# USA Centric: Radio Station Prefix **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 19, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-centric-radio-station-prefix/718071 "2015-04-19T22:24:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-centric-radio-station-prefix/718071/21 "2015-04-21T02:18:41Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > XJ–XO Canada , their broadcast calls start with C. Not quite, though a common misconception. In the commercial broadcast allocation Canada owns the range CF to CK. Some might notice that CBC stations often start with the letters “CB”. This technically belongs to Chile and was “borrowed” by special arrangement. One might note that it’s no coincidence that Canadian aircraft registrations once also were of the form CF-xxx. They were changed to C-xxxx later when the number of registrations grew tremendously. All these letters come from the allocations set by the [International Telecommunications Union](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITU_prefix), mainly for broadcasting but aircraft registrations follow closely. Thus the United States has the allocations K, N, W, and AA-AL. K and W are used for commercial broadcast stations, broadly west and east respectively, N for aircraft registration, and I believe AA-AL are for amateur radio. X was once used for experimental broadcast stations but was never official. > [@alphaboi867](#): > > Some radio stations in Newfoundland & Labrador still use the **VO** prefix Newfoundland was assigned back when it was an independent dominion. VO was once assigned to the independent country of the Dominion of Newfoundland! VA-VG remain allocated for amateur radio in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-centric-radio-station-prefix/718071/22 "2015-04-21T12:45:05Z")
> [@ZurBob](#): > > You have a very interesting site! If you care, an addition to your listing you might consider: WLPI-KLPI Ruston, Louisiana. I was a DJ there in the early '70s while a student at Louisiana Tech. WLPI-AM went off air in '74, but KLPI-FM carries on. > > BTW: I DXed a lot when I was a kid, and Whites Radio Log was my Bible … Any Info on what became of it would be greatly appreciated. Straddling the border, Louisiana makes for some interesting pairings. Former governor Noe ended up with stations KNOE and WNOE. I’m not related to Charles DeWitt White, so I don’t have any particular insight about what happened to the log, although [http://americanradiohistory.com](http://americanradiohistory.com) has scans of all the issues. (Growing up I always used to buy Vane Jones’ “North American Radio-TV Guide”, which you could get at Radio Shack (RIP)). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-centric-radio-station-prefix/718071/23 "2015-04-21T14:06:49Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Well, one example I know of would be ham radio operator hobbyists. When I was a young child in the late 1950s-early-1960’s, my big brother was one. He was K6OAF. One could (and he did) even get automobile license plates with your call sign back then, long before “personalized license plates” were otherwise a thing. My father took advantage and had K2AKQ plates for many years. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-centric-radio-station-prefix/718071/24 "2015-04-21T15:20:36Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > Thanks. > Still unanswered is why W is east, and K is west. > Probably best commented by Cecil about civil servants and bureaucracy: > “ **What happened is not known, but one suspects a memo stating in essence, all right, you morons, enough is enough.** ” this was (partially) carried over when ICAO developed four-character airport codes. US airport codes start with “K” (e.g. DTW is “KDTW”) and “C” is used for Canada. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-centric-radio-station-prefix/718071/25 "2015-04-22T00:21:53Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > Straddling the border, Louisiana makes for some interesting pairings. Former governor Noe ended up with stations KNOE and WNOE. > > I’m not related to Charles DeWitt White, so I don’t have any particular insight about what happened to the log, although [http://americanradiohistory.com](http://americanradiohistory.com) has scans of all the issues. (Growing up I always used to buy Vane Jones’ “North American Radio-TV Guide”, which you could get at Radio Shack (RIP)). Many thanks for the great link. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-centric-radio-station-prefix/718071.md?page=1)