# Regarding radio and television call letters **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 18, 2004, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-radio-and-television-call-letters/255699 "2004-07-18T18:41:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![yourolympichero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7ba0ec/32.png) [@yourolympichero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yourolympichero)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-radio-and-television-call-letters/255699/1 "2004-07-18T18:41:58Z")
Why do radio/television station call letters start with “W” East of the Mississippi and “K” West of the Mississippi? I know it’s an FCC regulation but my friends and I can’t figure out what the significance of “W” and “K” are. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-radio-and-television-call-letters/255699/2 "2004-07-18T18:53:12Z")
According to the first several Google hits on “east west call letters mississippi,” the choice of letters was arbitrary. There are a few dozen stations that break the rule for various reasons, and the boundary was moved at one point. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-radio-and-television-call-letters/255699/3 "2004-07-18T18:55:44Z")
The Master Speaks: [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010504.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010504.html) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-radio-and-television-call-letters/255699/4 "2004-07-18T18:58:01Z")
> [@](#): > > A radio or television call sign or callsign is a unique designation for amateur, broadcast, and sometimes military radio use, as well as for broadcast television. Such call signs are formal, semi-permanent, and issued by a nation’s telecommunication agency. > > Each country has a set of alphabetic or numeric International Telecommunication Union-designated prefixes with which their call signs must begin. For example: > > ``` > * The U.S.A. uses the prefixes: W, K, N, and AAA to ALZ > * Canada uses the prefixes: CF-CK, CY-CZ, VA-VG, VO, VX-VY, XJ-XO > * The United Kingdom uses the prefixes: G, M, and 2 > * France uses the prefixes: F, TM > * Germany uses the prefixes: DA to DR > * Chad uses the prefix: TT > * Italy uses the prefix: I > > ``` Source: [http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Television%20call%20sign](http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Television%20call%20sign) ---
**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:** [July 18, 2004, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-radio-and-television-call-letters/255699/5 "2004-07-18T19:00:35Z")
Further thread discussion on this topic may be found here: > **[Cecil's Lousy Call Letter Answer (repost)](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=2)** > > MODERATOR COMMENT: Please note that this thread is from 1999, revived in 2000, 2001, 2004 and a couple of other times. Please don’t bother to post anything that was already posted, and please don’t expect answers from people who may have posted... > **[American Radio station designations](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=167640)** > > 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 ? > **[why the letter K](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=46862)** > > how come all of the radio stations’ call letters begin with the leter K? ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-radio-and-television-call-letters/255699/6 "2004-07-18T19:07:21Z")
W vs. K: No real significance, other than the fact that the letters W & K are assigned to the United States. If you listen to a Mexican station their callsign will start with X. Canadian stations start with C. From [This Site:](http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/callsigns/callsigns.htm): > [@](#): > > The first U.S. radio stations were allowed to select their own call letters beginning with either a W or a K. Also, early radio stations could select either a three-letter or a four-letter combination. Later, around 1928, the Federal Radio Commission formalized rules which required that all stations use four-letter combinations. Further, those stations east of the Mississippi were required to use an initial W while those stations west of the Mississippi were required to use an initial K. > > Stations already on the air were allowed to keep their call letters regardless of number or location. Radio and later television stations such as KDKA, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; WGN, Chicago; WHO, Des Moines, Iowa; and WOW, Omaha, Nebraska, demonstrate their pioneer status and their unbroken ownership by being notable exceptions to the current rules. When WOR-TV, New York, was acquired by a new owner it was required to adhere to the four-letter requirement and became WWOR-TV. Some of the 3 letter callsigns seem to be making a comeback. In Los Angeles, KHJ-AM was sold to a Spanish broadcaster, and they were forced to change the callsign. To keep the heritage of the station, they chose KKHJ. This led to a problrm, however, as the legal identification of the station started with the letters “KK.” As any good Spanish speaker will tell you, this is pronounced “CA-CA.” And we all know what “caca” is, don’t we? The FCC finally allowed the change back to KHJ. But my favorite exception to the K/W rule is in Waco, TX. Yep, 99.9 FM is WACO-FM. It’s in the FCC records. 😃🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-radio-and-television-call-letters/255699/7 "2004-07-18T19:09:12Z")
A good read on call letter history is to be found [here](http://earlyradiohistory.us/recap.htm). ---
**Author:** ![yourolympichero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7ba0ec/32.png) [@yourolympichero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yourolympichero)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-radio-and-television-call-letters/255699/8 "2004-07-18T19:13:26Z")
Thanks for the help. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-radio-and-television-call-letters/255699/9 "2004-07-18T19:29:42Z")
Are the “N” callsigns used anywhere, or reserved for some future purpose? ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-radio-and-television-call-letters/255699/10 "2004-07-18T19:56:02Z")
The only places I can think of the “N” callsigns are used are: [ul] [li]US Naval Stations[/li][li]Aircraft callsings (the “N” number of the plane")[/li][li]Amateur Radio callsigns[/li][/ul]