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Any TV Stations That Have Three Of The Same Letters In A Row (Call Letters)

Mark said:
I mean do they say "This is K-Triple I" or K-I-I-I?

I read on an old site while looking this up, that the FCC didn't allow three of the same letters in a row. When did they start allowing this? Anyone know?
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I'll never be able to find it again, but back in teh 1950s, a station asked the FCC if they could ID as "K-double-I-X" (or whatever their calls were) and were firmly denied.

I don't think the FCC would formally accept that today either. However, you can ID "K-Triple-I" all day long as long as you announce "K-I-I-I" on the hourly ID. (and you seem to be able to get away with whispering that...)

I think the no-3-same-letters-in-a-row thing went away in the 1920s.

Used to be you couldn't have the initials of the President or a Federal agency.
 
Mark said:
Just out of curiosity does anyone know how these stations ID themselves?

I mean do they say "This is K-Triple I" or K-I-I-I?
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I was in Corpus Christi about two years ago, and I don't remember exactly what KIII used to identify itself, but I'm pretty sure I didn't hear "K Triple I."

As a side note, I was told the reason for the KIII calls is that the station was originally going to air Spanish language programming, and it wanted those calls so it could be "K Aye-Aye-Aye!" Don't know if it's true or just a local rumor, but it was a cute story nonetheless.
 
Kent said:
As a side note, I was told the reason for the KIII calls is that the station was originally going to air Spanish language programming, and it wanted those calls so it could be "K Aye-Aye-Aye!" Don't know if it's true or just a local rumor, but it was a cute story nonetheless.
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The Spanish letter "I" is pronounced the same way as the English "E", so what you heard was a very old joke.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Kent said:
As a side note, I was told the reason for the KIII calls is that the station was originally going to air Spanish language programming, and it wanted those calls so it could be "K Aye-Aye-Aye!" Don't know if it's true or just a local rumor, but it was a cute story nonetheless.
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The Spanish letter "I" is pronounced the same way as the English "E", so what you heard was a very old joke.
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But in a Spanglish bilingual area, or if they had seen Speedy Gonzalez cartoons, everyone would get the joke. ;D

Wait, would they have to pronounce the legal ID in English, or would Spanish be ok? It seems like I've heard it thrown in in English pretty often in our area.
 
w9wi said:
Used to be you couldn't have the initials of the President or a Federal agency.
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If they were still banned, there wouldn't be a WJFK (Washington), KLBJ (Austin) or WCIA (Champaign) today.

Raymie said:
I've seen KMEX, KVDA and WXTV news opens from the 90s-early 2000s. All spell out the call letters in Spanish.
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I don't know if there is an English-language requirement for audio IDs, but as long as they display the ID visually, it doesn't matter what language they use.
 
Not a TV station, but WDXB-102.5 in the Birmingham suburb of Pelham used to have the callsign WWWB when it was licensed to Jasper.
 
KWEX San Antonio identified itself in Spanish in the 1970s.

In the early '70s I was talking with an employee of WBRC
Birmingham, who told me that the initials of a federal agency
could not be used as call letters. I reminded him of the existence
of WCIA. No comeback.

Under this rule, WFAA Dallas would also have had to get different
call letters (FAA=Federal Aviation Administration).

On the radio side, there's KLLL-FM 96.3 in Lubbock. I think Buddy
Holly had a show on the AM side before he got famous.
 
Actually, Buddy recorded some sides and some jingles at KLLL-AM,
and some of the songs may have been recorded after he got famous,
around 1958.
 
Up here in the PacNW, we currently have KWWW, Quincy WA. Known as KW3. Used to have KUUU 1590 Seattle- became the trailblazing KJET in the 80s.
 
The call sign WWWB was also on High Point, NC's 100.3 FM (now Clear Channel's WVBZ "The Buzz") in the late 80's through the early 90s.

Sister station WPTI 94.5 was known as WWWI "I-95" and later "I-94.5" from 1984-85.

Charlotte, NC's WKQC "K-104.7" was WSSS from 1994-2004.

In Wilkesboro, NC, 1240 AM is WWWC, (Wonderful World of Wilkes) known on-air as 3WC.

Lynchburg, Va, gospel station 930 AM has the call letters WLLL "Where Lynchburg Loves the Lord" and has since their 1963 sign-on.

In Roanoke, Va, there's WWWR 910 AM.

Washington, DC's WFED 1500 was known as WWWT ("3WT") from 2007-2008).

Charlottesville, Va's WWWV 97.5 is known as "3WV".

In Charleston, SC, 93.3 FM is WWWZ (City of license+summerville)
 
Four pages, plenty of radio calls, but not a single mention of 3WE (WWWE) in Cleveland? Now Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100, of course.

Currently, there's WWWS/1400 Buffalo.

"3WS", Clear Channel's classic hits station in Pittsburgh, is actually WWSW.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
The Spanish letter "I" is pronounced the same way as the English "E", so what you heard was a very old joke.
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I know. I'm actually quite competent in Spanish, which is why I thought the story was plausible but had some doubts. I've seen enough people who think they're experts because they had four years of Spanish in high school with no outside exposure, and disasters like that are often what you get!

It's also kind of interesting to note that many Spanish broadcasters don't consist of native speakers. However, they know enough about business to put the experts in charge of the programming side and just work on the business end of things.

Thanks for the update on the KIII story!
 
Radio call letter enthusiasts have long known about KAAA 1230 in Kingman, Arizona, which has sister KZZZ 1490 in nearby Bullhead City.

There was once a KKKK in the Midland-Odessa, Texas market.

Not a good idea to put three "K"s in a row. :eek:

However, KXXX in Colby, Kansas doesn't seem uncomfortable with their calls... ;D
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Radio call letter enthusiasts have long known about KAAA 1230 in Kingman, Arizona, which has sister KZZZ 1490 in nearby Bullhead City.

There was once a KKKK in the Midland-Odessa, Texas market.

Not a good idea to put three "K"s in a row. :eek:

However, KXXX in Colby, Kansas doesn't seem uncomfortable with their calls... ;D
Click to expand...

Wow KXXX calls moved from San Francisco to Kansas. Ennis or Emmis had KXXX for San Fran from 1988 to 1990.
 
Schenectady, NY used to have a WWWD that identified as "3WD" during the 1980s, until the station was sold and became WVKZ, call letters which remain today (the station now runs True Oldies Channel) :)
 
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