does a station burn a bridge when it refuses to incorporate its calls?

[DXER1]

I always loved the last one. In the southwest, in most markets, a quarter of the folks will wonder why a station is named after the vulgarism for urination. McLendon learned the danger of call letters and language in San Antonio about 50 years ago when he tried to change KTSA for a set of calls that Hispanics used to signify poop.

Wow... I had no idea. I'm guessing a lot of listeners didn't either.

Well speaking of bad call letter patterns, ever heard one of the sets originally considered for KEOM?

KMES... ;D

R

Those are not near as bad as the University of North Texas station
LOL ! ! !

 

[little1]

Yet I have clearly shown that in two days, two different listeners have used KEOM's calls when contacting the station.

You guys can spin this any way you want, but you're just wasting time, IMHO.

R

And to repeat myself from earlier, isn't it kind of a no-brainer that people that are contacting you know your call letters? They've figured it out one way or another.

The point is that it's often easier to say I listen to Jack, Live 105, The Ticket, the WOlf, Lone Star, etc than it is to remember KJKK, KLLI, KTCK-AM (not to mention KTDK-AM and KTBK-FM), KPLX and KZPS.

 

[Robert Bass]

Yet I have clearly shown that in two days, two different listeners have used KEOM's calls when contacting the station.

You guys can spin this any way you want, but you're just wasting time, IMHO.

R

And to repeat myself from earlier, isn't it kind of a no-brainer that people that are contacting you know your call letters? They've figured it out one way or another.

Figured it out? Yeah right, beeause the calls are used in every single mic spot, promo, features, jingles and sweepers, which is more than I can say for some stations.

A few of those other calls you mentioned, are easy to remember (well, I can anyway)

R

 

[SeanRuadh]

A slogan or a nick-name can be a marketing tool, but a memorable set of call letters is much more effective. Anybody ever try to look up Wolf or Eagle or Star or Jack in the phone book?
Nothing can compare with calls like KASE or KITE or WACO or WILD. KTSA is a natural, and instantly recognisable, KAKY was not...KTFM is a memorable set. I don't even recall what it was changed to.
KAFM was memorable, I'm not sure about KZPS. KLIF works. KLLI? not so much. And why DIDN'T KNTU change the calls when North Texas State University became the University of North Texas?
oh... yeah.
s

 

[salemjedi54]

I'm sure most folk know KKDA-FM as K104 and not KKDA-FM and the same for KBFB. Know one knows the Beat as KBFB, its 97-9 The Beat.

While I will agree with that last statement since not very many people my own age (26, BTW) are aware of call letters, I will go on the record to say that during my college years, I had an instructor, a red-haired, older Irishwoman by the name of Marcia Adams, state that "the key to higher education is looking stuff up! Even as young as six years old, I was quick to do just that. Twenty years later, I still find myself doing just that, even though the means for doing so are more advanced and much more plentiful than they were at this time in 1987.

On that note, I know more about call letters than most of the people my own age strictly because I take the time to look each station's call letters up online - and even listen along as they speak way too quickly - and that's how I know that K104 is KKDA and 97.9 The Beat is KBFB - which were also the call letters used for B 97.9 when LaBella was still morning host. Granted, they were still KRRW for the first three months - but shortly after that they switched to the KBFB calls and they still have those call letters ten years later, even though their current format is only 7 years old, if that. But, I digress...

Psst....K104 is LEGALLY KKDA-FM

 

[DAYRADIO]

I'll bet most people can't have lunch in a Las Vegas casino buffet without thinking about KENO.

 

[davideduardo]

I'll bet most people can't have lunch in a Las Vegas casino buffet without thinking about KENO.

Of course, that is a case where the calls simply match a real word. But it ranks as one of the truly great matches.

 

[VERITAS DE VOCE]

Those are not near as bad as the University of North Texas station
LOL ! ! !

Easy now. On behalf of my beloved Mean Green, they can't help it if some people in North Texas are dyslexic. It's about the music after all. ;D

 

[DXER1]

Those are not near as bad as the University of North Texas station
LOL ! ! !

Easy now. On behalf of my beloved Mean Green, they can't help it if some people in North Texas are dyslexic. It's about the music after all. ;D

Yeah, youre so correct that it is about the music. I like this station, I like jazz in general the band that I'm in is having a concert this Saturday up at Brookhaven. When I first started listening to that station people I knew were making that joke at the station

 

[MikeShannon914]

VDV...I was at "NTSU" in the RTVF program that very last semester that the school still had that name (Spring '88) and indeed, that was the best joke on campus!!

RadiOchic can tell us about her former digs...a campus station called KSUC!!