#1
|
||||
|
||||
Why in U.S.A. radio and tv stations are have names kile KXPB?
Why in U.S.A. radio and tv stations are have names kile KXPB and not like Radio Big Apple or Station 3 Huston?
|
#2
|
||||
|
||||
A 3 or four letter "call" is issued by the FCC for AM, FM, TV & SW broadcast
stations. K calls are almost always west of Mississippi river & W calls to the east. We also have A & N calls for other things. In Romania you have calls starting YO. The Americas are where they are used often. Examples are Canada C & VO Mexico XE The calls often stand for something. Examples WLS Worlds Largest Store WATD We are At The Dump WARE in Ware Mass. WTAG Worcester Telegram And Gazette In US its law to use calls every 1/2 hr IIRC. BTW airplane tail numbers usually use the same system. 73 Zeno LFOD ! |
#3
|
||||
|
||||
Yes, Zeno is correct. FCC (Federal Communications Commission) rules state that station ID must be given at the top of the hour (a few minutes cushion is allowable). Better to ID twice an hour or quarter hour. Call signs sometimes do stand for something, some of Zeno's are among the best. Sometimes a W or K with two middle letters are owned by the same family or were built by the same family. Example WLIL-AM, WLIK-AM (both built by Arthur Wilkerson in Tennessee, the latter still owned by Arthur's relatives)
|
#4
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
|
#5
|
||||
|
||||
Some more call-sign meanings:
WJR - Jewett Radio and Phonograph WJBK - Jesus Be Kind WXYZ - Purposely picked because it was at the opposite end of the alphabet from ABC, the owner of the station at that time. WOMC - Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties WDTK - Detroit TalK WXOU - Oakland University |
Audiokarma |
#6
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
Wikipedia has a good article on call signs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_s..._North_America The W... calls were grandfathered in, as stated, chosen originally for some meaning (e.g., WGN - World's Greatest Newspaper [Chicago Tribune]). The K signs originated with international assignment of K... to the US maritime service, but the FCC also started use for terrestrial stations. KDKA is probably the most famous station that is far east of the Mississippi, but most K... stations are to the west. |
#7
|
||||
|
||||
Since the digital transition, many TV stations (at least the seven stations in my area near Cleveland) identify themselves at purely random times. I don't know how they can get away with that. The NBC affiliate in Cleveland, for example, often runs one program right after another, with no breaks and no station ID to be seen; the other two network affiliates do the same thing. However, the COZI TV subchannel on channel 3.3 does in fact identify itself fairly close to the top of every hour, using the parent station's callsign, DTV subchannel number and location. Unless the other network stations in Cleveland are showing their IDs in tiny type at the top of every hour in a corner of the picture, as I said, I don't see how they are getting away with going from one program directly to another. Could it be the FCC has approved some sort of automatic station ID system, in which the identification information is actually in the vertical blanking interval and so is invisible to the viewers?
__________________
Jeff, WB8NHV Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002 Zenith. Gone, but not forgotten. |
#8
|
||||
|
||||
or locally....KBTM...Beard's Temple of Music. Station first signed on in the 20's!
__________________
Let me live in the house beside the road and be a friend to man. |
#9
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
I don't know or recall if the rules requiring ID as part of the video and audio was dropped with the switch to digital. |
#10
|
||||
|
||||
I always thought the abbreviation for the call sign of the Chicago public TV station was really classy and cool: WTTW - your Window To The World.
Some stations do try to brand themselves away from their call letters...Especially on FM radio.
__________________
Tom C. Zenith: The quality stays in EVEN after the name falls off! What I want. --> http://www.videokarma.org/showpost.p...62&postcount=4 |
Audiokarma |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Interesting thread. Here in England there's no equivalent, all national BBC radio stations are named Radio's 1,2,3,4,5,6, Asian & World Service. Then you have BBC Radio's Scotland, Wales, Ulster, Cymru. (Welsh language station) Then local BBC stations such as Radio's Nottingham, London, Norfolk, Derby etc. BTW no adverts are carried on any BBC radio or TV station. Commercial radio stations mostly have have names like Gold, Magic, Heart, Capital, GEM etc, some also have lettters &/or numbers e.g. 3CR & LBC...
TV stations are BBC's 1.2.3 (online only).4, NEWS, ITV's 1,2,3,4, Channel 4, More4, E4, Film4, Channel 5, 5USA, Quest, Dave, CBS & dozens more I can't remember. Some TV stations seem to come & go at random, e.g. VIVA & TFN have vanished. We have a local station called 'NOTTINGHAMSHIRE TV' usually shortened to NOTTS TV... |
#12
|
||||
|
||||
In Romania public network had Programul 1, 2, 3. 1 became Romania Actualităţi (Romania News) and 3 Radio 3 România Tinneret (Radio 3 Romania Youth) - the laters is now only online now - C.N.A. (Consiliul Naţional al Audiovizualului = The National Council of Audio and image), the somehow Romanian equyvalent of F.C.C. (we aslo have The Ministry (Department) of Telecomunicatons) stipulated that an company can only have maximum 3 on-air national networks and there decided that România Actualităţi, România Cultural and Antena Satelor (Antena of the Villages) would be the 3 national networks.
|
#13
|
||||
|
||||
Many TV stations and most radio stations here do also have "advertised" names such as the ones you mentioned. "Wild 94.9", "The Bone 107.7", "The Ticket", and "K-Fox" are radio examples near my home, and "Action 36" is one local TV station example. They all do have call signs as well.
__________________
Chris Quote from another forum: "(Antique TV collecting) always seemed to me to be a fringe hobby that only weirdos did." |
#14
|
||||
|
||||
I'd like to add WOC in Iowa for World Of Chiropractic since the Palmer School of Chiropractic founded the station, WCFL in Chicago was founded be the Chicago Federation of Labor, a union and KFKB in Kansas was "Kansas Folks Know Best." The last station was the first station used by a Dr. Brinkley who hawked the power of goat's glads to cure illnesses. Well, we have WTOV-TV Steubenville, Ohio for "Television of the Ohio Valley," it used to be WSTV-TV for "Steubenville TV." WWVA is for "Wheeling West VirginiA." In Pittsburgh we have (had) two K stations, or three if you count KDKA-FM, KDKA-AM nd KQV but I think they were more random, at least in KDKA's case, I think originally, KDKA was going to be assigned to a ship. KQV is dark now but there is someone who bought it and will resurrect it later this year.
__________________
Mom (1938 - 2013) - RIP, I miss you Spunky, (1999 - 2016) - RIP, pretty girl! Rascal, (2007 - 2021) RIP, miss you very much |
|
|