Do call letters matter?

[davideduardo]

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.

In Spain and Portugal, to name a couple, stations have assigned calls... seldom used though. One reason many European stations use no calles is that national simulcast networking is the norm, which would mean reading 50 or 60 call letters in some cases. The Europeans have no pretension that things are of local interest just because they come from a local studio.

Most places, even those assigning call letters, figured out that names are nicer than the equivalent of reading a car licence plate.

 

[davideduardo]

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.

The stickers have name, too.

But that effects the smallest of markets... remember, 30% of radio revenue is in the top 10 markets alone.

 

[neo11]

Most European countries do not even assign them. And if you look at publications such as the World Radio TV Handbook, European FM Handbook, etc., you will not find call letters assigned for any station. This applies to national networks as well as independent stations, and public as well as private. They are not assigned, and not used.

 

[davideduardo]

Call letters do matter, and stations which bury them, or mumble them, are foolish.
Say it loud and proud.

In each market, the name of a station that chooses to not use calls as an identity is how a station is identified. Personally, I prefer my name to my social security number, and it's easier to remember, too.

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.

He was "The Owl" and you remember him to this day.

If that's what you want, go ahead.

That's exactly what we want... memorability, and, hopoefully a brand that means something.

Marketing names that have no connection to the call letters are the worst of all.

They are the best. They make remembering "who" easy, and all you have to know is "where" as in the dial position to find what you want.

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".

To a person in the coverage area of any particular station, the brand is the station. There is so little listening to fringe overlaps that it is insignificant, and the PPM knows which frequency the listener is on, so all is resolved.

Would you be more likey to want to buy an MB702LL......


.... or an iPhone?

 

[neo11]

I agree. And judging by the number of times even radio geeks/radio professionals manage to get call signs wrong in discussions on message boards like this one, it's pretty evident that "WHTZ" or "WXRK" or any such letters are hard to remember....not what you want in a brand. Not to mention that these letters are pretty much meaningless...what does WHTZ mean, other than putting the "Z" in Z100?

"Hot 97" or "Now 92.3" or "Fresh 102.7" or "Lite FM," or, for that matter, Classic FM, Virgin Radio, Heart FM, etc. mean something, and are brands that are very easy to remember, by comparison.