Radio, TV Station Call Letters are Packed with History

Huntington News.net ^ | March 5, 2006 | David M. Kinchen

[Denver Ditdat]

Hinton, WV (HNN) – Ever wonder what the call letters of your favorite radio or television station stand for? Of course you have! The other day, listening to WBAP on my computer, I wondered what the letters for the Fort Worth-Dallas station represent. A friend in a university town east of Dallas suggested: “We Bring a Program.”

Being a careful type – and a veteran copy editor – I Googled for station call letters and found several sites that explain what the letters stand for. One of them is: Call Letter Origins - The List

Sure enough, my friend was right! The letters in WBAP, an AM talk radio station, do indeed stand for “We Bring a Program.” Normally, a station west of the Mississippi River would have call letters starting with “K” as in KFI, a venerable Los Angeles station that was founded in 1922 by car dealer Earle C. Anthony, with the “FI” part standing for “Farmer Information.”

Farmer information in L.A.? It makes sense for my hometown of Rochelle, IL, smack dab in the middle of the corn and soybean belt. Radio stations in the farm belt typically provide frequent weather and other information for farmers. Eight decades ago, the Los Angeles area was a major agricultural center, with citrus groves and vineyards every where and the San Fernando Valley a major wheat growing area. Farmers needed weather data so they could put out their smudge pots and turn on sprinklers to keep the oranges from freezing. Most of the farms are paved over or covered with houses, but KFI lives on.

Speaking of catering to farmers, WSOY in Decatur, IL is named in honor of one of the Midwest’s major crops, the mighty soybean. Decatur is also home to Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM), a major food manufacturer and soybean processor.

The station call letter site is packed with of historical data for trivia fans. Very often, the call letters reflected the ownership of the station (see paragraphs below). In the case of WOAY in Oak Hill, WV, the “Y” should have been a “K” -- “OAK – but the application was handwritten and the FCC people in Washington, DC, according to the web site, read the scrawled “K” as a “Y.” Moral of the story: Type out the application!

More about the “K” and “W”. The letters K and W originated early in the 20th century as part of a worldwide index of ship radio stations. K stood for ships on the East coast, W for ships in the Pacific. For some reason – perhaps a Washington, DC mix-up – when the letters were extended to land-based stations, they were reversed, with the Mississippi River eventually adopted as the dividing line. Ever since 1923, stations west of the river start with a K, those east of it start with a W. There are several exceptions, and the above listed web site has a map of “K” stations east of the Mississippi River and “W” stations – like WBAP – west of the Big Muddy. One of the nation’s oldest stations – Pittsburgh’s KDKA – is a “K” station well to the east of the Mississippi River.

Right now, I’m listening to Chicago radio station WLS, another powerful talk radio station. Once owned by Sears, Roebuck and Co., the call letters stand for “World’s Largest Store.” Which Chicago-based mail order giant Sears was in the days before Wal-Mart. Another Chicago station, WGN, long owned by the Chicago Tribune, stands for “World’s Greatest Newspaper,” a slogan printed on the front page of the newspaper when I lived in Chicago four decades ago.

It’s often foggy in San Francisco, hence KFOG. Parkersburg, WV has a WVNT, which stands for “Valley News Talk,” reflecting the city’s location in the Ohio River valley. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which severely damaged the town, Gulfport, Mississippi’s WROA (“Wonderful Riviera of America”) is now strangely ironic. WOW in Omaha, Nebraska, is not a comment on the excitement that’s pervasive in the Nebraska metropolis, but rather a reflection of the one-time owners, Woodmen of the World, a fraternal insurance company.

WNOV in Milwaukee has long been a station aimed at African Americans: It stands for “Wisconsin’s Negroes’ Own Voice.” Another ethnic indication is Miami, FL’s WQBA, which is aimed at Cuban-Americans: QBA = Cuba.

Two venerable stations in the South have only three letters, reflecting an earlier pattern: WSM in Nashville, TN reflects the ownership of the station by the National Life & Accident Insurance Co.: “We Shield Millions.” WSB in Atlanta stands for “Welcome South Brother,” whatever that’s supposed to mean!

The Milwaukee suburb of Wauwatosa is a mouthful. Many residents of the greater Milwaukee area call it “Tosa.” A station licensed to Wauwatosa uses the call letters WTOS. The New London-Groton area of Connecticut is home to a major submarine base, hence WSUB for Groton, CT.

The “last word in broadcasting” was the slogan of the venerable Detroit, Mich. station WXYZ, now called WXYT. WXYZ was the radio home of “The Lone Ranger” from 1933 to 1956. I remember as a kid on a southwestern Michigan farm – before we moved to Rochelle – listening to “The Lone Ranger” on WXYZ.

Check out the site or others and see if these call letters bring back similar memories. Radio is indeed a magic medium.

[Denver Ditdat]

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[Denver Ditdat]

One I remember from my hometown was WPHM 1380, "Wonderful Port Huron, Michigan".

[jigsaw]

This is really interesting. Thanks!

[Fiji Hill]

Farmer information in L.A.?

As late as 1960, I was listening to farm reports on KFI, which was at that time still owned by Earle C. Anthony. Today, KFI, at 640 kilocycles on the AM dial, is where Angelenos turn to hear Rush Limbaugh.

[Fiji Hill]

Here are a few more:

• WCFL--Chicago Federation of Labor, "The Voice of Labor" in the 1960's
• KSL--Salt Lake City
• KFAC--Fuller Auburn Cord, an automobile manufacturer. KFAC was for many years LA's classical music blaster on the AM band
• KTNN--The Navajo nation, which broadcasts country/western music all across the Southwest out of Window Rock, Ariz.
• KDXU--a clear channel AM blaster out of St. George, in "Utah's Dixie," the southwestern corner of the Beehive State.

[jocon307]

Very interesting, I love stuff like this.

[Jumpmaster]

WOC in Davenport, Iowa stands for Wonders of Chiropractic. Its sister station, WHO in Des Moines stands for Wonderful Healing Organization.

[gymbeau]

Thanks for that. I listen to Mark Levin sometimes on WBAP and always wondered why it started with "W".

Here in Canada, most stations start with "C" except in Newfoundland, which only joined the country in 1949 (wonder if they're having second thoughts?).

Cheers
Jim

[P.O.E.]

Cool link, thanks. Of local interest...

WMCA New York, NY …….. Hotel M)c)A)lpin

WABC-770 New York, NY A)merican B)roadcasting C)ompany
Note: formerly WJZ(AM)

WJZ Newark, NJ J)erZ)ey Note: now WABC, calls on TV-13

WFMU(FM) East Orange, NJ F)M) U)psala College, license
transferred to Auricle Communications, a group of former staffers

WNBC(TV) New York, NY N)ational B)roadcasting C)ompany (once also on AM 660, now WFAN)


Also of interest:

http://earlyradiohistory.us/sec017.htm

In early 1922, AT&T began building in New York City a station with the unusual policy that its airtime would be leased out for others to use -- this was called "toll broadcasting" -- which was announced in A.T.&T. Co. to Operate Radio Commercial Broadcasting Station from the February 18, 1922 Telephony. This station, WEAF (now WFAN), soon gained a reputation as the best engineered radio outlet in the country. AT&T's next innovation drew on its experience in interconnecting radio transmitters with long-distance wires, when it announced, in Bell Experiments Looking to Nation-Wide Radio Service from the April 15, 1922 Telephony, its plan to develop the first radio network

[skinkinthegrass]

Wasn't KORN; an exception, In KS.....the state's major cash corp, CORN?
...and not the radio station of HEH HAW (Country Music TV Series)

[Alouette]

Detroit, Mich. station WXYZ, now called WXYT.

They changed their call sign in the '80's, I believe, after separating from the TV station of the same call sign. he "T" was chosen for "Talk." This was Rush's first broadcast venue in the Detroit area.

WXYT switched to an all sports format several years ago and now Rush's show is carried on WJR "The Great Voice of the Great Lakes"

[muir_redwoods]

WTIC in Hartford was started by Traveler's Insurance Company

[VOA]

bump

[Jonah Hex]

"And what do you think of when you hear 'WKRP'? A carp!"

- Herb Tarlek

[Cboldt]

WOWO started broadcasting March 31, 1925 on 500 watts, 1320 kilocycles. Call letters chosen arbitrarily. "W" for broadcast station east of the Mississippi and "O" for ease of pronunciation. A slogan erroneously traced to call letters was used for a time: "Wayne Offers Wonderful Opportunities."

http://wowo.com/wowo.asp?ID=8

---

WHTC = Holland Tulip City

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHTC

[operation clinton cleanup]

Thanks for the interesting story and link. I always wondered what my hometown station letters WOWO stood for...

WOWO Ft. Wayne, IN S Ft. W)ayne o)ffers W)onderful O)pportunities

[Erasmus]

Here are some other ones I recall from Illinois:

WVON: Voice of the Negro (doubtless the inspiration for WNOV in Milwaukee)
WEBH: Edgewater Beach Hotel
WSEL: Savings and Loan
WDHF: DeHaan Hi-Fi
WEDC: Emil Danemark Cadillac
WIND: Either for INDiana (transmitter) or the WINDy City
WOPA: Oak Park Arms (hotel)
WCLR: Crystal Lake Radio
WKRS: Waukegan Radio Sun (after the newspaper)
WRMN: Ralston-McNaughton
WGSB: Geneva-St Charles-Batavia

On the left end of the band:

WBEZ: (Chicago) Board of Education
WEPS: Elgin Public Schools
WNTH: New Trier High School
WRTH: Rich Township High School
WMTH: Maine Township High School
WIIT: Illinois Institute of Technology
WNUR: Northwestern University Radio

And a little further south:

WILL: University of Illinois
WPGU: Parade Ground Unit (also at U of I)
WDWS: D. W. Stivic (newspaperman and founder)
K9UI: Ummm, modesty prevents me.

[operation clinton cleanup]

Thanks for the update. I only listened to WOWO on winter mornings on the off chance they would have an announcement that SWAC schools were closed due to snow... and that was also the only radio station the school buses played.

[Clinging Bitterly]

Who has the coolest HAM call?