montgomery / WOUX (105.3FM) St. Marys - United Catholic Radio
WMMN (920AM) Fairmont - named after Gov. Matthew Mansfield Neely, who had been a prominent lawyer in Fairmont
WMON (1340AM) Montgomery
WMOV (1360AM/106.7FM) Ravenswood - Mid-Ohio Valley
WMUL (88.1FM) Huntington - on campus Marshall University
WNMP (88.5FM) Marlinton - Marlinton, Pocahontas County
WOVK (98.7FM) Wheeling - Ohio Valley Kountry; formerly WWVA-FM
WPHP (91.9FM) Wheeling - Wheeling Park Patriots - on campus Wheeling Park High School
WPKM (96.3LP) Parkersburg - on campus WVU Parkersburg
WPWV (90.1FM) Princeton
WRLB (95.3FM) Rainelle - Rainelle and Lewisburg
WRLF (94.3FM) Fairmont - formerly owned by Fantasia Broadcasting - named afterco-owner Rosemary L. Fantasia
WRON (1400AM) Ronceverte
WRRL (1130AM) Rainelle
WRRR (93.9FM) St. Marys - owner Seven Ranges Radio
WRSG (91.5FM) New Middlebourne - on campus at Tyler Consolidated High School - named after the Ruth Stealey Green Foundation, a local benefactor
WRVC (930AM/94.1FM) Huntington - River Cities Radio
WSCW (1410AM) South Charleston
WSGB (1490AM) Sutton - the three former high schools in Braxton County were Sutton, Gassaway and Burnsville
WSHC (89.7FM) Shepherdstown - on campus at Shepherd University, formerly Shepherd College
WSJE (91.3FM) Summersville - St. John the Evangelist Catholic Parish
WSLW (1310AM) White Sulphur Springs - White Sulphur and Lewisburg, West Virginia
WTCF (103.3FM) Wardensville - The Cross FM - local KLove station
WTHM (92.5FM) Ravenswood - Worship to His Majesty - Christian News/Talk format
WTHQ (1030AM) Point Pleasant - formerly WBGS - Big River Radio
WTNJ (105.9FM) Mt. Hope - named after radio engineer Anthony P. (Tony) Gonzalez and Rahall Broadcasting founder Nick Joe Rahall, Sr. (father of Rep. Nick Joe Rahall II)
WVAF (99.9FM) Charleston - West Virginia FM
WVAM (1450AM) Parkersburg - West Virginia AM - formerly WPAR
WVAQ (101.9FM) Morgantown - West Virginia Q102
WVAR (600AM) Richwood - not for Richwood, but rather for West Virginia Radio
WVBD (100.7FM) Fayetteville - West Virginia's Big Daddy
WVBL (88.5FM) Bluefield
WVBY (91.7) Beckley
WVCU (97.7LP) Concord - on campus Concord University
WVDS (89.5FM) Petersburg - West Virginia Educational Broadcasting Authority - Dolly Sods
WVGV (89.7FM) West Union - West Virginia's Gospel Voice
WVEP (88.9FM) Martinsburg - West Virginia Educational Broadcasting Authority - Eastern Panhandle
WVHU (800AM) Huntington
WVHV (89.5LP) Harrisville
WVKM (106.7FM) Matewan - West Virginia Public Broadcasting - West Virginia/Kentucky/Matewan (does this make any sense?)
WVLY (1370AM) Moundsville - (Ohio River) Valley
WVMD (101.7FM) Romney - West Virginia and Maryland (but what about Virginia, which is just as close to Romney?)
WVMR (1370AM) Frost (91.9FM) Hillsboro - Allegheny Mountain Radio, a specialty radio service serving the National Radio Quiet Zone and surrounding areas
WVNP (89.9FM) Wheeling - West Virginia Educational Broadcasting Authority - Northern Panhandle
WVPB (88.5FM) Charleston - West Virginia Public Broadcasting flagship station
WVPG (90.3FM) Parkersburg - twofer! West Virginia Public Broadcasting in Parkersburg
WVPM (90.9FM) Morgantown - West Virginia Public Broadcasting in Morgantown
WVPW (88.9FM) Buckhannon - West Virginia Educational Broadcasting Authority - not Buckhannon, but rather named for Weston
WVRR (88.1FM) Point Pleasant - this is a stretch, but they say West Virginia RiveR
WVSR (102.7FM) Charleston - West Virginia Super Radio
WVTS (1240AM) Dunbar - West Virginia's Talk Station
WVUS (1190AM) Grafton - another stretch, but they say West Virginia United States
WVWC (92.1FM) Buckhannon - reboot of the former call letters of the on campus station at West Virginia Wesleyan College
WVWP (101.1LP) Wayne - West Virginia Wayne Pioneers - on campus at Wayne High School
WVWS (89.3FM) Webster Springs
WVWV (89.9FM) Huntington - West Virginia Public Broadcasting - West Virginia, West Virginia!!!
WWVA (1170AM) Wheeling - the home of Jamboree USA (now the Original Wheeling Radio Jamboree), second only to the Grand Ole Opry Jamboree
WWNR (620AM) Beckley - another twofer! New River Radio, also named after Rahall Broadcasting founder Nick Joe Rahall, Sr.
WWSA (96.9LP) St. Albans - owned by the city itself
WWVU (91.7FM) Morgantown - on campus at the flagship West Virginia University
WWYO (970AM) Pineville - county seat of Wyoming County
WXDC (92.9FM) Berkeley Springs - formerly WDHC - Down Home County
WXTH (101.7LP) Richwood - Christ in the Highest - owned by Riverside Baptist Church
WYKM (1250AM) Rupert - Your Kountry Music
WYNL (94.5FM) Dunbar - Your New Life - contemporary Christian music
WYRC (92.3LP) Spencer - K-12 student station associated with Roane County High School
WZST (100.9FM) Westover - play on letters - also formerly known as the W. Z. Star
WZUM (88.1FM) Bethany - formerly WVBC - on campus at Bethany College - associated with WZUM-AM originally in Carnegie, Pennsylvania and known as The Zoom
And of course, WOAY in Oak Hill (860AM) which is named after its sister television station, a misreading by the FCC of poor handwriting for the requested television call letters WOAK.
Quote from: skluth on March 22, 2022, 12:41:49 PM
- WNFL AM - name changed about 1970 when it broadcast NFL Packers games
Of course Titletown would have something named that. Was there ever a WMLB or KMLB for broadcasting major league baseball games? Also, what about KNFL for football?
Who can forget denver's legendary KAZY? or St. Louis's KSHE?
Are call letters like... vanity plates? Like, when you apply for a license, you either get a 'default' one that has no special meaning, or pay extra to get a certain one?
I know you can do that with phone numbers for an extra fee (though I once got one in a specific prefix for free...)
I can't help but think Norfolk's WAVY-TV isn't just happy coincedence.
Quote from: Henry on March 24, 2022, 10:12:59 AM
Quote from: skluth on March 22, 2022, 12:41:49 PM
- WNFL AM - name changed about 1970 when it broadcast NFL Packers games
Of course Titletown would have something named that. Was there ever a WMLB or KMLB for broadcasting major league baseball games? Also, what about KNFL for football?
There is a KMLB-AM in Monroe, LA. They're a news/talk station. I'm not aware if they air any Major League Baseball games.
There is also WMLB-AM in the Atlanta area, airing conservative talk.
Quote from: zachary_amaryllis on March 24, 2022, 10:47:23 AM
Are call letters like... vanity plates? Like, when you apply for a license, you either get a 'default' one that has no special meaning, or pay extra to get a certain one?
I don't think the FCC charges extra. You can just ask for any combination that nobody else has, as long as it doesn't violate "standards" or is too similar to a competing station. As I mentioned upthread, a station in Clarksburg, WV, where the FBI has a major laboratory, wanted WFBI, but was turned down. Although there were two stations that got WSEX approved. There is a TV station, WDAM in Mississippi.
Quote from: SP Cook on March 24, 2022, 11:50:34 AM
Quote from: zachary_amaryllis on March 24, 2022, 10:47:23 AM
Are call letters like... vanity plates? Like, when you apply for a license, you either get a 'default' one that has no special meaning, or pay extra to get a certain one?
I don't think the FCC charges extra. You can just ask for any combination that nobody else has, as long as it doesn't violate "standards" or is too similar to a competing station. As I mentioned upthread, a station in Clarksburg, WV, where the FBI has a major laboratory, wanted WFBI, but was turned down. Although there were two stations that got WSEX approved. There is a TV station, WDAM in Mississippi.
WDAM is named after the original owner's initials, David A. Matison.
Some that I can think of offhand:
KMZU 100.7FM, Carrollton, MO - Mizzou (When they changed callsigns from KAOL-FM to KMZU in 1982, they had the branding Mizzouland 101.)
KRLI 103.9FM, Malta Bend, MO - Curly (Original slogan from 1996-2012, when they changed from Standards to Contemporary Hit Radio as "103.9, the Grenade". In 2013, they switched to Classic Country & branded themselves as "Curly Country 103.9.).
KROL 1430AM, Carrollton, MO
KMMO 1300AM & KMMO 102.9FM, Marshall, MO.
KCHI 1010AM & KCHI 102.5FM, Chillicothe, MO.
Quote from: Route66Fan on March 25, 2022, 02:57:23 AM
Some that I can think of offhand:
KMZU 100.7FM, Carrollton, MO - Mizzou (When they changed callsigns from KAOL-FM to KMZU in 1982, they had the branding Mizzouland 101.)
KRLI 103.9FM, Malta Bend, MO - Curly (Original slogan from 1996-2012, when they changed from Standards to Contemporary Hit Radio as "103.9, the Grenade". In 2013, they switched to Classic Country & branded themselves as "Curly Country 103.9.).
KROL 1430AM, Carrollton, MO
KMMO 1300AM & KMMO 102.9FM, Marshall, MO.
KCHI 1010AM & KCHI 102.5FM, Chillicothe, MO.
What about KGMO in Cape Girardeau? I'm assuming it stands for Kape Girardeau, MO.