# Radio call letters that have local significance **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 4, 2007, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799 "2007-12-04T17:54:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/81 "2016-12-02T17:12:06Z")
KSRV in Ontario, Oregon which is in the Snake River Valley. Seattle used to have a radio station KILO that catered to tokers and such. Now a station in Colorado has that call sign. I’m sure there’s no weed users there. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/82 "2016-12-02T17:19:39Z")
Classic / hard rock station [WAPL](http://www.wapl.com/)’s call sign is a reference to its location in Appleton, WI. TV station [WBAY](http://wbay.com/) is located in Green Bay, WI. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/83 "2016-12-02T17:23:45Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > WLS now has an FM station on which classic rock is played. I wonder if they use any of those old jingles. I believe that they use an updated version of the original one. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/84 "2016-12-02T17:49:33Z")
[KBAD](http://www.kbad945.com/) broadcasts from [Badlands Pawn](http://www.badlandspawn.com/) in Sioux Falls, SD which is nowhere near [Badlands National Park](https://www.nps.gov/badl/index.htm) so I don’t know why it is called Badlands Pawn. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/85 "2016-12-02T20:34:00Z")
Including the San Francisco stations mentioned above, there’s also KFRC. KSJO is in San Jose. KGO in San Francisco was originally General Electric, Oakland. KCRW, the NPR station associated with Santa Monica Community College, stands for College Radio Workshop. Though occasionally they like to claim that the C stands for Corsairs, the school’s athletic teams. Channel 10 television in Sacramento is KXTV. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/86 "2016-12-02T20:43:29Z")
WYSO, Yellow Springs Ohio, (NPR affiliate). KCAW, \*Raven \*Radio, Sitka, Alaska. (Also NPR I believe) ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/87 "2016-12-02T22:25:01Z")
WAVY-TV in Hampton Roads, Virginia, recognizes that Virginia Beach is on the Atlantic oceanfront. Has an appropriate logo, too. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/88 "2016-12-02T23:27:12Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > If I recall things correctly, a Buffalo station found that it could use Roman numerals in the middle of **WIVB** , its callsign, to create the station’s slogan: “We’re For Buffalo.” I believe the station was Channel 4, as well, making the “IV” even more appropriate. Similarly, WDIV is Detroit’s channel 4. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/89 "2016-12-03T02:13:02Z")
Public Radio station in Detroit is WDET. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/90 "2016-12-03T02:38:41Z")
WAMC, the public radio station headquarted in Albany, NY, started out as the radio station for the Albany Medical College. ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/91 "2016-12-03T04:09:14Z")
After reading all the other posts, I don’t think I am breaking the OP’s rule by pointing out that 1440 AM WNFL is, of course, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/92 "2016-12-03T04:26:14Z")
WAMU is at American University WBEN in Buffalo, NY - I think this stood for Buffalo Evening News KENS in San Antonio is for Evening News Station (I’m not positive about that) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/93 "2016-12-03T04:29:35Z")
Des Moines used to have KRNT radio, TV, and a civic auditorium. The R n T stood for “Register and Tribune”, the city’s newspapers back in the day. Later, the Tribune was combined with the Register. Quincy, Illinois has KHQA, which unofficially stands for “Keokuk/Hannibal/Quincy Area”. > **[KHQA-TV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KHQA-TV)** > > KHQA-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to Hannibal, Missouri, United States, serving the Quincy, Illinois–Hannibal, Missouri–Keokuk, Iowa market as an affiliate of CBS and ABC. The station is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, and maintains studios on South 36th Street in Quincy; its transmitter is located northeast of the city on Cannonball Road near I-172. > KHQA went on-the-air September 23, 1953. The station was originally owned by Lee Enterprises of Davenport, Iowa along wit... ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/94 "2016-12-03T04:41:33Z")
A few have used Roman numerals. WXIX was a Milwaukee TV station on channel 19, and KLVI in Beaumont, Texas was at 56 on the AM dial. (The late Big Bopper was a DJ at KLVI.) ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/95 "2016-12-03T08:27:14Z")
Nashville has WVOL-AM, named for the Volunteer State of Tennessee. The station has primarily targeted the African-American community since before the name change in 1957, so I doubt (but can’t prove) that the name represents either the then-mostly-segregated University of Tennessee or the all-white AA baseball Nashville Vols. ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/96 "2016-12-03T14:17:08Z")
St. Louis MO has KMOX radio, home of Cardinal Baseball. And Rush Limbaugh, I’m still sorry to say. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/97 "2016-12-03T14:22:43Z")
In L.A. we have: KLAC (Los Angeles California) KLOS and, uh, KRTH (K-Earth) which does indeed broadcast from Earth. There’s probably a million more in Spanish that I don’t recognize. Slight hijacks: There is KBLA, which is sadly not talk radio, but religious radio in Spanish. From March 1 through October 31, 2016, L.A. had an AM station (KFWB) that broadcast Bollywood music, and I somehow never knew about it. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/98 "2016-12-03T14:36:38Z")
The NPR affiliate in West Lafayette, Indiana is WBAA, a nod to the fact sheep are involved in Purdue University’s teaching of agriculture and veterinary medicine. Cleveland’s WEWS-TV (ABC affiliate) honors E. W. Scripps, founder of the station’s parent company. Logically enough, WAKR is a radio station serving Akron, Ohio. There also used to be a WAKR-TV (ABC affiliate), but it changed its call letters to WAK **C** -TV in 1985, perhaps a nod to the fact **C** anton is part of the Akron market. (The station is now affiliated with Ion Television, and is known as WVPX-TV.) ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/99 "2016-12-03T14:37:25Z")
Houston has KHOU. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799/100 "2016-12-03T18:31:57Z")
There’s also KCMO in Kansas City, Missouri. 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-call-letters-that-have-local-significance/428799.md?page=6)