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] Stations with -FM, -TV and -DT suffixes are technically five-letter call signs, but in all cases are expansions of and 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 June 20,2023, there are a total of 102 AM, FM and TV stations in the United States that are assigned three-letter call signs. This is divided between 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 June 20,2023:

AM radio (53 stations)

FM radio (28 stations)

In cases where an AM station exists with the same "base" call letters as an FM station, the FM station is required to include an "-FM" suffix as part of its call sign. If no AM station is currently using the same base call sign, then the "-FM" suffix is optional.

Television (21 stations)

As with FM stations, if an AM station currently exists with the same "base" call, a TV station must include a suffix to differentiate itself, but this suffix is optional if no AM station currently exists. TV stations may select either "-TV" or "-DT" as their suffix.

Other stations of note

Related Research Articles

Call signs are frequently still used by North American broadcast stations, in addition to amateur radio and other international radio stations that continue to identify by call signs worldwide. Each country has a different set of patterns for its own call signs. Call signs are allocated to ham radio stations in Barbados, Canada, Mexico and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSB (AM)</span> Clear-channel news/talk radio station in Atlanta

WSB is a commercial AM radio station in Atlanta, Georgia. It airs a talk radio radio format, simulcast on Doraville-licensed WSBB-FM. WSB is the flagship station for Cox Media Group; in addition to WSB and WSBB-FM, it owns three other Atlanta radio stations and Atlanta's ABC Television Network affiliate, WSB-TV. From 1939 to 2019, WSB was owned by Cox Enterprises along with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution daily newspaper; the station had been established by the Journal in 1922. The station's studios and offices are located at the WSB Television and Radio Group building on West Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta, which is shared with its television and radio partners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KKOB (AM)</span> Radio station in Albuquerque, New Mexico

KKOB is a commercial AM radio station, licensed to Albuquerque, New Mexico and owned by Cumulus Media. Its news/talk format is branded as "96.3 Newsradio KKOB", reflecting a simulcast with co-owned KKOB-FM 96.3 MHz. Studios and offices are located in Downtown Albuquerque. KKOB is the oldest station in New Mexico and is the state's primary entry point for the Emergency Alert System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westinghouse Broadcasting</span> Former broadcast company, merged with CBS

The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndication.

WJZ-TV is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, and maintains studios and offices on Television Hill in the Woodberry section of Baltimore, adjacent to the transmission tower it shares with several other Baltimore broadcast outlets.

WHO-DT is a television station in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Nexstar Media Group. The station's studios are located on Grand Avenue in downtown Des Moines, and its transmitter is located in Alleman, Iowa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WOI-DT</span> ABC affiliate in Ames, Iowa

WOI-DT is a television station licensed to Ames, Iowa, United States, serving the Des Moines area as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside CW affiliate KCWI-TV, also licensed to Ames. The two stations share studios on Westown Parkway in West Des Moines; WOI-DT's transmitter is located in Alleman, Iowa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KCWI-TV</span> CW affiliate in Ames, Iowa

KCWI-TV is a television station licensed to Ames, Iowa, United States, serving as the CW affiliate for the Des Moines area. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside ABC affiliate WOI-DT, also licensed to Ames. The two stations share studios on Westown Parkway in West Des Moines; KCWI-TV's transmitter is located in Alleman, Iowa.

In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigned by a government agency, informally adopted by individuals or organizations, or even cryptographically encoded to disguise a station's identity.

The Marconi Radio Awards are presented annually by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to the top radio stations and on-air personalities in the United States. The awards are named in honor of Guglielmo Marconi, the man generally credited as the "father of wireless telegraphy". NAB member stations submit nominations. A task force determines the finalists and the Marconi Radio Award Selection Academy votes on the winners, who receive their awards in the fall.

In commercial radio, a heritage station is an AM radio station that has broadcast a specific format for a sustained period of time, since its beginning; usually since the 1930s or 1940s, in some cases the 1920s. Also, the call letters will have remained the same for most of the station's life.

WSUI is a public radio station in Iowa City, Iowa. It is owned by Iowa Public Radio, Inc. and is a member of Iowa Public Radio's news network. Its signal serves most of eastern Iowa. WSUI is one of two National Public Radio member stations in the region, along with 90.9 KUNI in Cedar Falls. WSUI's sister station is classical music outlet 91.7 KSUI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJZ-FM</span> Radio station in Catonsville, Maryland

WJZ-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Catonsville, Maryland, and serving the Baltimore metropolitan area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. through licensee Audacy License, LLC, and it broadcasts a sports radio format. Local shows are heard on weekdays, with programming from the CBS Sports Radio Network airing nights and weekends. The station's studios and offices are located in Towson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NAB Crystal Radio Awards</span>

The NAB Crystal Radio Awards are presented annually by the National Association of Broadcasters to American radio stations. The award was established in 1987 to recognize radio stations for year-round commitment to community service.

WENR is an AM radio radio station licensed to Englewood, Tennessee, which programs a classic rock format. The station broadcasts at a power of 1,000 watts and is owned by Michael R. Beverly. Because WENR shares the same frequency as former class I-B "clear-channel" stations KAAY in Little Rock, Arkansas, and WBAL in Baltimore, Maryland, it broadcasts only during daylight hours and is required to sign off at sunset each night.

The following television stations broadcast on digital channel 27 in the United States:

The following television stations broadcast on digital channel 32 in the United States:

Call signs in the United States are identifiers assigned to radio and television stations, which are issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and, in the case of most government stations, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). They consist of from 3 to 9 letters and digits, with their composition determined by a station's service category. By international agreement, all call signs starting with the letters K, N and W, as well as AAA-ALZ, are reserved exclusively for use in the United States.

Broadcast call signs are call signs assigned as unique identifiers to radio stations and television stations. While broadcast radio stations will often brand themselves with plain-text names, identities such as "cool FM", "rock 105" or "the ABC network" are not globally unique. Another station in another city or country may have a similar brand, and the name of a broadcast station for legal purposes is normally its internationally recognised ITU call sign. Some common conventions are followed around the world.

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