Do call letters matter?

[nd2023]

Does the average listener care whether 92.3's call letters are WXRK or WNOW? It's buried once an hour.
Call letters these days are about as significant as your license plate number. Most people don't care to change their license plate number to whatever they want, so why should radio stations care to change their call letters these days? Let the FCC randomly assign call letters.

 

[cspence]

Non radio people,the average listener dont even know the calls of what they're listening to,just the monicker,fresh,z100,krock,ect.

 

[DToTheJ]

I hear ya. Like I said before, they should just change the calls on 92.3 to WFAN-FM to complement the AM station broadcasting on their HD3 channel.

Besides, if this "Now" fails, they already have the calls in place for "plan B".

 

[Tibbs4]

Gotta gently disagree, call letters often pull a station together. Having call letters that don't resemble the monikor
is a sign of lazy/cheap management. It's probably less important since the 1990's to current than before, but it
when a listener hears it hundreds of times a year, it's got to sink in. Can't hurt in the ratings wars. But, may not
add a share to the numbers. I can tell you many situations of bad call letter changes. The smart people that
went back to the old calls were rewarded most of the time. Then again, that's right listeners are stupid, right
CEO's?

 

[Mario500]

Besides distinguishing radio stations from others on the same frequency, call letters can have special meanings and usually last for decades. They can reflect ownership (Kenneth R. Giddens in WKRG-AM), the area (Mobile in WMOB-AM), or format ("News Talk Mobile" in WNTM-AM, formerly WKRG-AM). They can be the foundation of a station's identity and help build a relationship between the listener.

Radio stations that rarely mention their call letters outside of station identification should be proud to have a different set of letters from a long-distance or local station that might have a similar brand name.

 

[nd2023]

Let me give you an example: WKXW "New Jersey 101.5" is the #1 rated station in NJ with a talk format. The call letters stand for a completely different name "Kix 101 and a half" and hasn't been changed for decades.
Besides, doesn't the FCC charge stations to change call letters? In the PPM era, call letters lose a lot of their meaning. Some call letters are buried in a stopset at :55, some call letters are said loudly and proudly as the station's slogan.

 

[cawasinnj]

People can barely remember the station they listen to, even when the callsign is used heavily. Yes, people are stupid. On the other hand, I think it costs $200 to change callsigns. That's pocket change to a company as big as CBS. It makes the geeks happy, so why not?

 

[d21ofnj]

Speaking of people who dont know what station they are listening to, this story was posted on the Binghamton board. One lady won a contest from WMXW (Mix 103.3) only thing is she had to go to the studio and pick up her prize. She ended up going to the WLTB (Magic 101.7) studio and had an argument with one of the jocks swearing up and down and saying to him "this is the station that I won my prize." So, its not only the call letters people dont pay attention to or care about, but its the actual NAME of the station as well.

 

[DToTheJ]

In the PPM era, call letters lose a lot of their meaning.

Heck, PPM's don't even require listeners to remember the call letters of what stations they listened to! That's why I think the whole argument is moot.

 

[radioman148]

Hardly anyone pays attention to call letters anymore. Almost all dials are digital anyway.

 

[GSP163]

Let me give you an example: WKXW "New Jersey 101.5" is the #1 rated station in NJ with a talk format. The call letters stand for a completely different name "Kix 101 and a half" and hasn't been changed for decades.
Besides, doesn't the FCC charge stations to change call letters? In the PPM era, call letters lose a lot of their meaning. Some call letters are buried in a stopset at :55, some call letters are said loudly and proudly as the station's slogan.

Yet a few years ago when 97.3 Milville flipped back to a simulcast of 101.5 they changed their calls from WIXM (used for their "Mix" days) to WXKW to match WKXW.....Wouldn't they have just left 97.3 as WIXM since they never use the calls....Heck they should had just kept the WBSS calls (used way back during the "Boss" days) since they used those calls before the "Mix" flip.

 

[kevinsealy]

I think it all matters with the format and the station's presentation. Traditional stations and formats like, WCBS-FM, WABC, WOR and WPLJ are personality driven stations that connect with its listeners.




Thanks,
Kevin L. Sealy

 

[Ferreri]

The Nielsen "sticker" diary at the very least, requires the listener must know the calls and frequency to use the sticker. Have to agree with another poster regarding call changes. Example, a station here "Magic 94.9" was once "WARM". The calls are still WWRM and the legal ID is mumbled near the top of the hour. Back in the day, it was all "calls" WLS, WABC, WCFL, CKLW and many other great call letters. Calls are still alive on AM these days while FM's are tagged with a name.

 

[Tom Wells]

Call letters do matter, and stations which bury them, or mumble them, are foolish.
Say it loud and proud.
I once had a man in Dallas hand me his personal business card that simply said "The Owl".
He was quite intelligent, and memorable, but to this day I have no idea who he WAS.
If that's what you want, go ahead.

Marketing names that have no connection to the call letters are the worst of all.
When someone in Chicago mentions to me they heard something on "NPR", I always ask them what STATION they were listening to,
WBEZ Chicago, or perhaps WILL Urbana? NPR is not a radio station, it's a "brand".
Cows are branded, and the particular cow has no significance. That's not what anyone should want for their station.

 

[radioman148]

I think it all matters with the format and the station's presentation. Traditional stations and formats like, WCBS-FM, WABC, WOR and WPLJ are personality driven stations that connect with its listeners.




Thanks,
Kevin L. Sealy

Indeed they do. People still identify with the call letters as a brand not a just a slogan.

 

[Froggy]

Call Signs lost their significance long,long ago. What is IMPORTANT is BRANDING and your Domain Name...call letters only need be aid once per hour as close to the top of the hour as possible.

ALL THE HITS NOW92THREE,WXRKNewYork...(Followed by a NOW92.3 Jingle or announcer saying..."On The Web at NOW923DOTCOM"-(between 2 Spots or Songs).

WPLJ kept their calls (except for their brief stint as WorldWidePuertoRican Radio.
WABC kept their calls.1010 WINS,WYNY was known for a long time as New York 97WYNY (AC) and kept the calls as a Country Outlet. In fact did'nt CBS keep the CBS-FM Calls while they were JACK?

 

[neo11]

In most of the rest of the world, stations seem to be able to survive just fine without call letters. Looking at Europe, for instance, call letters are not assigned to FM/AM stations in any country.

 

[kevinsealy]

radioman148,

Just to add, I'm 48 years old and grew up listening to WABC and WNEW 1130. I associate the Top 40 music of the 60s & 70s with WABC and Pop Standards MOR/AC with WNEW.

I'm sure the same is said for those FM listeners who identified with WNEW-FM, WPLJ, WBLS and WQXR.

If Emmis was promoting the WQHT call signs along with Hot 97 their listeners would associate with the station's call signs too.



Thanks,
Kevin L. Sealy

 

[DJKraze]

In most of the rest of the world, stations seem to be able to survive just fine without call letters. Looking at Europe, for instance, call letters are not assigned to FM/AM stations in any country.

That's not correct, every station has a call, it's on the station's license, it's just in many countries stations are not required to do identify with them over the air.

Take Japan for example, every station has a call, some stations choose to use them as part of the identity of the station and put them in the slogan, others don't but I believe every station has to identify if not once an hour then at least once a day.

Examples:
81.3 FM J-Wave, call is JOAV which is a close sounding name when spelled out, but is almost never spoken on air
77.8 Zip-FM, I know they have a call, but it's used so infrequently, I have to look it up (if even possible), it took some doing but it's JOQV

 

[neo11]

In most of the rest of the world, stations seem to be able to survive just fine without call letters. Looking at Europe, for instance, call letters are not assigned to FM/AM stations in any country.

That's not correct, every station has a call, it's on the station's license, it's just in many countries stations are not required to do identify with them over the air.

Take Japan for example, every station has a call, some stations choose to use them as part of the identity of the station and put them in the slogan, others don't but I believe every station has to identify if not once an hour then at least once a day.

Examples:
81.3 FM J-Wave, call is JOAV which is a close sounding name when spelled out, but is almost never spoken on air
77.8 Zip-FM, I know they have a call, but it's used so infrequently, I have to look it up (if even possible), it took some doing but it's JOQV

Nope. Wrong. European stations DO NOT have call letters. They are not on the license, and not announced on the air. Stations in Europe universally use monickers or network names to identify themselves (think of BBC, RAI, Radio France, Radio Italia Network, Classic FM, etc.).

The only countries that seem to use call letters seem to have a history of past American influence or are otherwise in America's sphere of influence...lots of Latin American countries, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, etc. The only additional exception is Australia and New Zealand. Nowhere else.