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LA Times Article On Call Letters

K6JHU said:
LA Times has an article on LA call signs

www.latimes.com

Patt Morrison: Where did L.A. radio and TV station call letters come from? And why do they all start with K?

KTLA, KFWB, KTTV, KNX — you know the call letters of local radio and TV stations and probably have a jingle or two stuck in your head. But where did this broadcasting alphabet soup originate?
www.latimes.com www.latimes.com
Click to expand...

They left out Gene Autry thinking KLIT spelled K-Lite, but never mind that now.

(yes, @DavidEduardo , I did that one just for you)
 
Here's a few more not covered in Patt's column. It would probably take multiple columns for her to list everything, actually:

Television:
  • Channel 4 was originally KNBH ("NBC Hollywood", when it was at Sunset & Vine), then KRCA when it moved to Burbank. Those last calls now belong to channel 62 in "Riverside California" (its COL).
  • Channel 2 started off as an experimental authorization, but its first actual call letters were KTSL, for original owner Thomas S. Lee.
  • Similarly, the KCET calls on channel 28 stood for original licensee Community Educational Television of Southern California.
  • Channel 40 is KTBN, for Trinity Broadcasting Network. (Its original calls of KLXA was a tribute to KXLA/1110 radio, where original owner Angel Lerma Maler had started his career)
  • Channel 18's KSCI calls originally stood for "Science of Creative Intelligence", a nod to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whose religious organization put it on the air in the late 1970s.
  • KMEX on channel 34 is ... well, obvious.
  • Channel 52 is a double header; its original calls were KBSC, for Kaiser Broadcasting System Corona (or California ... no one has ever said for certain which), and its calls since the mid-1980s have been KVEA ("vea" translates to "see").
  • The L.A. City School District operates channel 58 as KLCS.
Radio:
  • KIIS was originally supposed to stand for "K-115" until Chuck Blore noticed the similarity to the word "kiss". On the FM side, 102.7 had been KKDJ as a top-40 station, changing from KRHM in 1971 (those calls stood for Ruth & Harry Maizlish, who founded it when it was on 94.7).
  • Similarly, when 100.3 was KIQQ, that was Bill Drake and "K-100".
  • When KFAC was Classical, it originally belonged to Fuller/Auburn/Duesenberg auto dealer E.L. Cord.
  • Of course, KGBS was owner George B. Storer. We all know why the AM became KTNQ a few years before he sold it, and we also know that the FM later became KLSX as the first Classic Rock station in the market (it was KHTZ "K-Hits" and KBZT "K-Best" in the interim).
  • We all know why KROQ has its call letters, but they were changed from KPPC, Pasadena Presbyterian Church.
  • Few people now alive ever understood why 710 had the call letters KMPC under Gene Autry ... those derived from the company he purchased it from, the MacMillan Petroleum Company.
  • And KJLH was named after the man Stevie Wonder purchased it from, John Lamar Hill. (Yes, 102.3 has had only two owners in its entire existence ... not a bad achievement for a Class A FM.)
I left out a lot of obvious ones, such as KOST, KLOS, KPWR, KTWV, and KUSC.
 
This thread will probably soon fill with all manner of excellent and encyclopedic posts just like yours. Perhaps you should contact the author of that article and advise her to monitor it. It would provide plenty of fuel for a follow-up column. :)
 
yeoldeschool said:
This thread will probably soon fill with all manner of excellent and encyclopedic posts just like yours. Perhaps you should contact the author of that article and advise her to monitor it. It would provide plenty of fuel for a follow-up column. :)
Click to expand...

Thank you for those kind words. I have already suggested follow-ups to her (she and I have been acquainted for a couple of decades now).
 
K.M. Richards said:
Thank you for those kind words. I have already suggested follow-ups to her (she and I have been acquainted for a couple of decades now).
Click to expand...
For such a wide-ranging article, she manages to get multiple mentions of KPPC ("LAist") in there. A lot of coverage for such a small station. Nothing wrong with that of course, but it does make one wonder if that wasn't the article's real purpose.

I have heard the station has fallen on hard times lately and every little bit helps, as they say.
 
This call letter business got codified in 1912, at a “radiotelegraph” conference in London not long after RMS Titanic sank, so the power of wireless communication was very much on delegates’ minds.
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The first callsign list was published in August 1912, but it was not complete. It was fleshed out and released officially on May 9, 1913.

The conference handed out call-letter prefixes — C for Canada, X for Mexico, F for France, and so on. The U.S. got K and W, along with two military designations: N for Navy, A for Army and eventually aviation services; K west of the Mississippi, W east, some exceptions.
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It looks like the author was trying to simplify what had happened, and didn't quite follow through with fact checking. Unfortunately, this paragraph is almost totally incorrect. The A block was assigned to Germany, as was KA-KC. Canada didn't get anything in the C block until 1920. Mexico only got XA-XC originally; it has XA-XI now.

The US only got KD-KZ, N, and W originally, and received KA-KC from Germany in 1929. We got the AA-AL block in 1947. The international authorities didn't care whether an assignment was for a nation's military or for civilian use. That was up to the countries themselves. The US reserved N for the Navy and the later AA-AL was split between the Army and Air Force. Now both blocks are also used for amateur radio as well as military.

The original K/W dividing line was the Rocky Mountains. It was moved to the Mississippi River in 1923. Note that KD was the first available block for broadcasting, and there were never callsigns like KABC or KCBS assigned until the 1930s or later.

A full history of international callsigns is here: Call-Sign History
The following table contains the full 1913 list: Radio Call Letters: May 9, 1913

A..............All to Germany and protectorates.
B..............All to Great Britain.
CAA to CMZ..Not yet assigned.
CNA to CNZ..Morocco.
COA to CPZ...Chile.
CQA to CQZ...Monaco.
CRA to CTZ...Portugal and colonies.
CUA to CUZ..Not yet assigned.
CVA to CVZ...Roumania.
CWA to CWZ..Uruguay.
CXA to CZZ...Not yet assigned.
D..............All to Germany and protectorates.
EAA to EGZ..Spain and colonies.
EHA to EZZ..Not yet assigned.
F..............All to France and colonies.
G..............All to Great Britain.
HAA to HFZ..Austria-Hungary and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
HGA to HHZ..Siam.
HIA to HZZ..Not yet assigned.
I..............All to Italy and colonies.
J..............All to Japan and possessions.
KAA to KCZ..Germany and protectorates.
KDA to KZZ..United States.
LAA to LHZ..Norway.
LIA to LRZ...Argentine Republic.
LSA to LWZ..Not yet assigned.
LXA to LZZ..Bulgaria.
M..............All to Great Britain.
N..............All to the United States.
OAA to OFZ..Not yet assigned.
OGA to OMZ..Austria-Hungary and Bosnia-Herzegovina.		ONA to OTZ..Belgium and colonies.
OUA to OZZ..Denmark.
PAA to PIZ...Netherlands.
PJA to PJM...Curacao (Dutch)
PJN to PJZ...Surinam (Dutch)
PKA to PMZ..Dutch East Indies.
PNA to PZZ..Not yet assigned.
Q..............Reserved for code abbreviations.
R..............All to Russia.
SAA to SMZ...Sweden.
SNA to STZ...Brazil.
SUA to SUZ...Egypt.
SVA to SZZ...Greece.
TAA to TMZ..Turkey.
TNA to TZZ..Not yet assigned.
UAA to UMZ..France and colonies.
UNA to UZZ..Austria-Hungary and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
VAA to VGZ..Canada (British)
VHA to VKZ..Australian Federation (British)
VLA to VMZ..New Zealand (British)
VNA to VNZ..South African Union (British)
VOA to VOZ..Newfoundland (British)
VPA to VSZ..British colonies not autonomous.
VTA to VWZ..British India.
VXA to VZZ..Not yet assigned.
W..............All to the United States.
XAA to XCZ..Mexico.
XDA to XZZ..Not yet assigned.
YAA to YZZ..Not yet assigned.
ZAA to ZZZ...Not yet assigned.
 

Directional Antennas

Voice of America - Dixon California
www.theradiohistorian.org


There is an article on how the Dixon Shortwave was built by NBC in the 1940's and it showed that one of the earliest examples of a network naming their call letters after itself was in 1944 when NBC named their Dixon Shortwave station as KNBC as seen here. Yes the call letters KNBC actually have their origins in Dixon California as a shortwave station prior to NBC moving those call letters to 680 AM San Francisco and Channel 4 Los Angeles.

In 1943, both NBC and CBS agreed to build new shortwave plants in California for the O.W.I. The facilities would be built by the networks under contract to the O.W.I., financed by a government loan, and leased to the O.W.I., who would provide all program services. CBS chose a location at Delano and put stations KCBA, KCBF and KCBR on the air in November, 1944. NBC selected a 160 acre site on what is now called Radio Station Road in Dixon.

NBC engineer Carl Deitsch supervised the design and construction of the million dollar project. Deitsch was NBC’s shortwave broadcast expert, having done the same job previously for its shortwave stations in Bound Brook, New Jersey. He was assisted by others from the crack NBC engineering team, including key men from the NBC broadcast stations KPO and KGO in San Francisco. Construction began in 1943 with the installation of two 50 kW Federal Telegraph Co. transmitters. Rhombic antennas targeted Japan, Australia and the Philippines. Broadcasting commenced on December 27, 1944, with the call signs KNBA and KNBC. The next year, two more RCA transmitters were added, using the call signs KNBI and KNBX.
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And here is another one KABC's call letters had their origins as a San Antonio station in the 1940's. But those call letters stood for Alamo Broadcasting when ABC was used in San Antonio. This was when the KECA call letters were used in Los Angeles.

This is similar to how WABC used to be on soon to be WHSQ New York and it stood for "Atlantic Broadcasting Company" the former owners of that station.
 
K.M. Richards said:
I don't see the problem with KPCC getting a lot of mentions in an article about broadcasting. There were zero mentions of it in her immediately previous article on the food at the Paris Olympics.
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If you read my post, it explicitly says there is no problem. Just mentioning an abnormal amount of mentions for a very small public radio station to which she has a personal connection. That's it.
 
TheBigA said:
I count two mentions. One in the line I quoted above, and the second time explaining their call letters. Did I miss others?
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No, but I am not surprised that even two mentions triggered the post which you replied to, A.
 
ChannelFlipper said:
If you read my post, it explicitly says there is no problem. Just mentioning an abnormal amount of mentions for a very small public radio station to which she has a personal connection. That's it.
Click to expand...

I would agree with you, if it weren't for the fact that the two mentions were 100% relevant. As BigA pointed out, one mention was in full disclosure of a source which she quotes significantly, and the other was germaine to the article by giving the origin of KPCC's call letters.

But this seems more like a molehill converted to a mountain.
 
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Y2kTheNewOldies said:
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As referenced above and before ... O.W.I. (Office of War Information, 1942-45).

Fr. Wiki: President Roosevelt entrusted the O.W.I. to journalist and CBS newsman Elmer Davis, with the mission to take "an active part in winning the war and in laying the foundations for a better postwar world".

Very controversial even then - read propaganda.

Propaganda through entertainment. Done at the movies of course. But how did shortwave factor in back then? Anyway, with the internet and radio deregulation, I wonder if there may be a return in a (broadcast) form to something like that even though the Prez. has our cell phones on speed dial.
 
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BLA said:
As referenced above and before ... O.W.I. (Office of War Information, 1942-45).

Fr. Wiki: President Roosevelt entrusted the O.W.I. to journalist and CBS newsman Elmer Davis, with the mission to take "an active part in winning the war and in laying the foundations for a better postwar world".
Click to expand...


For clarity:

Elmer left his job at CBS to head OWI.


BLA said:
Very controversial even then - read propaganda.
Click to expand...

I mean, the United States is part of an alliance at that time trying to liberate Europe and secure democracy. Giving Nazi sympathizers in the U.S. equal time wasn't going to happen, nor should it have.


BLA said:
Propaganda through entertainment. Done at the movies of course. But how did shortwave factor in back then?
Click to expand...

Voice of America, for starters.

BLA said:
Anyway, with the internet and radio deregulation, I wonder if there may be a return in a (broadcast) form to something like that even though the Prez. has our cell phones on speed dial.
Click to expand...

Reagan's weekly radio addresses (something Clinton and George W. Bush did, as well), and Obama's YouTube video addresses (which Trump continued) kinda meet that criteria.

And in the first five months of his administration, during COVID, Biden did "A Weekly Conversation" on YouTube:

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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

In the last 42 years, the only president not to do them was George H.W. Bush (1989-93).
 
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