List of three-letter broadcast call signs in the United States

Last updated

This is a list of radio and television broadcasting stations in the United States that are currently assigned three-letter call signs.

Contents

Overview

In the United States, all radio and television broadcasting stations that are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are assigned official, distinct call signs. Organized broadcasting began in the U.S. in the early 1920s on the AM band — FM and television did not exist yet. Initially most broadcasting stations were assigned three-letter calls; however, a switch was made in April 1922 to primarily four-letter calls, after the number of stations had increased into the hundreds. For a few years thereafter a small number of new three-letter calls continued to be issued. Although most of the original three-letter calls were randomly assigned, these later calls were often specially requested to match station slogans. The last new three-letter call was assigned to station WIS (now WVOC) in Columbia, South Carolina on January 23, 1930. Since then, three-letter calls have only been assigned to stations, including FM (beginning in 1943) [1] and TV (beginning in 1946), [2] which are historically related to an AM station that was originally issued that call sign.

This review only includes FCC-licensed stations. Not included are unlicensed operations, such as carrier current, cable TV, and Internet stations — for example, San Diego State University's "KCR" — which have adopted call-letter-like identifiers that are not officially issued by the FCC. Also not included are stations which use, as slogans, three-letter truncations of their official four-letter call signs; for example, the full call sign for radio station "KOH" in Reno, Nevada is actually KKOH, and "WTN" in Nashville, Tennessee is actually WWTN. In addition, stations which formerly had three letters but have since changed (such as Albuquerque, New Mexico's KKOB, formerly KOB) are not listed.

As of January 2025, there are a total of 101 AM, FM and TV stations in the United States that are assigned three-letter call signs. This is divided among only 67 different three-letter calls, because in many cases the same call sign is used by more than one station, although a given call sign is never assigned to more than one AM, FM or TV station. These 67 different three-letter call signs are currently grouped as follows:

Assignments

Listed below are all the assignments as of January 2025.

AM band (52 stations)FM band (28 stations)TV band (21 stations)
(kosj) KDB - Santa Barbara, California
KEX - Portland, Oregon
KFH - Wichita, Kansas
(knss)
KFI - Los Angeles, California
KGA - Spokane, Washington
KGB - San Diego, California
(klsd)
KGB-FM - San Diego, California
(ksfo) KGO-TV - San Francisco, California
KGU - Honolulu, Hawaii KGU-FM - Honolulu, Hawaii
(kpoj) KGW - Portland, Oregon
KHJ - Los Angeles, California
(kqnt) KHQ-TV - Spokane, Washington
KIT - Yakima, Washington
KJR - Seattle, Washington KJR-FM - Seattle, Washington
(kmes) KLO-FM - Coalville, Utah
KLZ - Denver, Colorado
KMA - Shenandoah, Iowa KMA-FM - Clarinda, Iowa
KMJ - Fresno, California KMJ-FM - Fresno, California
KNX - Los Angeles, California KNX-FM - Los Angeles, California
KOA - Denver, Colorado
(kkob) KOB - Albuquerque, New Mexico
KOY - Phoenix, Arizona
(kfyi)
KPQ - Wenatchee, Washington KPQ-FM - Wenatchee, Washington
KQV - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
(ktrs) KSD - St. Louis, Missouri
KSL - Salt Lake City, Utah KSL-FM - Midvale, Utah KSL-TV - Salt Lake City, Utah
KUJ - Walla Walla, Washington KUJ-FM - Burbank, Washington
(ktrh) KUT - Austin, Texas
KVI - Seattle, Washington
KWG - Stockton, California
(kxtg) KXL-FM - Portland, Oregon
KXO - El Centro, California KXO-FM - El Centro, California
KYW - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania KYW-TV - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
WBT - Charlotte, North Carolina WBT-FM - Chester, South Carolina
WBZ - Boston, Massachusetts WBZ-FM - Boston, Massachusetts WBZ-TV - Boston, Massachusetts
WDZ - Decatur, Illinois
WEW - St. Louis, Missouri
WGH - Newport News, Virginia WGH-FM - Newport News, Virginia
WGL - Fort Wayne, Indiana
WGN - Chicago, Illinois WGN-TV - Chicago, Illinois
WGR - Buffalo, New York
WGY - Schenectady, New York WGY-FM - Albany, New York
WHA - Madison, Wisconsin WHA-TV - Madison, Wisconsin
WHB - Kansas City, Missouri
WHK - Cleveland, Ohio
WHO - Des Moines, Iowa WHO-DT - Des Moines, Iowa
WHP - Harrisburg, Pennsylvania WHP-TV - Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
(kzqz) WIL-FM - St. Louis, Missouri
(wtel) WIP-FM - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(wvoc) WIS - Columbia, South Carolina
WJR - Detroit, Michigan
(wknr) WJW - Cleveland, Ohio
WJZ - Baltimore, Maryland
(wabc)
WJZ-FM - Catonsville, Maryland WJZ-TV - Baltimore, Maryland
WKY - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
WLS - Chicago, Illinois WLS-FM - Chicago, Illinois WLS-TV - Chicago, Illinois
WLW - Cincinnati, Ohio
WMC - Memphis, Tennessee WMC-TV - Memphis, Tennessee
WMT - Cedar Rapids, Iowa
WOC - Davenport, Iowa
WOI - Ames, Iowa WOI-FM - Ames, Iowa WOI-DT - Ames, Iowa
WOL - Washington, D.C.
WOR - New York, New York
(wtem) WRC-TV - Washington, D.C.
(ktck) WRR - Dallas, Texas
WSB - Atlanta, Georgia WSB-FM - Atlanta, Georgia WSB-TV - Atlanta, Georgia
WSM - Nashville, Tennessee WSM-FM - Nashville, Tennessee
WWJ - Detroit, Michigan WWJ-TV - Detroit, Michigan
WWL - New Orleans, Louisiana WWL-FM - Kenner, Louisiana WWL-TV - New Orleans, Louisiana

Other stations of note

References

  1. "Standard Broadcast Station Call Letters for All Outlets Starting Nov. 1, FCC Rule", The Billboard, September 4, 1943, page 7.
  2. "Call Letter Style Adopted For Video", Broadcasting, August 19, 1946, page 82.

See also