Greg and Joan wrote:

A few in our area -

WNBP = Newburyport, 1450 AM = NBP, obvious
WBOQ = Gloucester, replaced WVCA (Voice of Cape Ann), WBOQ orignally was
an all classical station and the BOQ was to represent "Bach".
WCCM = Haverhill, 1490 AM. The station was orignally at 800 khz in
Lawrence. "CCM" was supposed to somehow represent "800" in Roman numerals.
It's a stretch.
WLLH = Lawrence and Lowell (two synchronous transmitters at 1400 am) =
Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill, but Haverhill never got a transmitter
WPAA-FM, Andover - Phillips Andover Academy, a low-power class D that's
still on the air

.

WPFB AM & FM in Middletown, Ohio was owned by Paul F Bradeon, and
another station he owned was WPBF so it is rather obvious he used his
initials.

--
Beware of those who suffer from delusions of adequacy!

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...
Greg and Joan wrote:

A few in our area -

WNBP = Newburyport, 1450 AM = NBP, obvious
WBOQ = Gloucester, replaced WVCA (Voice of Cape Ann), WBOQ
orignally was
an all classical station and the BOQ was to represent "Bach".
WCCM = Haverhill, 1490 AM. The station was orignally at 800 khz
in
Lawrence. "CCM" was supposed to somehow represent "800" in Roman
numerals.
It's a stretch.
WLLH = Lawrence and Lowell (two synchronous transmitters at 1400
am) =
Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill, but Haverhill never got a
transmitter
WPAA-FM, Andover - Phillips Andover Academy, a low-power class D
that's
still on the air

.

WPFB AM & FM in Middletown, Ohio was owned by Paul F Bradeon, and
another station he owned was WPBF so it is rather obvious he used
his
initials.

WMAL - Washington, DC - for the M A Lease Optical Company They sold
the station to NBC in the 1930s, but the call persists to this day.

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

WPFB AM & FM in Middletown, Ohio was owned by Paul F Bradeon, and
another station he owned was WPBF so it is rather obvious he used his
initials.

I could offer tons more, but isn't someone collecting these and putting them on
a website, or am I not recalling correctly?


--
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED

"In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor
Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large
amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005)

Steve Sobol wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

WPFB AM & FM in Middletown, Ohio was owned by Paul F Bradeon, and
another station he owned was WPBF so it is rather obvious he used his
initials.

I could offer tons more, but isn't someone collecting these and putting them on
a website, or am I not recalling correctly?

Steven J. Sobol

Sorry, but I stumbled across this thread and just added a couple
calls that I knew about. I'm disabled now, but I was a radio and TV
broadcast engineer in the '70s, '80s and '90s

As far as someone creating a website, I like the idea. Btw, WSM in
Nashville claims it means "We Shield Millions" because it was started by
an insurance company.

A local Christian TV station bought an existing low power station in
Lake county Florida. The call letters were WIYE so they cam up with "We
Inspire You Everyday" Later, they went full power and changed their
call to WACX for "ACTS TV" because it was as close as they could get to
what they wanted.

My first job in radio was at the 980 Khz AFRN station at Ft Greely,
AK in '73 and '74. It was 95 percent tube equipment and had a really
worn out Gates BC250 transmitter that was patched together by countless
emergency repairs that were never done right. The studio was a real
dump, and over the years someone had put layer after layer of house
paint on the audio board and some of the other equipment. It was a case
study in how not to do radio or TV.

We also had a 500 watt B&W TV station on Ch 8 that was a joke. A lot
of equipment failures that put it off the air every night and the
typical military attitude of not letting yo fix a problem, and not
allowing any downtime. Those were the days!


--
Beware of those who suffer from delusions of adequacy!

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

Followups set to rrb only, because I don't know how applicable this is to
shortwave.

Michael A. Terrell wrote:
Steve Sobol wrote:

I could offer tons more, but isn't someone collecting these and putting them on
a website, or am I not recalling correctly?

Steven J. Sobol


Sorry

No, don't be! I was just curious, because we have this discussion once every
year or two. In fact, I'll add some...

A local Christian TV station bought an existing low power station in
Lake county Florida. The call letters were WIYE so they cam up with "We
Inspire You Everyday" Later, they went full power and changed their
call to WACX for "ACTS TV" because it was as close as they could get to
what they wanted.

WSVN Channel 7 Miami, Florida. WSYX Channel 6 Columbus, Ohio. WTHR Channel 13,
Indianapolis, Indiana. WFOR Channel 4 Miami. And WFOR used to be WCIX Channel 6...

WEWS-TV 5 Cleveland, Ohio, owned by Scripps-Howard and one of the first TV
stations in the country. Callsign stands for "Edward W. Scripps."

WOIO Channel 19 Cleveland. I've never asked but I always assume the calls stand
for "Ohio."

WXIX Channel 19 Cincinnati, Ohio. XIX is the Roman numeral 19.

WIII Channel 64 Cincinnati. "The Eyes of Cincinnati." (Eyes... I's... heh...
someone had a rather cheesy sense of humor.)

W-One and W-Two: WONE-AM 980 Dayton, Ohio and WONE-FM 97.5 Akron, Ohio, and
WTUE-104.7 Dayton. All used to be owned by Summit Broadcasting. Clear Channel
now owns the Dayton stations and a local broadcaster, Rubber City Radio, owns
WONE-FM in Akron.

WLQT 99.9 Dayton used to be WVUD, broadcasting from Kennedy Union at the
University of Dayton. WVUD was the "Voice of UD" and was licensed to the
university until 1993 when the station was sold to Clear Channel.

Incidentally - I didn't realize this until doing a Google search, but the
University of Dayton campus radio station (where I used to do an airshift that
you could almost hear in the dorms if you were lucky) has hit the airwaves.
WDCR used to be carrier-current only. Now they're WUDR-99.5/98.1... "The
Udder". (no, I'm not kidding, see for yourself: http://flyer-radio.udayton.edu/)

WEOL-AM 930, Lorain County, Ohio, serving Elyria, Oberlin and Lorain.
WELW-AM 1330, Lake County, Ohio, serving Eastlake and Willoughby.

There was a Christian radio station on 1260 for a while in Cleveland, with the
calls WRDZ ("Words"). (It's now Radio Disney.)

How about WZAK-93.1 Cleveland, currently owned by Radio One but previously the
flagship station for Cleveland-owned Zapis Communications.

And WJW-TV 8 Cleveland, which became WJKW for a number of years in the 80s
after it was sold to a different company from the one that owned WJW-AM 850,
and then became WJW again after WJW-AM was sold and changed calls. Not notable,
except that they were allowed to go back to three-letter calls. I'm not sure
how that happened, or if a lot of strings had to be pulled to make it happen.

In the area where I now live, KHWY 98.9 Essex, CA. Part of the "Highway Radio"
group of stations catering to people driving the highways between SoCal and
Laughlin, NV, and SoCal and Las Vegas. (KHWY is on the way to Laughlin.)

I'm sure I'll come up with some more later...

--
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED

"In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor
Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large
amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005)

Steve Sobol wrote:

Followups set to rrb only, because I don't know how applicable this is to
shortwave.

Cleveland stations:

WNCX -- "North Coast"
WCLV -- "Cleveland"
WUAB -- "United Artists Broadcasting"
WKBF -- "Kaiser Broadcasting" (looong defunct)

others, that I'd have to think on -- I haven't lived in Cleveland in
15 years.

--
Eric F. Richards

"The weird part is that I can feel productive even when I'm doomed."
- Dilbert

Steve Sobol wrote:

Followups set to rrb only, because I don't know how applicable this is to
shortwave.

Could be very applicable, as in the case of HCJB "Heralding Christ Jesus'
Blessings" in Ecuador.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Eric F. Richards wrote:
Steve Sobol wrote:


Followups set to rrb only, because I don't know how applicable this is to
shortwave.


Cleveland stations:

WNCX -- "North Coast"
WCLV -- "Cleveland"

I forgot about those. Actually, WNCX = "North Coast eXpress to Rock and Roll"
and that's how they ID'd themselves when they signed on in 1987.

WUAB -- "United Artists Broadcasting"
WKBF -- "Kaiser Broadcasting" (looong defunct)

These, I didn't know about.

others, that I'd have to think on -- I haven't lived in Cleveland in
15 years.

Lessee, there are a couple more. KKJZ Long Beach, California - "K-Jazz",
simulcasting on KUOR Redlands, owned by the University of Redlands. KKJZ is
licensed to Cal State, Long Beach, IIRC.

Apropos of WCLV, Los Angeles's classical station is KMZT 105.1, "K-Mozart."

Los Angeles also has Kiss 102.7 (KIIS) and "Coast" 103.5 (KOST).

--
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED

"In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor
Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large
amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005)

Steve Sobol had written:
|
| No, don't be! I was just curious, because we have this discussion once every
| year or two. In fact, I'll add some...

Yes, it's a waste of time, but it's a *fun* waste of time!

So here goes:

San Francisco area:
KSFO - from the airport abbreviation (KSFO)
KNBR - from previous ownership by NBC (presumably NB(C) Radio)
KCBS - from current (sort-of) ownership
KCBC - actually in the Modesto market, owned by Crawford
Broadcasting Company (CBC)
KGO -- supposedly, "General (Electric) Oakland", from its original
owner and city of license (also on KGO-TV)
KABL - was at 960 kHz, now exiled to a suburban East Bay FM signal,
meant to evoke the "cable" cars, complete with cable-car bells!
KIQI - originally KIOI, after its dial position at 1010 kHz.
Similarly, KIOI(FM) is at 101.3, but Clear Channel trashed the
longtime "K-101" moniker for the cookie-cutter "Star 101-3"
KTCT - "The Ticket" but now often simulcasts KNBR
KFAX - an early 1960s effort at an all-news station, it has kept
the calls (K-Facts) long after that format expired
KLOK - San Jose, once called "Radio Reloj", but had those calls as
an English-language station, too
KOIT (AM/FM) - after the Coit Tower, a San Francisco landmark
KSRO - Santa Rosa, for, well, Santa Rosa (SRO)
KVTO - "Voice of the Orient", a Berkeley brokered station with
programs in many Asian languages
KEST - presumably "East", a San Francisco brokered station similar to KVTO

KQED (FM/TV) - "QED", Latin for "that which was to be proved", the
tagline of many a mathematical proof
KPOO - "Poor People's Radio", a San Francisco noncommercial FM
KFJC - "Foothill (Junior?) College", a South Bay station
KUSF - University of San Francisco
KCSM (FM/TV) - College of San Mateo
KSJO - San Jose, for the city, (or now that it is "La Preciosa", has
it changed calls?)
KNGY - Alameda, "Energy" (dance format)
KPFA - *The* original Pacifica station
KYLD - "Wild" (urban format)
KZBR - "The Bear" (country format)
KLLC - "Alice" (20-something format)
KISC - "Kiss" (R&B oldies format)
KFOG - After the fog in San Francisco
KITS - "Hits", remnant of a long-gone Top 20 format
KSAN - historically for "San" Francisco, but now on a station licensed
to San Mateo, so I guess it still works
KVYN - "Vine", an FM station in Napa

KRON - "Chronicle", the newspaper that was the original owner of
the TV station
KTSF - Television San Francisco
KMTP - Minority Telecommunications Project, the owner of the station
KBHK - HK for "Henry Kaiser", the industrialist who put the station
on the air
KFTY - Santa Rosa, for its dial position on channel 50
KTLN - Novato, for "Total Living Network"

A little farther afield:
KVEC - San Luis Obispo, for the Valley Electric Company (original owner)
KPRL - Paso Robles, for Paso Robles

Even farther afield over to Missouri and nearby:

KCSP - Kansas City, "Kansas City Sports", originally was WDAF, the
calls now are on FM
KCMO - Kansas City, Missouri (AM or FM)
KCTV - Kansas City TV, originally KCMO-TV. The calls were chosen in
1982 after Meredith spun off the radio stations and persuaded a San
Angelo, Texas TV station to give up its KCTV calls
KMBC - "Midland Broadcast Central", now just on TV but originally on AM
KMBZ - Smart move by Bonneville when it bought KMBC(AM) in 1967
KCKN - Owned for many years by the "Kansas City Kansan" newspaper
KCNW - "Kansas City News", remnant of a brief period as an all-news
station affiliated with the NBC News and Information Service
KSFT - "Soft", a St. Joseph station originally on FM, its original
calls, KKJO were swapped with that FM station in the late
1980s when the KKJO rock format moved to FM

And, no, WHB did not originally stand for the "World's Happiest
Broadcasters". That slogan was retrofitted to the calls more than
30 years after WHB first took to the air.

KCUR - "Kansas City University Radio", an FM station originally put
on the air by the University of Kansas City, which is now a
part of the University of Missouri
KJHK - "Jayhawk", a student-run station at the University of Kansas
KMXV - "Mix", a CHR station
KUDL - "Cuddle", a soft-rock station, but that the calls
originally were on an AM Top 40 station (now KCNW)
KCFX - "The Fox"
KBEQ - A length explanation: originally KBEY-FM, sister station
of KBEA(AM), which was put on the air by real estate
developer Thomas Beal (BEAl)

KSHB - "Scripps Howard Broadcasting", the second owner for which
channel 41 was named. The first was KBMA for the Business
Men's Assurance insurance company.
KQTV - The St. Joseph station was originally KFEQ-TV, when it
split from KFEQ radio, the "Q" remained

KTPK - For Topeka
KLWN - For Lawrence
KLZR - "Lazer", a Lawrence FM station
KANU - "Kansas U(niversity)"

Elsewhere in Missouri:

KTVO - A TV station licensed to Kirksville, Mo. but which, for many
years, had its main studio and offices in Ottumwa, Iowa
KRCG - Richard C. Goshorn, the published the
of the Jefferson City newspaper that established the TV
station
KMIZ - "Mizzou", after the University of Missouri in Columbia
KHQA - "Hannibal-Quincy", a TV station licensed to Hannibal, Mo.
but based in Quincy, Illinois
KOLR - "Color", a Springfield, Mo. TV station

KBIA - "Columbia", now the calls for the University of Missouri's
NPR station, originally the calls for a commercial AM station
KCOU - "COU", the airport abbreviation for Columbia, another
university station
KOPN - "Open", a Columbia station originally founded as an
open-access volunteer operation
KTGR - "Tiger", the mascot of the University of Missouri (original
calls, KBIA!)
KWOS - "Keep Watching Our State", a Jefferson City station named
in commemoration of state-owned station WOS ("Watching Our
State") which had its plug pulled in 1936 under mysterious
circumstances

The whole K[letter]MO series:
KFMO Flat River
KGMO Cape Girardeau
KHMO Hannibal
KJMO Jefferson City
KMMO Marshall
KSMO Salem -- and *also* KSMO-TV Kansas City (for "Kansas/Missouri")

And the "Keep Tuned To" series:
KTTN Trenton
KTTR Rolla
KTTS Springfield

KWTO Springfield - "Keep Watching the Ozarks" (a radio station,
never a TV station)

A few from Iowa:

KCOG Centerville - "Keep Calling of God", because it used paid
religious programs to stay afloat during its early days
KOTM Ottumwa - OTM for Ottumwa
KRNT Des Moines - "RNT", the Register and Tribune, the station's
former longtime owner
WSUI and KSUI Iowa City - SUI for "State University of Iowa", the
old name for the University of Iowa
KMA Shenandoah - "MA" for Earl May, the nurseryman who put the
station on the air

OK, that's enough for now!

--
Mark Roberts

There are some that I came upon:
WGY 810 kHz, Schenectady, NY "G" for General Electric, "Y" last letter in
Schenectady.
KGO 810 kHz, San Francisco, CA "G" for GE, "O" last letter in San
Francisco. GE owned both stations many years ago.
WROW 590 kHz, Albany, NY "Row!" (like a dog growling) "Watchdog of the
Capital District".
WPTR 1540 kHz, Albany, NY (back in the 1960s), Patroon Broadcasting Corp.
WROV 1240 kHz, Roanoke, VA (back before 1990s) "RO" for Roanoke, "V" for
Virginia.
WSLS 610 kHz, Roanoke, VA (Before 1980), Shenandoah Life (insurance) Station
WQBA 1140 kHz, Miami, FL (Spanish speaking) Q, pronounced "coo", BA as in
"bah". Said together, it is "Cuba" as said in Spanish.