# FM station call letters; K\_\_\_ on the West coast, W on the East. Why?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fm-station-call-letters-k___-on-the-west-coast-w-on-the-east-why/325643>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 10, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fm-station-call-letters-k___-on-the-west-coast-w-on-the-east-why/325643 "2005-10-10T22:44:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fm-station-call-letters-k___-on-the-west-coast-w-on-the-east-why/325643/1 "2005-10-10T22:44:19Z")

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Millions,  
I did a fairly decent job explaining what I wanted to know in the title, but, hey, let’s lengthen it out a little. It’s my understanding that radio stations are identified by call letters (as opposed to their spot on the dial) to make each one distinct, as, obviously, there are 105.3s everywhere. My question is why on one coast ALL stations begin with Ks, whereas the East coast uses Ws. KIXY as opposed to WOXY; that sort of thing. What’s the reasoning? Do K and W stand for something? For that matter, do any of the call letters stand for anything? It seems they usually go in for clever misspellings (KOST calling itself “Coast”, etc.) Enlighten away.

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**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fm-station-call-letters-k___-on-the-west-coast-w-on-the-east-why/325643/2 "2005-10-10T22:48:48Z")

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[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)  
The Perfect Master Explains.

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**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fm-station-call-letters-k___-on-the-west-coast-w-on-the-east-why/325643/3 "2005-10-10T22:49:36Z")

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Turns out there’s this thing called “search.” Thanks QTM.