I used to know the call letters for almost ever local radio and tv station, but I don’t today. I only know broadcast stations by their network affiliate. I go to the 700s on my cable box where the HD programming is. I couldn’t tell you the call letters of any Phoenix tv station. When I see them, I know they start with the letter K and there is sometimes a P next to make some connection to Phoenix.
I don’t listen to local radio stations often. I do know that KTAR is a sports station, but that is only from listening to Cardinals games when I drive home from church when the Cards have an early game.
So, do you know any of your broadcast stations’ call letters? I guess people in NYC and LA have it easy as I know you just put a K or W in front of the NBC/ABC/CBS and there are your call letters.
Well, in Los Angeles, California, three of the local TV stations are KCBS, KNBC, and KABC, so those are pretty easy. Oh, I guess KTLA and KCAL are kind of easy too. KTTV and KCOP round off VHF. The only UHF channels I watch are KOCE and KCET. Why yes, my TV does still have an antenna.
I also know the public radio stations KCRW and KPCC, as well as KROQ (formerly “The Rock of the '80s”). Is KLOS still around?
CFNY, CILQ, CFTO, CIII, CKVR, CKAR, CHEX, CKPT, CITY (the best call letters ever for a scrappy upstart urban TV station–at least it was in the seventies), CFTR, CIUT, CKLN, CBLT, CBLFT, WIVB, WUTV… why yes I grew up in Southern Ontario. Newer stations rarely mention theirs, and I watch or listen to so little broadcast media these days that I haven’t kept up with the new over-the-air stations.
Out Boston way we have a rarity: a three-letter call sign. WBZ Channel 4, the NBC affiliate. WCVB is Channel 5, which used to be the ABC affiliate, and WHDH is Channel 7 which used to be CBS - I think they’ve switched and WHDH used to have a different call sign. Other Boston stations include WSBK (38), WLVI (56), and WGBH (2), the PBS station. New Hampshire has WMUR Channel 9. There used to be another local station WNDS but I don’t know if it’s around anymore. (Good EEEEEEeeeeevening!)
On the radio the only one I can readily recall is WCRB, the 24-hour classical station. From my youth I recall WAAF, WHTT, WEEI, and WOKQ, all FM stations; I didn’t listen to AM all that much so I don’t recall anything there except WDER, which my dad had a show on for a while and I got on once or twice.
I think there’s less emphasis on the call letters now. They give stations “names” instead.
I know the ones around here that have the same call letters as when I was young, even ones I don’t listen to. Of the new ones, WCSX is the Classic Rock station, so it makes sense they’d use call letters. WIOT is similar, though they say Rock, not Classic Rock. WRIF (Rock) has been around forever, but I think they still emphasize their call letters. I also know WDVD since they emphasize the DVD part, although what that actually has to do with radio is less than clear.
The ones I don’t know are the ones with names, like The River, and Doug :rolleyes:
I don’t listen to local radio much and don’t watch TV, yet I have one seared into my brain: WGMO. Why? Because the station is right on the highway here and I have to drive past it and the giant sign with their call letters every day. Kind of hard to miss, in that case.
Back in Vegas, I still remember KBLR as the Spanish channel, for some reason.
I know call letters of most of the TV stations in Indianapolis (all of the regular networks and high-power independents, a few of the religious and low-power), and the few radio stations to which I listen or are subjected. I’ve found that many people no longer know call letters for TV stations, or even what the broadcast channels are, because of cable. For radio, more people know call letters since they’re used more often in advertising and in station identification, except for a few Clear Channel stations that have “catchy” names used in advertising-- Q95 for WFBQ 94.7, X103 for WRZX 103.3
Lessee… I know that KGW is NBC but I have no idea which affiliate KATU is.
Radio is easier–KGON is Butt Rock, KNRK is Alternative, KISN used to be classic rock but now it’s one of those stupid “Charlie” stations, KUFO is headbanging, KINK is generic adult whatever but it’s a great call sign nonetheless, KWJJ is a crap country station a friend listens to. That’s all the ones I know off the top of my head.
I know three of the four – WNYT (NBC), WTEN (ABC), WRGB (CBS), WMHT (PBC). Don’t recall the Fox affiliate name, it’s just Network 23.
Radio there’s WGY, WROW, WMHT-FM, WTRY, WAMC, and WEXT* by call letters. But I never listen to the radio, so I don’t pay any attention to most call letters.
*A very interesting station – listener supported alternative rock run by our public radio station after it failed as a second classical station. You can listen online at their streaming website.
You did notice that LVI is Roman numerals for 56, right? It’s hard to forget that one. Channel 4 is now CBS, Channel 7 is now NBC, Channel 5 stayed ABC. Fox is WFXT, channel 25. WNDS is now WZTV, affiliated with something called MyTV (http://www.mytvstation.tv/) and you can still watch Al Kaprielian do the weather. They got rid of their entire news team except for Al, he’s a cult icon.
WBCN was my main station growning up, and now it carries the Patriots games. WBUR is my NPR station, although there’s also WGBH. WERS (Emerson College) has great independent music. WZLX is the best classic rock station, especially their Sunday Blues. On AM there’s WEEI - the sports talk network, although WRKO now is the home of the Red Sox. WBZ is still the biggest player on AM.
Known that since the days when Uncle Dale emceed the afternoon cartoons and
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I’ve been out of the region since 1993 so all this happened while I was looking the other way. Of course now I’ve been racking my brain to think what Channel 7’s call letters were before they left CBS!
That dude was a total laff riot when I was in high school. He was also rather fat! He lost a lot of weight while I was off getting a college education an’ such.
Newer stations rarely mention theirs, and I watch or listen to so little broadcast media these days that I haven’t kept up with the new over-the-air stations.