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A Golden Anniversary for KCBS

DToTheJ

DToTheJ

It was on April 2, 1984, that the station ditched the KNXT call letters for KCBS-TV.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KCBS-TV

I never understood how, at a time where its rivals had the call letters KABC and KNBC, and their sister stations to the East were WCBS, WNBC and WABC, how Channel 2, for many years, stuck with the clunky KNXT calls.
 
DToTheJ said:
It was on April 2, 1984, that the station ditched the KNXT call letters for KCBS-TV.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KCBS-TV

I never understood how, at a time where its rivals had the call letters KABC and KNBC, and their sister stations to the East were WCBS, WNBC and WABC, how Channel 2, for many years, stuck with the clunky KNXT calls.
Click to expand...
Golden is 50 years, Silver is 25 years. Besides, KCBS goes back to 1931 and that is what I would count.
 
DToTheJ said:
It was on April 2, 1984, that the station ditched the KNXT call letters for KCBS-TV.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KCBS-TV

I never understood how, at a time where its rivals had the call letters KABC and KNBC, and their sister stations to the East were WCBS, WNBC and WABC, how Channel 2, for many years, stuck with the clunky KNXT calls.
Click to expand...

That's actually being discussed on a KNBC thread. In the 30s and 40s, San Francisco was considered the west coast broadcast hub, not LA. SF had both KNBC and KCBS radio. In the early 60s, when NBC decided to change KRCA (RCA owned NBC) to KNBC, they had to change the call letters of their SF radio station. It became KNBR. At the time, the FCC would not allow cities to share call letters.

By 1984, the FCC had dropped that rule, so CBS was able to change KNXT to KCBS without changing the calls of their SF AM radio station. They did move the KCBS-FM calls from SF to LA, however.

Why CBS didn't make the change under the old rule I don't know - perhaps because KCBS AM (All News) in San Francisco was always in a tough ratings battle with KGO radio, and they felt it would somehow devalue the "brand" since they bragged about having the resources of CBS News, which was considered the best broadcast news organization in those days.
 
4UH8SIMBKAGN said:
KCBS goes back to 1931 and that is what I would count.
Click to expand...

Huh?!!?

Where'd you get 1931? The KCBS call letters date back to 1949, when CBS bought the former KQW (which traces its lineage back to 1921 as a licensed commercial station, 1912 as an amateur, and 1909 as the unlicensed station Doc Herrold founded in San Jose). Like Llew said, San Francisco was the "happenin' place, babe," broadcast wise, from the 20s thru the 50s, so that's where CBS put the KCBS call letters, where they remain to this day. His explanation as to why they didn't move them south and dump "KNX" when the "happenin' place" shifted to LA from SF makes as much sense as any I've heard. Maybe somebody at CBS had the foresight to know that 3-letter call signs would become recognized as historic, irreplaceable, and thus, valuable.
 
Dumb question.... Does the fact that "NX" is a common abbreviation for "news" factor into the equation for keeping the 1070 call letters as they are? Conglomerates sometimes have a history of shedding heritage call letters for just about any "branding bright idea" du jour.
 
cyberdad said:
Dumb question.... Does the fact that "NX" is a common abbreviation for "news" factor into the equation for keeping the 1070 call letters as they are? Conglomerates sometimes have a history of shedding heritage call letters for just about any "branding bright idea" du jour.
Click to expand...

When KNX radio came on air in 1920, call letters were usually assigned in sequence by the government. As for why they don't shed the call letters now - I doubt the significance of "NX" has anything to do with it.

The only call letters they would want to switch to would be KCBS. But as explained above, those call letters are being used by 740 AM in San Francisco. More than ever, KCBS is locked in a ratings battle which it is now winning - tie for first with KGO/810, with better 24-54 share than KGO due to the fact that they recently started simulcasting on KFRC-FM.

I doubt CBS wants to mess with a good thing and cause brand confusion in 2 cities just so all three LA CBS stations can l have the same call letters.
 
Lkeller....

Thanks for answering my question. And the overview of what's going on with the KCBS calls.

I presumed that the original KNX call letters had nothing to do with content being broadcast. My question related to the possible tie in with current programming. Of course, that being said, I doubt that only a miniscule percentage of KNX listeners would be aware of "NX" being shorthand for "news"
 
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