List of the initial commercial FM station assignments issued by the Federal Communications Commission on October 31, 1940

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This is a list of the first fifteen construction permits that were granted by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for commercial FM stations. These were all issued on October 31, 1940.

Contents

Background

On May 24, 1940, the FCC had announced the establishment, effective January 1, 1941, of an FM radio band operating on 40 channels spanning 42–50 MHz, with the first five channels (42.1 to 42.9 MHz) reserved for educational stations, and the other 35 (43.1 to 49.9 MHz) available for commercial operation. [1] On October 31, 1940, the first 15 commercial station Construction Permit authorizations were issued. [2] Many of the grantees already operated standard AM stations in the same community, and some had previous experience operating "high frequency band" stations, including high-fidelity "Apex" AM, and experimental FM.

Although educational FM stations received standard four-letter call signs like those issued to AM stations, initially a new form of call sign was mandated for the commercial FM stations, with an initial "W" for those located east, and "K" for those west, of the Mississippi River, followed by the last two digits of a station's frequency assignment (31 to 99) and closing with a one or two character regional identifier, such as "B" for Boston, "C" for Chicago, and "NY" for New York City.

Effective November 1, 1943, the FCC modified its policy for FM call letters, [3] with commercial stations now receiving call signs from the same block of four letter call signs as the AM and educational FM stations, plus the new optional suffix of "-FM". [4] [5] On June 27, 1945, the FCC announced the reassignment of the FM band to 80 channels from 88 to 106 MHz, which was soon expanded to 100 channels from 88 to 108 MHz. [6] [7] The FCC provided that, during a transitional period, stations could simultaneously broadcast on both their old and new frequencies.

Fourteen of the fifteen initial grants resulted in operating stations—the one exception was the Brooklyn, New York grant to Frequency Broadcasting Corporation. Half of the fourteen constructed stations ended operations during the FM band's difficult financial period of the 1940s and 1950s, with the other 7, highlighted in the table below in beige, ultimately surviving.

Table of October 31, 1940 assignments

CommunityOwnerEarlier Related StationsOctober 31, 1940 Assignment
Apex (VHF AM)Experimental
FM		Standard
AM		Orig.
Freq.
(MHz)		Orig.
Call
Sign		November 1, 1943
Call Letters		FCC History CardsStatus
Detroit, MichiganEvening News Assn. W8XWJ WWJ 44.5W45DWENA 1940-1979 WXYT-FM Detroit, Michigan
Los Angeles, CaliforniaDon Lee KHJ 44.5K45LAKHJ-FM 1940-1981 KRTH Los Angeles, California
Schenectady, New YorkCapitol Broadcasting Co. Inc.44.7W47AWBCADeleted 1952 as WBCA Schenectady, New York
New York, New YorkMarcus Loew Booking Agency WHN 46.3W63NYWHNFDeleted 1955 as WMGM-FM New York, New York
New York, New YorkNBC W2XWG WEAF 45.1W51NYn/a 1940-1981 WQHT New York, New York
New York, New YorkW. G. H. Finch W2XWF 45.5W55NYWFGG 1940-1981 WFAN-FM New York, New York
Brooklyn, New YorkFrequency Broadcasting Corp.45.9W59NY--- 1940-1942 Deleted May 13, 1942, as W99NY (construction permit) New York, New York
Evansville, IndianaEvansville On the Air Inc. WEOA-WGBF 44.5W45VWMLLDeleted June 13, 1956, as WMLL Evansville, Indiana
Mount Washington, New HampshireYankee Network W1XER 43.9W39BWGTRDeleted October 1948 as WMNE Portland, Maine
Binghamton, New YorkHowitt-Wood Radio Co. WNBF 44.9W49BNWNBF-FMDeleted August 11, 1952, as WNBF-FM Binghamton, New York
Baton Rouge, LouisianaBaton Rouge Broadcasting Co. WJBO 44.5W45BRWBRL 1940-1981 WFMF Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Columbus, OhioWBNS Inc.W8XVH WBNS 44.5W45CMWELDDeleted July 14, 1953, as WELD, Columbus, Ohio
Salt Lake City, UtahRadio Service Corp. of Utah KSL 44.7K47SLKSL-FM 1940-1981 KSFI Salt Lake City, Utah
Chicago, IllinoisZenith Radio Corp.W9XEN
W9XZR		45.1W51CWWZR 1940-1981 WUSN Chicago, Illinois
Milwaukee, WisconsinJournal Co. W9XAZ W9XAO WTMJ 45.5W55MWMFMDeleted April 1950 as WTMJ-FM Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Map of the first 15 commercial FM stations, authorized by the Federal Communications Commission on October 31, 1940. These stations were primarily located in the eastern half of the U.S. Map of the first 15 commercial FM stations authorized by the Federal Communications Commission on October 31, 1940.png
Map of the first 15 commercial FM stations, authorized by the Federal Communications Commission on October 31, 1940. These stations were primarily located in the eastern half of the U.S.

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WASH is a commercial FM radio station owned and operated by iHeartMedia and located in Washington, D.C. Known on-air as "WASH-FM," the station airs an adult contemporary radio format. Studios and offices are on Rockville Pike in Rockville, Maryland. The station has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 17,500 watts, broadcasting from a tower at 242 metres (794 ft) in height above average terrain (HAAT). The transmitter site is on Chesapeake Street NW off Wisconsin Avenue in the Tenleytown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. With a good radio, WASH coverage extends from Baltimore to Fredericksburg, Virginia.

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WSM-FM was a commercial radio station that was operated by the [[[National Life and Accident Insurance Company]] in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, beginning on March 1, 1941. Under its original call sign of W47NV, it was described at the time as the first fully licensed commercial FM station in the nation. However, after ten years of financial losses, the station ceased operations on March 15, 1951.

WFMN was a commercial FM radio station located in Alpine, New Jersey. It was licensed from 1941 until around 1953 to inventor Edwin Howard Armstrong, and was co-located with two other Armstrong stations, W2XMN, and W2XEA/KE2XCC (1945-1954). However, for most of its existence WFMN was authorized for significantly lower power than the other two stations, and appears to have rarely been on the air.

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WGTR was a pioneer commercial FM radio station, which was the first of two mountain-top stations established by the Yankee Network. It began regular programming, as experimental station W1XOJ, in 1939. In 1941 it was licensed for commercial operation from studios in Boston, initially with the call sign W43B, which was changed to WGTR in 1943. In 1947, its designated community of license was changed to Worcester, Massachusetts.

WMNE was a pioneer commercial FM radio station, which was the second of two mountain-top broadcasting stations established by the Yankee Network. It began regular programming, as experimental station W1XER, in December 1940. In 1941 it was licensed for commercial operation from studios in Boston, initially with the call sign W39B, which was changed to WMTW in 1943. In late 1946 the station's designated community of license was changed to Portland, Maine, and its call letters became WMNE.

WTMJ-FM was a pioneer commercial FM radio station, owned by the Journal Company, publishers of The Milwaukee Journal, and located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In the late 1940s, it was one of the first FM stations in America and among the most powerful. Although heavily promoted, the station was unprofitable and ceased operations in April 1950. Management foresaw a limited future, especially in contrast to recently introduced television broadcasting.

WBCA was a short-lived commercial FM radio station, licensed to Schenectady, New York. The station, originally W47A, launched on July 17, 1941, as the first commercial FM station without an associated AM station. The call sign was changed to WBCA in 1943. Despite initial optimism that FM stations would soon supplant the AM band, WBCA ceased operations in 1952 due essentially to the small number of FM receivers in use.

WMLL was an FM radio station in Evansville, Indiana, that began broadcasting, as W45V, in 1941. It was the first commercial FM station authorized in the state of Indiana. WMLL suspended operations and was deleted in 1956.

WELD was a Columbus, Ohio FM radio station, that began broadcasting, as W45CM, in 1941. It was the first commercial FM station authorized in the state of Ohio. WELD suspended operations and was deleted in 1953.

WNBF-FM was an FM radio station in Binghamton, New York, that began broadcasting, as W49BN, in 1942. It was the first commercial FM station authorized in the Southern Tier region. WNBF-FM suspended operations and was deleted in 1952.

References

  1. ↑ "FCC Order No. 67" Federal Register, May 25, 1940, page 2011.
  2. ↑ "New FM Call Letters Proposed", Broadcasting, November 15, 1940, page 77.
  3. ↑ "Standard Broadcast Station Call Letters for All Outlets Starting Nov. 1, FCC Rule", The Billboard, September 4, 1943, page 7.
  4. ↑ "New Calls Named For FM Stations", Broadcasting, October 4, 1943, page 49.
  5. ↑ "New FM Calls", Broadcasting, October 18, 1943, page 14.
  6. ↑ "FCC Allocates 88-106 mc Band to FM" by Bill Bailey, Broadcasting, July 2, 1945, pages 13-14.
  7. ↑ "FCC Allocations Order Text", Broadcasting, July 2, 1945, pages 64-68.
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