Call letter/format change archive?

[hrhwebmaster]

...a record of when stations changed formats or call letters....is there one for Houston? Seems to me I came across one a couple of years ago but can't find it now.

 

[FilioScotia]

I'm confused. Didn't you have all that information on the Houston Radio History website?

 

[ChuckTiller]

Some are easy to keep up with, while others changed their calls so much and sometimes frequencies, that is a bit much to keep up with.

 

[hrhwebmaster]

I have them covered up to about 1970, maybe; more recently it gets to be a madhouse and a full-time job keeping up with them. Like Chuck said. I doubt if anybody has a complete list. I just hoped there was something online I could link to because I don't think I'd ever have the time to try to put such an archive together.

 

[w9wi]

...a record of when stations changed formats or call letters....is there one for Houston? Seems to me I came across one a couple of years ago but can't find it now.

If you don't need to go back too far, the FCC keeps track of old call letters.

• Go to http://licensing.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/sta_sear.htm
• Enter the current call letters in the box. Follow them with a % percent sign, otherwise it won't find them if there's a -FM, -LP, or -TV suffix.
• Hit Enter or click Submit Station Search.
• Click on Click for details.
• Click on View Call Sign History.

You'll get a list of the station's callsigns, including the date on which each call became effective. Some older calls may not have the date. The list goes back to at least 1984.

The FCC stopped tracking formats long before they computerized, so that information isn't in there.

 

[fybush]

You'll get a list of the station's callsigns, including the date on which each call became effective. Some older calls may not have the date. The list goes back to at least 1984.

There's also some missing data from around 1991-92 that apparently never survived the transition from the old databases to CDBS.

You can find this information faster via another front end to the FCC data, the privately-operated www.FCCInfo.com. It appears right under the current callsign at the top of each station's listing.

 

[hrhwebmaster]

...a record of when stations changed formats or call letters....is there one for Houston? Seems to me I came across one a couple of years ago but can't find it now.

Are you looking for http://formatchange.com?

I think that's the one I saw. I couldn't remember how much data there actually was.

Thanks for the other tips, too. I knew there was some of that on the FCC site but hadn't looked any up in a while.

I should correct what I said above - I have call letter changes pretty well covered up until about 70, not format changes. Much easier back then since calls tended to stay the same for decades through changes of ownership and format.

 

[rageradio]

radioemporium.com used to have listings for former call signs and station logos, they disappeared a few years ago.

 

[hrhwebmaster]

Rings a bell. I think that's the one I was remembering, considerably more entries than the other site. Thanks.

 

[Mediafrog+]

radioemporium.com used to have listings for former call signs and station logos, they disappeared a few years ago.

Radio-emporium was quite a nice site about a decade ago. Wonder whatever happened to Safford Black? Used to post quite a bit. IIRC this Houston board was originally part of that site, before being completely folded into R-I.