# American Radio station designations

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-radio-station-designations/159456>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 6, 2003, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-radio-station-designations/159456 "2003-03-06T09:10:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ChalkPit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@ChalkPit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChalkPit)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-radio-station-designations/159456/1 "2003-03-06T09:10:52Z")

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As a Brit, I’ve always wondered why American radio stations always seem to have a K and/or a W in their titles.

What do the letters mean ?

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**Author:** ![Jammers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@Jammers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jammers)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-radio-station-designations/159456/2 "2003-03-06T09:14:49Z")

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I think that one is East side of America, and one is the West. Don’t know about the middle, or which is which. I’m sure someone will be along in a bit to tell me i’m wrong, though

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**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-radio-station-designations/159456/3 "2003-03-06T09:18:45Z")

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Cecil speaks: [Why do U.S. radio call letters start with W in the east and K in the west (revisited)?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010504.html)

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**Author:** ![lite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@lite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lite)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-radio-station-designations/159456/4 "2003-03-06T09:19:24Z")

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I don’t the link but it was answered earlier, search the archives from the mailbag. The letters are arbitrary, W generally being in the east, K being in the west. However, living in North Dakota (Yes, it really cold tonight) we have radio and tv staions sporting both letters

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**Author:** ![ChalkPit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@ChalkPit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChalkPit)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-radio-station-designations/159456/5 "2003-03-06T09:21:00Z")

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Ok tks, I didnt know this had been covered.  
Cheers