Here's the
call letter origins.
Note that this is the link directly to the list
of the station call letters.
This release of freely available Radio Call Letter Origins has grown to now include over 2750 radio and television station call letters and the significance of these call letters. In most cases, the call letters are still currently being used in the city of license shown in the list itself.
Here's the
call letter origins.
Note that this is the link directly to the list
of the station call letters.
We purchased WDGO(FM) (established in 1961 by Douglas G. Oviatt) in 1962, and changed the call letters to WCLV. We had originally wanted WCLE, because CLE is the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport designation. But WCLE is in Cleveland, Tenn. Then we looked at WCLD, but that's in Cleveland, Mississippi. So, we settled on WCLV.
WDGO ran into some problems with its call letters. The owners use a scotty dog as a logo, so everybody referred to the station as WDOG. But the problem was compounded by an ad the station ran that had a typo in the call letters - you guessed it - WDOG.
WCLV has been a classical music station since the beginning, and when the latest consolidation sale in Cleveland goes through, WCLV will be the only locally owned FM station licensed to Cleveland. There is one low powered daytimer AM, WABQ, that is also locally owned. We are also the only commercial station in Cleveland not have changed its format in the 36 years we've been on the air. We have been broadcasting on the web at wclv.com since November of 1996.
While on the topic of WCLV, on 3 July 2001, seven Cleveland (including those in the Cleveland area) stations were involved in what is known as The Great Cleveland Radio Frequency Swap. From WCLV's President, Robert Conrad, comes this firsthand account:
Seven stations involving three radio companies - Clear Channel, Salem Communications and Radio Seaway (WCLV) swapped frequencies. WCLV is the lynch pin as we entered in to this deal to save the classical format for Cleveland. Sometime this summer, WCLV-FM will be donated to a new non-profit WCLV Foundation whose purpose will be to insure the continuance of classical music on the radio in Cleveland. Members of the board will be from The Cleveland Foundation, the two Cleveland public broadcasters WVIZ TV and WCPN(FM) and the stockholders of WCLV. WCLV (AM) will be in the hands of the current stockholders and will operate WCLV-FM on behalf of the Foundation.
WCLV-FM (classical) moved from 95.5 FM to 104.9 FM. WHK (1420 AM - Cleveland's original radio station) became the property of Radio Seaway and operates as WCLV AM. The call letters of WHK will move to 1220 AM (originally WGAR AM - more recently WKNR). The call letters of WKNR will move to 850 AM (originally WJW - more recently WRMR). The WRMR calls disappear and its intellectual property, format (big band and American standards) and some staff members move to WCLV AM. WASK moves from 104.9 to 96.5 in Akron. WKDD moves from 96.5 to 98.1 in Canton WHK-FM moves from 98.1 to 95.5 and becomes WFHM.
We're calling this the Great Cleveland Radio Frequency Swap. It's the biggest change of frequencies and formats in Ohio radio history, and maybe in the country. The format line up will be:
104.9 WCLV-FM - classical 1420 WCLV(AM) - classic pops 1220 WHK - religious 850 WKNR - sports/talk 96.5 WASK - rock (Kiss format) 98.1 WKDD - Hot AC 95.5 WFHM - Christian rock
Not to let the history wagon pass us by my wife Jan and I put a Class C on the air in Fruita, Colorado (10 miles from Grand Junction) in 1984. When we filed for the frequency in 1979 we had to come up with a corporate name so we called it Jan-Di Broadcasting since the only stockholders were Jan and Dick Maynard. Later the entire world pronounced it Jan Die Broadcasting rather than the intended Jan-Dee but what did I know? As we got closer to air date our three daughters thought a. the station should rock and b. should be named after them. Much to their chagrin I told them it would be country but we would indeed weave their names into the call letters.
I intended to start the call letters with KK for K)ontinuous K)ountry. Since we had a Krista, an Erin and a Becca that would be no sweat. Unfortunately KKEB and KKBE were taken. And how do you tell an 8th grader, a 6th grader and a 2nd grader that it just wouldn't work out. So we applied and were granted the calls KEKB and the station has dominated the ratings in the Grand Junction market for well over a decade. Krista, who worked in sales for CBS, Group W and Jacor is now a mom living in Las Vegas and married to Pete Benedetti the Western Regional President of Citadel Broadcasting. Erin is married and teaches special education at a private school in Manhattan and Becca is special events director for the Denver Broncos. And to this day her classmates from middle and high school call the station KEK Becca. We sold the station along with two other FM's we owned in Grand Junction to Cumulus Broadcasting and they continue to dominate under the direction of my sister Martiey Miller who was our long time sales manager.
KUOA was the original AM station for the U)niversity o)f A)rkansas and dates back to the 1920s (originally KFMQ - I think they swapped with another station). It was sold to private interests in the 1930s, I believe, but kept the call. It ended up moving to the campus of John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, at some point and it still there. It's nickname became the "Rod of God" as the John Brown University is a Christian school. In googling for KUOA (now 1290 AM), I see that the actual, 1940s era "Rod of God" tower got replaced last summer.
The station began as a startup in December of 1977. But well before that we'd spent four years fighting to move the 95.9 frequency off of Martha's Vineyard where it was used by WMVY. Eventually the FCC made WMVY take a different channel but WSRS, 96.1, kept us tied up for two years complaining about potential interference.
In May, 1977 the FCC finally granted our CP. But by that time, the Town of Marshfield had purchased our proposed transmitter site as conservation land to raise coyotes and spotted turtles. We found another site but when we approached the town Zoning Board, hundreds of angry potential neighbors turned out to deep six the tower. That particular meeting was well reported in the local papers. Shortly thereafter a lady called to offer us six acres of woodland next to the town landfill. She thought we might have fewer problems locating a tower there. As she adeptly observed..."The landfill rats will be your closest neighbors. They don't vote and usually don't attend meetings." (We later discovered that a few of them did run for local office.)
When we went to the Zoning Board for tower approval at the landfill site, only a few people showed up to complain and the board approved our application on the spot. After the meeting we stopped at a local Chinese restaurant to celebrate and plan the next move which was our call letter request. There were four of us and we got a bit skunked. A lot skunked actually. Someone suggested we memorialize our zoning victory with the call letters WATD. We retired to our lawyer's office and banged out the request letter on his old IBM Selectric. We mailed the letter that evening.=20
A week later our station was officially WATD. It's a lasting tribute to the only place in town we could build a tower. WATD..."W)e're A)t T)he D)ump".
That was 23 years ago. In 1999 WATD was awarded the national Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall News Excellence. The station is one of the most honored in the state. We're usually sold out and run live 24 hours every day. But the dump is no more. On September 1, 2000 it officially became a "transfer station". But WATD won't become WATS.
I enjoyed the story of WATD by Ed Perry, who did the original frequency search and engineering application for WCVY(FM) at Coventry High School, in Coventry, RI. I was the faculty manager of that student-operated station from 1978, when it signed on, until 1997, when I retired.
The WCVY call letters stand for C)ov)entry). We originally wanted WCHS, but that was in use C)h)arles)ton, West Virginia. We applied for WCVY and had to wait for approval from the US Navy, because WCVY had been assigned to some kind of merchant vessel from WWII days.
I am proud to say that many WCVY alumni are working in radio and television broadcasting today.
The primary emphasis remains on radio -- but significant television call letters are also included. Chicago's WTTW(TV) has an interesting and historic slogan associated with it: W)indow T)o T)he W)orld. That slogan is prominently displayed on their web page.
Although I realize that many call letters were simply assigned by the government, it is fascinating to trace the story of a radio station by its use of the call letters. For example, the random WBBM call letters assigned to Ralph Atlass in Chicago presented an opportunity to promote his station as the W)orld's B)est B)roadcast M)edium or W)e B)roadcast B)etter M)usic.
Slogans were often "forced" upon these assigned call letters by contests involving listeners. As a result, Pittsburgh listeners heard that WJAS was the W)orld's J)olliest A)erial S)tation. Across the state, there was Philly's WNAT: W)e N)ever A)re T)ired in Philadelphia. (I'm sure this slogan predated W.C. Fields). Well-known Unix hacker and Open Source Evangelist, Eric S. Raymond, refers to this practice as a using a backronym.
You say station KMOX signed on 12/24/24. It was 12/24/25. The call letter story you cite is an interesting legend. The mayor of Kirkwood made the reference at the inaugural broadcast and it was published the following day. It was, however, never the formal intention of the owners, The V)oice of S)t. L)ouis, Inc., who had requested KVSL.
WQDY in Calais, ME for the QuoDdY bay to the south, there was a giant WPA project there, the "Quoddy Project," that was going to harness the power of the tide to generate electricity. World War II put an end to the project. WQDY was owned at one time by Buffalo Bob Smith.
There is the story that the FCC swapped by mistake the calls WALL and WMID, WMID was MIDdletown, NY and WALL for AtLantic City, NJ, this may just be an "urban legend." I think your data is correct.
I lived in St. Louis in the late 60's. Station KDNA-FM. 102.5 was owned by a company called "Double Helix". Several announcers maintained however that the call letters stood for "D)oes N)ot A)pply". The station was shoestring, alternative, contribution supported and non-commercial. The story was that the owners had repeatedly written "DNA" in filling out the FCC application forms; many of the questions were meaningless for a station with no assets, resources or experience.
a number of station slogans came much later than the call letters (WEAN for example -- during its formative years, it did not use that 'we entertain a nation' slogan as far as I know; I have all sorts of promotional material from that station, since I did a lot of research on its owner, the late John Shepard 3rd, who also owned WNAC in Boston. WEAN was a sequentially assigned call, and stood for absolutely nothing...) Many of the calls of current stations were requested calls in their first incarnation -- WBCN originally belonged to a station in Chicago which was owned by a newspaper -- the calls were requested, and stood for World's Best Community Newspaper. I can tell you about a number of other stations that used to have requested calls -- WSSH was not Wish originally -- it was owned by the Tremont Baptist Church, and it stood for the "Stranger's Sabbath Home", referring to the hospitality the church showed to those who were new in town."
WADN (FM) Concord, MA It was an AM, not an FM station. They called themselves "Walden 1120". They were never that near Walden Pond, except for being in Concord, but still used the name for an eclectic blend of folk music and BBC news. The station is now WBNW.
WBNW, Boston -- now WEZE -- was a business news station, affiliated with the Bloomberg Network. There was once a sister station in Providence called WPNW.
WAMH -- Amherst, Massachusetts -- student-operated station of Amherst and Hampshire Colleges. Originally, it was WAMF, Amherst College (Amherst FM, I suppose)
WBOQ (FM) Gloucester, MA. This classical-music station calls itself WBACH, and the call letters reflect that. The station was previously known as WVCA -- Voice of Cape Ann.
WCGY (FM) is now Star 93.7, WSTR. For awhile, it was WEGQ, "The Eagle." This station began life around 1960 as WGHJ, which were the owner's initials. It was simulcasting programs from WCCM and eventually became WCCM-FM.
WCOP Boston is no longer WMEX. A couple of years ago, it became WROR temporarily, so that the owner could reserve the calls until they were ready to put them on one of their FM stations. Then it became WNFT ("Nifty 1150") until this year, when it adopted new call letters that I can't recall at the moment.
WEZE Boston originally stood for Easy Listening music. The present WEZE used to be WEEI, and the original WEZE is now WPZE. The two stations were bought by a religious broadcaster who called WPZE "Praise 1260," though now it is leased by Radio Disney.
WFCR (FM) in Amherst, MA was originally =four= college radio. Then the four-college consortium founded Hampshire College, in the late 60s, and it became Five College Radio.
There used to be a WFTQ in Worcester, at 1440, which called itself "14Q radio."
WHDH, Boston originally had studios on the water in Gloucester. Its calls never really stood for We Haul Dead Haddock, but it was often said that they did.
WJIB (FM) was given a nautical call because its studios, at the time, were located on Commercial Wharf, on the waterfront. It is no longer WCDJ and hasn't been for several years. The station began life in the 1940s as W1XHR, and then WXHR, which stood for Harvey Radio Laboratories, its owner. In the mid-1960s, it became WXHR-FM, when its then co-owned AM became WXHR(AM) and began simulcasting its classical music format. After the stations were sold, it became WJIB. The WCDJ calls went with a change to a smooth jazz format and apparently stood for CD-Jazz. It then became WBCS "We're Boston's Country Station." A couple of years ago, when its owners bought out the competing country station, WKLB-FM ("The Country Club"), WBCS became WKLB-FM. Not long after, the WKLB calls and format moved to 99.5 in Lowell, where they are now (formerly WOAZ, "The Oasis") and this station became WSJZ "Smooth Jazz" again. Just a week or two ago, the station changed to a talk format, and the new call letters are WTKK.
WJIB (AM) took those calls in order to take over the beautiful music format associated with WJIB (FM). That station began life in 1948 as WTAO, which stood for its dial position, 740. The T was supposed to represent a 7 and the A was supposed to be a 4. It became WXHR in the mid-1960s, as described above, for a couple of years. Then it became WCAS, which stood for Watertown, Cambridge, Arlington, Somerville. In bankruptcy, it became WLVG, and I don't know what that stood for. When Bob Bittner bought it, he first called it WWEA, for "Earth Radio" until the WJIB calls became available.
WKLB-FM, Lawrence, Mass. These calls originally were on 105.7 in Framingham. Its moves to its present station are described above. It was previously WVBF, which you have listed. When the country music format was adopted, it became WCLB, "The Country Club," but after the owners noticed a sudden precipitous jump in the ratings for classical music WCRB, they changed it to WKLB-FM. There is a WKLB (AM) in Kentucky, I think, which is unrelated. The original WKLB-FM (and WVBF) is now WROR.
WLLH -- I believe you have the order wrong. It's Lowell, Lawrence, Haverhill. The station has always been based in Lowell, with a synchronous transmitter in Lawrence.
WMBR (FM) studios are =still= located in Walker Memorial Basement at MIT. This station was formerly WTBS, "Technology Broadcasting System until Ted Turner came along and made it worth their while to change calls.
WMGT -- This is the original calls of the present WCDC, Channel 19 in North Adams, Massachusetts. The transmitter was (probably still is) located on Mt. Greylock. The present calls are a remnant of a three-station group in the 1950s called WCDA, WCDB, and WCDC, based in Albany. The CD stood for Capital District. WCDA was the main station, on channel 41, and the other two were relays. By the late 1950s, WCDA and WCDB became WTEN, Channel 10 in Albany. WCDC still relays its programming.
WMTW-TV, WMTW-FM This was the original calls of Channel 8 in Poland Springs, Maine, and an FM station, both of whose transmitters were located on Mount Washington, New Hampshire. I don't know what the stations' present calls are.
WNRB, Boston -- used to be owned by National Religious Broadcasters. At one time in the 1980s, it was "WMRE, the Memory Station," playing pre-rock-era pop music. Before that it was WITS, "Weather, Information, Talk, Sports." It was originally WMEX, from the 1930s through the 1970s. In the late 50s and 60s, it was a popular Top 40 station, and because of that, when the former WCOP adopted an oldies format in 1985, it also adopted the WMEX calls.
WORL -- used to be a station in Boston. It was WRYT in the 70s and 80s. When the present owners tried to get back the original calls, the best they could get was WROL, which is the current calls.
WPLM -- At one time, they used the slogan "We Play Lovely Music."
WSNY -- These calls were once in Schenectady, New York. They also were once on 1150 in Boston.
WUPY, WUPI -- These were the calls of an ill-fated jazz station in Peabody, Massachusetts in the 1960s. The calls stood for "Whoopie."
WXYZ, Detroit -- supposedly the original owner, George W. Trendel, wanted these call letters to stand for "The Last Word in Broadcasting."
KPSN, a station that lasted roughly from November 1925 until April 1931, stood for its newspaper owner, The P)asadena S)tar-N)ews, which was next door to the facility.
KWTC in Santa Ana had calls requested for "Kome West To California". The slogan was used from late 1926 through 1928 by KWTC. Its first broadcast was on 10 December 1926. The owner, Dr. John Wesley Hancock signed an advertising deal with an Orange County-based cereal called "Fig-Nuts", made by the California Fig-Nuts Company in Orange. The plan by Hancock was to sell Fig-Nuts to out-of-state listeners by mail-order. KWTC got a related slogan then, "The Date Station", since Fig-nuts was a combination of roasted figs, dates, walnuts, raisins and whole wheat.
Like most stations in the '20s, Hancock put KWTC on the air at night, when the signal could potentially skip out for hundreds of miles to DXers (distant listeners), under the right reception conditions. He reportedly had a car tour the country with a specially-equipped radio and antenna. The car would tour the west and midwest U.S., and pull into a different town each night. The engineer driving the car would tune into KWTC each night, reception permitting. The locals in town would then gather around the loudspeakers to hear the programs from Santa Ana, California and the Fig-Nuts commercials. KWTC and the slogan "Kome West To California" would be heard by as many listeners as possible, under this promotion by Doc Hancock.
(Dr. Hancock, incidentally, was an eye doctor, who got interested in broadcasting through amateur radio). Orange County historian Jim Sleeper told the Los Angeles Times in 1981 that he had no idea whatever became of Fig-Nuts, and there's no record of how many sales of the cereal came through the KWTC broadcasts!
KWTC became KREG, when it was owned by the Santa Ana Register newspaper. The paper eventually sold the station to Ernest Spencer and Wallace Wiggins and it became KVOE in 1936 for "Voice Of the Orange Empire". The calls were changed to KWIZ in 1954. An unconfirmed story is that calls were requested for "Quiz" since quiz shows were popular for a time on radio then.
During a 40th Anniversary program in 1993, the meaning of KSBW channel 8 in Salinas was given: "Salad Bowl of the World". (Salinas Valley, CA, was made famous by writer John Steinbeck).
I came across one of those obviously contrived call letter slogans created to fit the calls of a station that had been on the air for 2 years! This was from the Citizen's Radio Call Book of Fall-1924. It was for KFAW-Santa Ana (August 1922-November 1925) I found it on a site about low-power broadcasting...KFAW was only 10 watts. This said KFAW's slogan was "K)ept F)rom A)wful W)inters"!
I thought I knew all the meanings of the early Los Angeles radio stations, but recently, I did a websearch on KGEF, Los Angeles (1926 to 1932), and found a website on the First United Methodist Church, which had the slogan for KGEF radio. KGEF was owned by Rev. Robert P. Shuler, of Trinity Methodist Church in downtown L.A. He was also known as "Fightin" Bob Shuler, and no relation to the pastor who runs the Crystal Cathedral today in Garden Grove, CA.
This story on the website says KGEF stood for: K)eep G)od E)ver F)irst That may be entirely possible, though I have never seen it in print in any of the Los Angeles radio magazines of the day....Unknown if it was heard on the air on KGEF, but that is likely. These slogans were mostly created after the call letters were assigned, and KGEF got their call letters in December 1926, assigned in sequential order. Shuler lost his license for KGEF in 1932, due to his controversial broadacsts attacking Jews, Catholics, Blacks, and going after the sinners in the L.A. Hollywood community who he deemed to be corrupt, dishonest, immoral and such.
I found another meaning for KGEF, 1926-1932, from an individual who did a thesis on the station in 1975 for journalism class. He found KGEF not only stood for K)eep G)od E)ver F)irst, but they also made up this slogan, K)ind, G)entle, E)mphatic F)riend. I'm not sure if they mean the radio station or the pastor of the church, Bob Shuler, who owned the station and was pastor of Trinity Methodist Church where the KGEF studios were.
I also have evidence now that KMIC, Inglewood, California stood for K-MIC or K-Mike for microphone, since the station was co-owned by the Universal Microphone Company of Inglewood from 1927-1929. James R. Fouch was owner of KMIC and the microphone manufacturer. They were located in the same building, the old Inglewood Chamber of Commerce Building, then at 219 N. Market Street in Inglewood. However, there's no evidence that KMIC used such a slogan on the air and in radio program schedules of the day, they never printed information that the station also owned Universal Microphone Company.Today, KMIC is 1150-AM in Los Angeles, KXTA.
First of all, I have a correction...I think I'm right on this:
WFBC, Greenville, S.C. - We Foster Better Citizenship. My father-in-law, who grew up in Greenville County, has a transcription from WFBC, dated 1935, with that slogan on it. Also, to my knowledge, WFBC was not moved from Knoxville...it began right there in Greenville in 1933. WIS in Columbia, and WNOX in Knoxville swapped frequencies in the late 30's. They were owned by the same companies, allowing WIS founder (in a manner of speaking) G. Richard Shafto to move WNOX's 560 to Columbia, where it could increase power to 5kw daytime (1kw non-da at night, later 5kw da-n, to protect WQAM in Miami. The WIS da was among the first in the country, so I'm told.), and move WIS's 1010 (later moving to 990) to Knoxville, where it could also operate with 5kw daytime, 1kw non-da nighttime (later increasing to 10kw day and night...da at night).
WLBB, Carrollton, Ga. - I've heard about the Judge's supposed "Love of Butter Beans", but I don't think it's so. Bob Thorburn, long time manager of WLBB, says the calls were randomly assigned by the FCC, and that one the Judge's critics, because of the Judge's "healthy" appetite (he weighed over 350 pounds, and stood 6'6"), came up with the Butterbeans slogan. The Judge, who had a wicked sense of humor, took the slogan and...well, ran with it...serving on the bench for over 50 years.
WMOG, Brunswick, Ga. - Wonderful Marshes Of Glynn. Poem by Sydney Lanier. Brunswick is in Glynn County.
WORG, Orangeburg, S.C. - Watching Orangeburg's Rapid Growth. Original calls were WBPD, which were nucleus of co-owner, Clarence Jones' ham calls, W4BPD. WORG calls now on FM licensed to Elloree, S.C., with studios in Orangeburg. The 1580 AM facility has WPJK, We Proclaim Jesus King (it has religious format).
WTND, Orangeburg, S.C. - Founded by the Gressette family, owners of the Orangeburg Times And Democrat, locally referred to as the "T & D". Now silent.
WRNO, Orangeburg, S.C. - Radio iN Orangeburg. Later, WDIX in DIXie. Now silent.
WBAW, Barnwell, S.C. - Barnwell Allendale Williston
WSNW, Seneca, S.C. - Seneca aNd Walhalla
WCOS, Columbia, S.C. - Columbia's Own Station (WIS was owned by the Greenville based Liberty Life Insurance Co.)
WJHP, Jacksonville, Fl. - John H. Perry, founder of station (and owner of the Jacksonville Times-Union). Station (1320 AM) was later WZAZ (I think that was it), WVOJ, and WQIK-AM. Now WJGR.
WDLP, Panama City, Fl. - founded by John H. Perry, station was named for his wife, Dorothea Lindstrom Perry. Perry owned the Panama City News-Herald. Given Panama City's reputation as the "Redneck Riviera", many of the locals said the calls stood for We Drink Liquor Publicly. Station (590 AM) was later WGNE. Now WDIZ.
WMGA, Moultrie, Ga. - Watching Moultrie Grow Agriculturally. This station has operated on 3 frequencies...first on 1400, (250w...later 1kw-d/250w-n), then on 1130 (10kw-d/10kw da-ch/250w da-n), and now on 580 (900w-d/250w da-n).
WWNS, Statesboro, Ga. - Welcome to Where Nature Smiles. Interesting story...in the late 30's, Walter McDougald won a contest put on by the local Chamber Of Commerce. The contest was to come up with a slogan for the city of Statesboro. McDougald's slogan was "Where Nature Smiles and Progress Has the Right of Way". When Statesboro mayor Alfred Dorman built the station in 1946, he selected part of that slogan for the call sign. Four of Walter McDougald's sons would later have careers in broadcasting...Worth McDougald, (now retired) dean of the Henry Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia, Donald, who along with brothers Worth and Horace bought WWNS in 1958 (they sold it in 1975 for $800,000.00...just a tad more than the $85,000.00 they paid for it in '58), and Michael, who worked for WSB in Atlanta, built WCHK in Canton, Georgia, managed WAAX in Gadsden, Alabama, and owned WRGA-AM/WQTU-FM in Rome, Georgia, which he sold late last year. According to Mike, it was Statesboro having a station that made he and Worth pursue broadcasting as a career, with Don and Horace coming along later.
WPTB, Statesboro, Ga. - Wonderful Place To Be. Helen Rosengart's (one of the owners) 7 year old son came up with this one.
WCEH, Hawkinsville, Ga. - Cochran Eastman Hawkinsville. This regional (500w@610) had studios in all three towns, and broadcast daily from them into the mid-60's.
WORG, Orangeburg, S.C. - Watching Orangeburg's Rapid Growth. Original calls were WBPD, which were nucleus of co-owner, Clarence Jones' ham calls...W4BPD." In fact, W4BPD was the ham call of Gus Browning, whom I visited once; he was known by hams worldwide for his DXpeditions. Gus, who lived outside of Orangeburg on a huge piece of property strung far and wide with antennas, may have been Clarence's radio station partner.
I worked for WJDM back in the 70's after they first went on the air. For the first 8 months or so the call was WELA which was for Elizabeth, the town in New Jersey where we were based. They changed to WJDM in 1972 and that stood for the 3 owners, John, Dominick and Mike. I believe John and Mike were brothers [...] Dominick was Dominick Mirabelli, a local attorney.
WGOG began broadcasting in April of 1959 as "Clear Channel 10" One Thousand on the AM Radio dial. Owned by Dorothy Friend and Edith Moynihan, the station's call letters originated from the nickname of the city of broadcast and license, Walhalla, South Carolina. A German settlement, Walhalla was known as "The Garden of the Gods". Hence, WGOG = G)arden o)f the G)ods. It was convenient that we were also on the eastern portion of the Mississippi, hence we could claim our W meant Walhalla to unknowing listeners.
The original WGOG(AM) 1000 celebrated its 40th anniversary in April, 1999. Over those 4 decades the station has played everything from Country to the mainstream pop hits of the late 1960's. In 1991 new owner Luzanne Griffith was given an FM broadcast license and WGOG 96.3 FM began broadcasting in September, 1991. At that time the original WGOG was changed to a southern gospel format, which has proven to be very popular in the golden corner of South Carolina. Every weekend, "Solid Gospel AM 1000" boasts a great lineup of local gospel musician who come to the studio to host their own call in shows.
WGOG-FM is very popular with an Adult Contemporary format, local news and emphasis on college and high school sports. WGOG together has been an affiliate of the Clemson Sports Network for all of its 40 years. With the addition in 1991 of my brother, Dr. Gary Butts, to our staff, we have become the leader in bringing high school and college sports to the Upstate of South Carolina on the weekends.
Thought you might be interested in knowing about KAOS(FM) 89.3 at The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington. I'm not exactly sure when KAOS first went on the air serving the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater area, but it would have been in the early seventies shortly after the college opened. The name was chosen to reflect the chaotic character of the late '60s and early '70s when the college came into existence and the station's view of both its management and programming (which was and is eclectic to say the least). The college's motto is "Omnia Extares" which most often is translated as "Let it all hang out", and KAOS does.
...our flagship television station, WFAA [Working for All Alike] signed on as KBTV channel 8 in Dallas. Belo bought the station in 1950 and changed to calls to WFAA to match our AM station. Also, in 1946, we signed on with our first FM station, W5XIC. Those experimental calls were replaced with KERA. Then changed to WFAA-FM. When we signed on the PBS station in Dallas, channel 13, we asked for KERA-TV for them to show roots to Belo.
I also used to work there [KGNO in Dodge City, KS], and there were at least two other slogans around I know of. In addition to K)ansas G)rows N)o O)nions, it according to a number of people in Dodge City also was alternatively known as K)ansas G)rows N)o O)ranges, which probably makes more sense than onions when you think about it. The other slogan, and probably the official one at one point, was K)ansas' G)ood N)eighbor O)peration.
In your call letter list, you mention KANS and KVGB. The KANS calls have been used in three different locations. First used in Wichita, the letters were on 1240 until the station changed frequencies to 1480 after WWII. (This station in time became top 40 outlet KLEO, and currently is the home to all sports KQAM). The second home to the calls was in Larned, which is on your list. This station on 1510 went on the air in 1963 and added an FM a few years later. Eventually, KANS-FM would become KQDF and later KGTR, it's current calls. KANS-FM is currently licensed to an Osage City licensed station on 92.9 (studio in Emporia). The Osage City and Larned stations were for a time under common ownership, and the Larned AM calls became KNNS after those stations were sold, with the KANS calls retained in Osage City/Emporia.
KVGB in Great Bend also has a second meaning to it's call letters. It also was known as K)ansas V)oice of the G)olden B)elt, in reference to the area of Kansas where Great Bend is located (from the Golden Belt Highway, or US 40 between Kansas City and Denver)
Three stations derive their call signs from Kanza, the indian tribe for which Kansas is named. They are KNZA in Hiawatha, KANZ in Garden City and KZNA in Hill City (the latter is a satellite for KANZ).
There are a number of cases in Kansas where parts of calls letters signify the past or current ownership. On radio, the LS suffix is derived from the initials of L)arry S)teckline, who built or bought a chain of radio stations he sold off the last of a couple of years ago. The LS calls were placed on a total of 11 stations over the years, first on KJLS in Hays in the early 70's, then to KWLS-KGLS Pratt and KSLS Liberal in the late 70's, then to KXLS Alva/Enid, OK and WWLS Moore, OK (old WNAD in Norman), and KQLS Colby in the Early 80's. Later on we would see KILS, first in Liberal (now KYUU) now at Minneapolis, KS (Salina), KOLS Dodge City (former KDCK), KZLS Great Bend (was KZXL), KBLS North Fort Riley, and KLLS Augusta/Wichita.
Two groups of TV (in Kansas) stations have common call sign prefixes. The NBC stations in Kansas begin with KSN, for K)ansas S)tate N)etwork (KSNW Wicihta, KSNC Great Bend (the C for Central), KSNG Garden City and KSNK Oberlin KS/McCook NE, and KSNT Topeka). KSN at one time also owned KSNF Joplin, MO, with the F denoting their coverage of four states. KWCH Wichita operates a chain in Western Kanas under the Kansas Broadcasting System moniker (KBSD Ensign/Dodge City, KBSH Hays, and KBSL Goodland).
Sometime, I or someone is going to have to sit down and write a history of Kansas broadcasting. In over 75 years, there have been more than a few legends made on the airwaves of the Sunflower State.
I read with great interest your site on the origin of radio station call letters. What a great idea! I thought I'd throw in my two cents about the call letters KVGB in Great Bend, Kansas. This was the first station I ever worked for and I worked there at two different times. As a native of Great Bend, I can assure you that you are correct when you write that KVGB has been used to stand for "Kansas: Voice of the Golden Belt" and in some instances, "Kansas: Voice of Great Bend."
However, the original intent or meaning behind the call letters could have been somewhat different. I remember working there in 1985 when someone found and purchased for the radio station a large, old electric clock at some antique store. This beautiful black glass clock was some sort of promotional item that advertised the radio station's call letters. The letters K-V-G-B were very big and prominent on the clock and following the big letters, words were spelled out. Like this:
K)ansas' V)ast G)rain B)elt
I'm no expert on electric clocks but I'd guess that the clock dated back to at least the late 1930s or early 1940s (because of its triangular art deco design). I no longer work at KVGB AM FM...but I know many people who are still there. I should give them a call sometime and ask whether that clock is still hanging around the station somewhere.
Anyhow...this alternative slogan seems to be just another possibility when it comes to the origins of K-V-G-B. Of course, in the years that I worked there (mid 80s through 1992), we said Voice of the Golden Belt on the air.
There is at least one group of stations in Colorado with the same characteristic (of a common prefix in the call letters):
KREX-TV Grand Junction KREY-TV Montrose KREG-TV Greenwood SpringsIn the Sixties, KREZ-TV, Durango, was part of the group, which referred to itself as the "XYZ Television Network".
KREZ-TV was part of the group that owned KREX and KREY. "XYZ TV" then Whiters Broadcasting until the mid 90's when Whiters sold KREZ to Lee Broadcating which owns KRQE in New Mexico.
Frank Absher fabsher@i1.net John Anastasio jerz@earthlink.net Jim Ayers jim@jimaylin.raider.net Dick Basten rtbasten@hotmail.com Dan Beach James C Bellinger erd00445@mail.eritter.net Mark Bending David Biddix David Blair David_Blair@jdedwards.com Michael L. Blair wmlb@zoomnet.net Paul Bogrow Julian Breen F. Ray Bryant bryantfr@psln.com David Buckner qrk1@hotmail.com Jason Bullett jbullett99@yahoo.com Dennis Burns yajl13a@prodigy.com David A. Cantor dcantor@shore.net Christopher Carmichael Bruce Carter r-carter5@ti.com Bob Chessick bobch@epix.net Raleigh Chinn raleighc@halcyon.com Frank Christensen frankc@pace-setter.com Tom Clay ImTomClay@aol.com Mark Cleveland mcleveland@infodata.co Scott Cobourn Chris Colbert chris_colbert@worldnet.att.net Brian Converse bconverse@ids.net Bill Corea hwcco@chevron.com Stroud Corr stroud.s.corr@vanderbilt.edu Charles Crawford ccrawford@dynasty.net Michael Crook crookm@michaelcrook.com David Damron fb1935@aol.com D. L. Day imagine@ktvb.net Charlie DeFir Kelly DeYoe kelly@nine.org Doug Douglass dougdouglass@webtv.net Robert Deglau rdeglau@execpc.com DX, dx@netcom.com Rich Eagles Mark C. Eggert meggert@wpo.uwsuper.edu Ed Ellers ed_ellers@msn.com Fred Ennis Lief W. Erickson lwerickson@students.wisc.edu Scott Falke sfalke@pacbell.net Daryl Fredine dfredine@ecol.net John Fuller jfuller@pbs.org Keith Gatling David Gillmore dgillmore@pdq.net Steve Gjondla Gloria Brian Gongol gongolb0384@uni.edu Ken Grady kengrady@cox.net Dan Green dgreen@carmelnet.com Paul Gundlach paul_gundlach@yr.com David Eduardo Gleason radiodavid@usa.net Philip Harris pk_harris@hotmail.com Craig Healy Ron Hebron rhebron@uswest.net John Hora Bryan "Homey" Holloway holloway@clio.sts.uiuc.edu Bob Hutchins bob@linmax.sao.arizona.edu KLZ/KLTT/KLDC Engineering: Denver, CO KLZEng@aol.com Jack, djjackd@aol.com Phil Sean Jackie wspjz@stargate.net Earl Jones esjones@iname.com Tom Karnauskas karna@ll.net J.P. Kirby pkirby@brunnet.net Alan Lane Everett Langford Everett_Langford@huntsman.com Ron Lavalee Chris Lee ezclee4050@aol.com Josh Lehan krellan@krellan.com Wayne Lorentz Jerry McCarty Jerry.McCarty@um.cc.umich.edu Doug McElvein totalpm@kmox.com Mike McKenna two2hot@msn.com Mike McKinney mcm@cei.net Mike Mannino mjmirn1970@aol.com Pat Marriott Marriottp@aol.com Barry Mishkind barry@broadcast.net Alan Mitchell alanmitchell@rocketmail.com Patrick Mullen pmullen@cmp.com Chris Mohall Max Moody Don Moore mooredxer@yahoo.com Mike O'Dell mo@uu.net Jim Poston jim.poston@libcom.dps.com Dan Packard Ron Parker ronsfo@aol.com Leslie Pearson James Perry perry.james.r@worldnet.att.net Lou Pickney loupickney@aol.com Rick Plummer plummer.rick@mcleodusa.net George Pollard gpollard@ccs.carleton.ca Steve Prestegard sprestegard@mariancollege.edu RDsmyrna@aol.com Chris Rathaus Alan L. Ravitch alan@alanr.net Les Reeves lreeves@crl.com K. M. Richards ontheair@pacbell.net Stacy Richardson charlestace@mindspring.com Steven Rosenow srosenow_98@yahoo.com Miles H. Rost pidge@mail.cloudnet.com Chris Roth Chris.Roth@marriott.com Michael Rudolf mjr@mymail.emcyber.com Robert Sabon Robert_Sabon@inter-tel.com Robert Schaffrath Jacob Schanker Fred Schroyer freditor@greenepa.net Michael Schwartz wpookymike@aol.com Allen Sherrill awsherrill@email.msn.com Jesse Sherwood webmaster@blue-dog.com Edward Shipley eshipleycri@hotmail.com Pat Shirley Norman Ross Sinclair III mosquitobait@earthlink.net Allen J. Sklar ajsklar@northrim.net Ivan Smith rustfrog@han.auracom.com Don Smith DSmith2381@aol.com William H. Smith Paul E. Sojka KS2S12@aol.com Al Sponar al.sponar@hamlink.mn.org Rickey Stein rickey456@aol.com Mike Sussman sussmanm@earthlink.net Gerry Terpening gterp@msn.com Diane Thevedon A.J. Tiensivu Chuck Till ctill@mindspring.com Gary R Tompkins Todd E. Toles Joshua Trupin Michael D. Tucker, KF4SNO michaeltucker@mindspring.com Utah Folk utahfolk@xmission.com Ray Vaughn Fred Vobbe Rob Walker RWalker653@aol.com Matthew Warner Sean A. Watson 346ipnt@cmuvm.csv.cmich.edu Bob Wells Bob_Wells@tax.org Carl White Johnny Williams johnnyv@gte.net Garrett Wollman wollman@halloran-eldar.lcs.mit.edu Kelli (Goeman) Wollmann Laura Wrede lwrede@fnoc.navy.mil Roger Yaeger RogYaeger@aol.com Ray Zoller chmac@uswestmail.net Jim Alexander, KARV: Russellville, AR Art Argyries, General Manager: WVSY, Charlottesville, VA Perry Ballinger, Former Engineer and now Technical Consyltant: WTIG, Massillon, OH w8au@sssnet.com Ray Barrington: Green Bay News-Chronicle, Green Bay, WI Randy Bell, Vice President: JAM Creative Productions Marvin R. Bensman, J.D., Ph.D., Dept. of Communication, University of Memphis bensmanm@msuvx1.memphis.edu Bob Bittner, Owner: WJIB, Cambridge, MA (and other properties) jibguy@aol.com Jim Broadwater, Technical Manager: On Air Digital USA, Dallas jbroadwater@onairusa.com Duncan Brown, K2OEQ: University of Rochester Class of '67 duncanancy@mindex.com David Breneman, Software Engineering Services: Digital Systems International, Inc., Redmond, Washington daveb@jaws.engineering.dgtl.com Ellis Bromberg, General Manager: WMVS(TV), Milwaukee University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign brombere@matc.edu Mike Callahan, Chief Engineer: KIIS-FM, Los Angeles Hoyt Carter, Operations Manager: WNAH, Nashville Phil Cole, Station Manager, Stereo 2BS/B-Rock FM 99.3: Bathhurst, NSW pcole@2bs.ix.net.au Larson Cooper, Operations Manager: KMCM-FM, Odessa, TX Wyatt Cox and Herb Kraft, WTKN: Daleville (Dothan), AL John Croft, KB3BPN, Silver Spring, MD Chuck Crose, WLMI: Kane, PA J.R. Curtis, President: KFRO, Longview, TX John Dakins, Program Director: WIXC, Bay City, MI Gary Diamond, Chief Engineer: KKOB AM/FM, Albuquerque Robert Dickey, 1410 KQV, Pittsburgh Bruce Dierking, President: Dierking Communications Inc., Marysville/Norton, KS Randy Dietterich, Chief Engineer: WAMO, Pittsburgh Bob Donnelly, Montclair NJ: VP Engineering ABC Radio Network, retired Ed Dravecky, Technician: On Air Digital USA, Dallas edravecky@onairusa.com Mark Edwards, Program Director: WLIT, Chicago Jim Efaw, Computer System Administrator: Peoria IL Jon Ellis, Program Director: KUWS, University of Wisconsin-Superior jellis@acad.uwsuper.edu MN/WI Broadcasting Info Jack Evans, Operations Manager: KRFX, Denver Mike Fitzpatrick, Master Control Director, WWLP-TV Springfield, MA Paul Fleishman, General Manager: WGSM/WMJC, Huntington, LI Milton L. Fulghum, FlightSafety International: Saint Charles, MO fulghum@vss.fsi.com Larry Fuss, President: WDTL and Delta Radio, Cleveland, MS Pat Glynn: Wireless Flash News Butch Guest, President: WEDR, Miami Al Hajny, P.E.: Clear Channel Milwaukee, WB9LIV Ron Harrell, KIMN(FM), Denver, CO Dave Harris: Vice President, Clear Channel Broadcasting dharris@safari.net Earlene Hayes, KBOC: Bridgeport, TX John Hicks, Sales Representative, Scott Studios, Dallas Ken Hoehn, Teletech, Inc: Broadcast Engineering Consultants Loring Holden, HealthChex, Inc: Fairport, NY loring@HealthChex.com Dr. Herbert Howard, PhD, Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies: College of Communications University of Tennessee, Knoxville Roy Humpfrey, Chief Engineer: WWVA/WOVK, Wheeling, WV Mark Jividen, VP & General Manager: WBZX/WEGE/WMNI, North American Broadcasting Co., Inc., Columbus, OH Robert Johnson, Amateur Radio Operator: WD0ADW Brian Kay, WMOH 1450 Radio: Hamilton, OH Paula Keiser, K8PK, Morrisville, PA pkeiser@injersey.com Kyle Kellums, News Director KUAF: Fayetteville, AR kkellam@comp.uark.edu Timothy Kimble, Program Director: Public Radio East Rob Kowald, SysAdmin: TM Century, Dallas rkowald@tmcentury.com Jack Kratoville: WLTW, New York Bill Kuhar: WCAU-TV, Philadelphia Dave Labrozzi, Program Director: WWSW/3WS, Pittsburgh Matt Lane, WMTS/WMOT/WGNS: Murfresboro, TN Matthew Lightner, Chief Engineer: WVAM/WPRR, Altoona, PA Matt Locker, VP Programming, WGHT Pompton Lakes, NJ provoice@bellatlantic.net Wayne Lorentz, News Anchor: WALL-WKOJ/Middletown, NY waynel@sod.linet.org John Marocchi, Chief Engineer: WVKO/WSNY, Columbus, OH Dan Martzall, WFAA-TV, Dallas Howard McDonald chmac@uswestmail.net Stuart McRae, ABC Radio, Dallas Jack Messmer, Senior Editor Radio Business Report radiobiz@aol.com Randy Michaels, VP/COO: Jacor Broadcasting, Cincinnati Scott Michaels, Director of Operations and Programming: WUPM(FM)/WHRY, Ironwood, MI Harry Milkman, Amateur Radio Operator: N2KIH Sam Milkman, Promotion Director: WEGX(FM), Philadelphia Chuck Mohnkern, Co-Owner: Mohnkern Electronics and KPYK, Terrell, Texas Mary Ann Myers, General Manager: WLBB, Carrollton, GA Michael Myers, mmyers@igateway.net Bob Nelson, WMWM, Salem, MA Bruce Nelson, Rochester Distributed Computer Services: Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, NY nelson@kodak.com Linc Reed-Nickerson, Rohde & Schwarz, Inc. Jerry Noble, Corporate PD: Martz Communications, Sault Ste. Marie, MI Dr. Robert M. Ogles, PhD, Professor: Department of Communication, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN Eric O'Brien, PBRTV, Pittsburgh Radio and Television Editor/Webmaster Hamilton O'Hara, WGSK: South Kent, CT Ron Ostlund, Owner: KSXY, Fresno, CA Cal Owens: Communications Consultant, Rome City Schools, Rome, GA 30161 cowens@rcs.rome.ga.us Patrick Parks, KLVI: Beaumont, TX Greg Perich, President: WJXR, Inc., Jacksonville, FL Jim Pogue, Public Affairs Specialist: Memphis District, US Army Corps of Engineers, Memphis, TN james.t.pogue@mvm02.usace.army.mil Ray Radlein ray@learnlink.emory.edu Mike Reining (Mike Davis), KWG/KEXX: Stockton, CA Lu Romero, Operations Manager: WFTS-TV, Tampa, FL Chris Rollins: KHKS/106.1 Kiss FM, Dallas Christopher Roth, Independent Programming Consultant/Weekend Jock MIX 107.3 Washington DC TaterStud@aol.com Rick Saphire, Rick Saphire Productions, Inc. John Schaab, General Manager: On Air Digital USA, Dallas John Schad, President, SMARTS Broadcast Systems, Emmetsburg, IA Johnny Schad, Chief Programmer, SMARTS Broadcast Systems, Emmetsburg, IA Martin Schamis, General Manager, WVUD: Newark, DE sex@chopin.udel.edu George Schleicher, Amateur Radio Operator: W9NLT, Deerfield, IL (George is reponsible for most of the information about the radio stations in Greater Chicago as well as a fascinating souvenir program from the "Tenth Anniversary of WGN" in 1934). Jim Seaman: WFAN, New York Rick Sellers, Owner/GM: KMRY Radio, Cedar Rapids, IA Randy Shaffer, Engineer, WLYH-TV, Lancaster-Lebanon, PA Mike Shannon, Chief Engineer: WRBR, South Bend, IN Dr. Michael Shapiro, PhD, NRaD: San Diego, CA David Sharp's Most Excellent Home Page Brian L. Short, CE KLZR/KLWN: Lawrence, KS Stanley J. Slonski trfolly@earthlink.net Bryan Smeathers, General Manager, WMTA, Central City, KY Doug Smith: WSMV(TV), Nashville Len Songer lensonger@usa.net Dean Sorenson, Sorenson Broadcasting: Sioux Falls, SD (Just about any station listed in Iowa, the Dakotas or Minnesota can be attributed to Mr. Sorenson, one of the nation's finest radio station group operators). Joe B. Stephens III, Senior Media Specialist: Citadel Broadcasting, KATM/KHKK/KHOP/KESP/KDJK, Modesto, CA Rohn Stevenz, Program Director, WTUS: Mannington, WV Danny Tabor, WLCK/WVLE(FM): Scottsville, KY James Taszarek, VP/General Manager: KTAR/KKLT, Phoenix Charles W. Taylor, III: Station Manager, WTJU-FM at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville cwt9s@virginia.edu Bryan Thomas, Broadcast Engineer, KMOV-TV, St. Louis Former Curator of Broadcast Media at the Missouri Historical Society Ron Thompson, Chief Engineer: KLON, Long Beach, CA Robb Topolski, Amateur Radio Operator: KJ6YT topolski@kaiwan.com Mike Williams, Producer: WITF, Harrisburg, PA WVCG, Coral Gables, FL Staff Members: Larry Mann, Production Manager Oscar Prieto, Producer Mike Lantz, "If it's about radio he knows it!" Paul Yacich, W5LLJ: formerly with WDSU Radio (1947-1948) and WDSU-TV (1948-1971)
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