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WSQK - London

M

Miss Tuned

This might be of interest - the UK's Global Radio have launched a pop-up station called WSQK "The Squawk" to promote the new season of Stranger Things:

radiotoday.co.uk

Global launches WSQK The Squawk for Stranger Things fans

WSQK The Squawk is here - from Global
radiotoday.co.uk radiotoday.co.uk

It's on DAB+ in London and online via the usual platforms, and for an authentic 80s sound they've used an old Inovonics processor. There's a whole bunch of other "viral marketing :sick:" activity around it, but it's interesting to see radio being used as a marketing tool in this way.
 
Interesting that the call letters WSQK are not currently held by any U.S. radio station. A fortunate coincidence, or did Global Radio vet "WSQK" before using it to brand its pop-up station? I assume a real WSQK's lawyers would have something to say about this otherwise.

Come to think of it, is there any legal basis for a challenge here? Could a British -- or any non-U.S. -- broadcaster use an American-style W or K call-letter combination to identify and market its station? I suppose an American radio station could use "Global Radio" for marketing purposes, but that's not the same.
 
CTListener said:
Interesting that the call letters WSQK are not currently held by any U.S. radio station. A fortunate coincidence, or did Global Radio vet "WSQK" before using it to brand its pop-up station? I assume a real WSQK's lawyers would have something to say about this otherwise.

Come to think of it, is there any legal basis for a challenge here? Could a British -- or any non-U.S. -- broadcaster use an American-style W or K call-letter combination to identify and market its station? I suppose an American radio station could use "Global Radio" for marketing purposes, but that's not the same.
Click to expand...
There was a WABC back in the 90s:
1764156229457.png
It was said to stand for "Wolverhampton And Black Country", the area it broadcast to.

WSQK is apparently a radio station that plays a part in the new season of the show Stranger Things. Presumably the producers chose a set of call letters that weren't in use, but goodness knows what would have happened if a station had taken the letters in between production and release!

"The Squawk" can be heard via TuneIn without having to go through the Global Player, which I think requires a registration: WSQK | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn
 
Miss Tuned said:
There was a WABC back in the 90s:
View attachment 10894
It was said to stand for "Wolverhampton And Black Country", the area it broadcast to.

WSQK is apparently a radio station that plays a part in the new season of the show Stranger Things. Presumably the producers chose a set of call letters that weren't in use, but goodness knows what would have happened if a station had taken the letters in between production and release!
Click to expand...
Never watched Stranger Things, so I wasn't aware that WSQK was an element of the series. Thanks for the clarification.

Side note: As a young, radio geek-ish pre-teen and teen, I'd run across WGAM and WCBC in headlines in the sports section of the Boston Globe and wonder if radio or television stations with those calls would object to them! They actually stood for Women's Golf Association of Massachusetts and World Candlepin Bowling Congress, and of course I know now that a legal challenge to either would go nowhere.
 
radiofan2023 said:
I read about this on Reddit the other day, thanks for posting about it @Miss Tuned & for the merchandise link! I’ll be watching the new Stranger Things season now.
Click to expand...
It's really not my thing, I honestly only really use TV to watch sports for the most part, but it's fun to see radio being used in this way, and fun to see that the engineering geeks at Global were allowed to get a dusty FM250 out of the storage unit and hook it up!
 
KC8UOK said:
I remember them. First WABC Then Classic Gold and finally Gold. Not sure if they're still on AM though. I do know Birmingham's 1152 is digital only
Click to expand...
Pretty much everything is gone from AM. The only local stations left in the West Midlands on AM are the BBC Asian Network (828 & 1458) and a South Asian station called Radio XL (1296).
 
CTListener said:
Come to think of it, is there any legal basis for a challenge here? Could a British -- or any non-U.S. -- broadcaster use an American-style W or K call-letter combination to identify and market its station? I suppose an American radio station could use "Global Radio" for marketing purposes, but that's not the same.
Click to expand...
For many years, Sydney Australia had a station called WSFM. It stood for Western Suburbs FM. They eventually got a more powerful license to cover the whole market, but kept the WSFM branding. Australian radio stations DO have call letters, but they begin with a number followed by 2 or 3 letters. The initial number identifies which Australian state they are from. Like in the US, fewer and fewer stations identify by their legal call letters. WSFM thus while sounding like call letters to a North American listener, was just the stations on-air name.
 
Miss Tuned said:
It's really not my thing, I honestly only really use TV to watch sports for the most part, but it's fun to see radio being used in this way, and fun to see that the engineering geeks at Global were allowed to get a dusty FM250 out of the storage unit and hook it up!
Click to expand...
I wasn't really interested in Stranger Things this year, til I heard about this station and the fact that Linda Hamilton is in it. I watch a mix of scripted shows and sports - NBA, NFL, a bit of Premiere League and Europa League. Sometimes I'll watch baseball if the Royals are doing well.

What sports do you watch and have you ever been to any of the NFL games in London the past few years? Are you into the World Cup at all?
 
Miss Tuned said:
Pretty much everything is gone from AM. The only local stations left in the West Midlands on AM are the BBC Asian Network (828 & 1458) and a South Asian station called Radio XL (1296).
Click to expand...

And of course Absolute Radio is gone from AM nationally so you'd get the ones you mentioned, 5 Live what about BBC local radio? Shropshire used to be on 1584 and Hereford and Worcester on 1530. I want to stay Stoke was 1503 but it's been years.
 
It was a delight to witness the radio's appearance in Stranger Things netflix, seeing the Continental Electronics 317C at full power, with its glowing vacuum tubes, in the series. Although all the technical aspects are of an AM radio, the narrative revolves around an FM one. I would have liked the script to delve deeper into the technical details, but the visualization is appreciated, especially since it's part of the main storyline.
 
That 317C-2 was made into a Movie prop. A few things were modified. I found it interesting that you can spot lots of vintage equipment in the basement like cart machines and even a Power Rock. I may watch the first 3 episodes again and count how many old transmitters I can spot. Off hand I saw at least 3, the 317, the Power Rock in the basement and another rig in the basement.

The basement of the station does really remind me of a basement you might find at an old AM radio station.

Kinda disappointed there is no fence around the tower, that would have added a little more legitimacy. Clearly the tower was meant for AM since it has base insulators. They do reference the tower being energized because they turn something down in the tower base enclosure before climbing.

How many vintage transmitters can others spot in the first three episodes. The consoles used are a stereo Gatesway 80 and the popular Sparta 5 channel board (have to watch again to see if it's stereo). The third board I didn't identify ...yet.

Fun watch for those into vintage broadcast gear. I still have a 317C-2 (has not ran in over 6 years but the filaments still light up) at a site I take care of as well as alot of vintage gear I have collected.

Curios what others can spot in the first three episodes?
 


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