Call Letters that Reflect Past Network Affiliations

[crainbebo]

KWPX 33 Seattle, formerly PAX, i, and now Ion. Before 1998 it was KBGE and had home shopping.

-crainbebo

 

[KML0224]

All that qualifies in Connecticut, past and present:

WHPX-TV (ION) channel 26 New London. Formerly a PAX affiliate.
WCTX-TV (MY) channel 59 New Haven. It was WBNE-TV until the end of 2000. The letters stood for Warner Brothers New England. They became a UPN affiliate at the beginning of 2001.

 

[OldNumber7]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned WNET/New York. The calls date back to the pre-PBS days when the station was with National Educational Television.

 

[ssetta]

Erie's WICU/12 did have CBS as a secondary affiliation when it signed on in 1949, so it's possible the "ICU" (I see you) was related to CBS, but it's hard to say if that was in fact the case.

I think I read on Wikipedia that the "I see you" actually refers to the classic NBC jingle, as "I see you" sounds the same. The CBS affiliate in Erie has always been WSEE, which is appropriate for the CBS network affiliation, because you SEE with your eyes.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Erie's WICU/12 did have CBS as a secondary affiliation when it signed on in 1949, so it's possible the "ICU" (I see you) was related to CBS, but it's hard to say if that was in fact the case.

I think I read on Wikipedia that the "I see you" actually refers to the classic NBC jingle, as "I see you" sounds the same. The CBS affiliate in Erie has always been WSEE, which is appropriate for the CBS network affiliation, because you SEE with your eyes.

I can't help but wonder how many people in Erie could have said "I see you" to WICU during NBC's disastrous "NB-See-Us" season (1978-79). Supertrain and the ilk.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Nashville
WNAB, formerly The WB, now The CW. Call letters have WB.
WUXP, formerly UPN, now MyNetwork TV. Call letters have UP.

Also here in Nashville, we have WKRN, which reflects a former owner, Knight-Ridder or something like that. They have changed call letters several times right along with ownership changes, so I don't know why Young Broadcasting (current owners of channel 2) haven't changed call letters. But it seems to me that Nashville stations, with the exception of WSMV, seem to emphasize their nicknames (in the case of WKRN, that would be "Nashville's News 2") over their call letters. So maybe call letters really don't mean much anymore, therefore, changing call letters is no longer a priority.

I thought WKRN stood for KORN, like the "Hee Haw" radio station.

WGPX Greensboro, NC was Pax and is now Ion.

 

[ShawtyBlack_ATL]

ATLANTA, GA
WGCL-TV
FORMERLY: CLEAR TV & CLEAR NEWS "GEORGIA'S CLEAR TV"
http://youtu.be/J_XaY9vMz5Y
NOW: CBS ATLANTA

 

[Darth_vader]

"Just about any channel with 'PX' somewhere in its call letters most likely is (or was) an affiliate of what is now known as Ion Television."

KPXG. (And before that, back in the Home Shopping Club days, it was KBSP [Beaverton Salem Portland].)

KNMT, as I understand, started out in 1985 as a short-lived service called "National Minority Television" before flipping to TBN in 1989. All I know about the previous network is that it apparently existed, and this must have been its "main" station. (Probably a "translator network" like the ill-fated "Channel America" around that same period.)

 

[firepoint525]

NashvilleWNAB, formerly The WB, now The CW. Call letters have WB.
WUXP, formerly UPN, now MyNetwork TV. Call letters have UP.

Also here in Nashville, we have WKRN, which reflects a former owner, Knight-Ridder or something like that. They have changed call letters several times right along with ownership changes, so I don't know why Young Broadcasting (current owners of channel 2) haven't changed call letters. But it seems to me that Nashville stations, with the exception of WSMV, seem to emphasize their nicknames (in the case of WKRN, that would be "Nashville's News 2") over their call letters. So maybe call letters really don't mean much anymore, therefore, changing call letters is no longer a priority.

I thought WKRN stood for KORN, like the "Hee Haw" radio station.

Not likely, since Hee Haw was a CBS show, and channel 2 did not have the WKRN calls back then.

 

[anotherguyTN]

For several years didn't Hee Haw used to be taped at the WLAC/WTVF studios? Did it eventually go to Opryland in the later years?

 

[firepoint525]

For several years didn't Hee Haw used to be taped at the WLAC/WTVF studios? Did it eventually go to Opryland in the later years?

I believe the answer to your first question is yes, but I am not sure about the second. It is interesting to note that Hee Haw ceased production around 1992, which was the year that I first moved here. I see that as a good omen! ;D

 

[cowboybud]

For several years didn't Hee Haw used to be taped at the WLAC/WTVF studios? Did it eventually go to Opryland in the later years?

Yes and Yes. "This has been a Gaylord production from Opryland USA. That's all!"

 

[vchimpanzee]

NashvilleWNAB, formerly The WB, now The CW. Call letters have WB.
WUXP, formerly UPN, now MyNetwork TV. Call letters have UP.

Also here in Nashville, we have WKRN, which reflects a former owner, Knight-Ridder or something like that. They have changed call letters several times right along with ownership changes, so I don't know why Young Broadcasting (current owners of channel 2) haven't changed call letters. But it seems to me that Nashville stations, with the exception of WSMV, seem to emphasize their nicknames (in the case of WKRN, that would be "Nashville's News 2") over their call letters. So maybe call letters really don't mean much anymore, therefore, changing call letters is no longer a priority.

I thought WKRN stood for KORN, like the "Hee Haw" radio station.

Not likely, since Hee Haw was a CBS show, and channel 2 did not have the WKRN calls back then.

"Hee Haw" was a CBS show only briefly. Besides, don't they grow korn in Tennessee?