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"Heritage" Call Letters

HGN2001

HGN2001

In the dawning age of PPM, call letters are bound to become less and less important. But let's take a look at the call letters that are around today.

[1] How many of them are considered "heritage?" Which ones? Which ones are not?

[2] How long does it take for a set of call letters to be considered "heritage?" Is there a set criterion (number of years)? Or does the success of a station have to do with whether or not a set of call letters are considered "heritage?"
 
To me, its age and success. Oldies and goodies such as WFIL, WIP, KYW, WDEL, WDAS, WHAT, WILM and WMMR come to mind. WMMR is the newest of the lot, dating back to the separation of AM and FM, standing for Metro Media Radio, WIP/WMMR's owner at the time. Using that same criteria, WIOQ would also qualify. WJBR, Delaware's first stand alone FMer back in 1959, would fit the bill.

On the TV side, WCAU qualifies in my mind.

Moving calls around either frequency wise or COL, disqualifies them. In Delaware, WAMS were heritage calls. A new owner picking up the calls and smacking them on the dial in Newark and Dover, on different frequencies, cheapens the memory and value. In the same vein, WIBG and WIFI have been devalued.
 
Like any adjective, the word "heritage" in this sense is totally subjective. It means what you want it to mean. That said, it seems the term is often attached to stations that were at one time dominant in their format for an extended period of time, and usually before the 1980s (when the 80/90 docket added a bunch of new stations to the FM dial) and often before the 1970s (when the FM boom led many FMs to drop their AM affiliated calls for newer, hipper call letters). Certainly, there are several stations in Philly that arguably still have "heritage" calls, including KYW, WIP, WFIL and WMMR.
 
WTUX said:
...On the TV side, WCAU qualifies in my mind.

Moving calls around either frequency wise or COL, disqualifies them. In Delaware, WAMS were heritage calls. A new owner picking up the calls and smacking them on the dial in Newark and Dover, on different frequencies, cheapens the memory and value. In the same vein, WIBG and WIFI have been devalued.
Click to expand...
Wouldn't wcau be cheapen then? WCAU was the calls for 1210, while ch10 was wcau-tv. After 1210 switched the wcau call wasn't inuse until ch10 became NBC10 a good 5 years later.

Anyway, I think there several ways for a station's call to become heritage call letters.
1. Its the original call letters of a station thats been around for ever. WIP for example would have heritage calls by default, even if nothing ever happened at that station to make the calls famous.

2. A call survives several popular formats.

3. Time. How much time really depends on #4. For example if a station uses its calls as its onair moniker, it could take as little as 10 years. Generally I would say 20 to 25 however. Like wogl is on the verge of becoming heritage calls, but i'm not sure I would give them it yet.

4. A station becomes famous by its calls (both ysp and mmr for example) However it needs a bit of #3, or otherwise it would be like wdre. Those calls are famous in Philly, but they wern't here long enough to become heritage.

Hmmm, reviewing all of this, I guess WIP is the ultimate heritage, as it been onair since the 20's, has survived several popular formats, and is the image of the station. It qualifies for all four.
 
How about W-H-A-T ?

Shame to have lost W-D-A-S AM -- they go back to 1923.
 
WTUX said:
Moving calls around either frequency wise or COL, disqualifies them. In Delaware, WAMS were heritage calls. A new owner picking up the calls and smacking them on the dial in Newark and Dover, on different frequencies, cheapens the memory and value. In the same vein, WIFI has been devalued.
Click to expand...

Moving call letters in this day of frequency modifications doesn't necessarily devalue the call letters. The operative word being necessarily. Certainly WIFI/1460 is far from heritage. Incidentally, WAMS doesn't exist anywhere at all anyway. Dover 1600 is WXXY again, and Newark 1260 is WNWK.
 
Regarding the WCAU-TV call letters. Channel 10 was always WCAU-TV. This did not happen 5 years ago.

And yes Sam. I am fully aware that WAMS has thankfully been laid to rest. But it was used in Dover for several years before the person so in love with those call letters moved them to Newark, then back to Dover again before finally giving them the burial they deserve.
 
WTUX said:
Regarding the WCAU-TV call letters. Channel 10 was always WCAU-TV. This did not happen 5 years ago.

And yes Sam. I am fully aware that WAMS has thankfully been laid to rest. But it was used in Dover for several years before the person so in love with those call letters moved them to Newark, then back to Dover again before finally giving them the burial they deserve.
Click to expand...

Why so bitter and obsessed over this?
 
Delawhere said:
WTUX said:
Regarding the WCAU-TV call letters. Channel 10 was always WCAU-TV. This did not happen 5 years ago.

And yes Sam. I am fully aware that WAMS has thankfully been laid to rest. But it was used in Dover for several years before the person so in love with those call letters moved them to Newark, then back to Dover again before finally giving them the burial they deserve.
Click to expand...

Why so bitter and obsessed over this?
Click to expand...

There’s nothing wrong with a healthy obsession. I have, always had call letter obsession. And transmitter obsession. And tower obsession. And jingle obsession. And…And...And..... It’s part of a basic, everyday, healthy, social butterfly personality. I don’t think that should really be too surprising to anyone reading this board. In fact, the more you read this crazy stuff, probably, generally speaking, the more obsessed you will become.
 
WTUX said:
Regarding the WCAU-TV call letters. Channel 10 was always WCAU-TV. This did not happen 5 years ago.
Click to expand...
No, CH10 is now WCAU. It was wcau-tv. Thats was my point. You mentioned wcau as a heritage call, but also mentioned when the calls move around it cheapens them. Well 1210 was wcau from 1922 to 1990. Ch10 didn't switch from wcau-tv to just wcau until 1995, when the big nbc/cbs switch happened. Thus there was no wcau for a good 5 years, which brings me back to my orignal point, doesn't that cheapen the wcau calls?
 
Irishfl said:
WTUX said:
Regarding the WCAU-TV call letters. Channel 10 was always WCAU-TV. This did not happen 5 years ago.
Click to expand...
No, CH10 is now WCAU. It was wcau-tv. Thats was my point. You mentioned wcau as a heritage call, but also mentioned when the calls move around it cheapens them. Well 1210 was wcau from 1922 to 1990. Ch10 didn't switch from wcau-tv to just wcau until 1995, when the big nbc/cbs switch happened. Thus there was no wcau for a good 5 years, which brings me back to my orignal point, doesn't that cheapen the wcau calls?
Click to expand...

What??
 
Television stations (analog) all have the suffix "TV". This was decided in the 50's when WRC Washington wanted to keep it's heritage calls on it's Television new venture. Three letter calls were dropped some 20 plus years earlier when they ran out of mathmatical combinations of 3, and longer to be issued. The station made the case that the suffix technically made their new name a 5 letter call, WRC-TV, on which there was no ruling. The FCC was sympathetic to their plight, and allowed the new 5 letter call signs nationwide. Example: KYW-TV 3

It is WCAU-TV / WCAU-DT.

FM stations must carry the suffix when their AM sister station shares the same calls. Example: WCAU/WCAU-FM and at one time WOGL/WOGL-FM. No "AM" suffix is used, as the AM band is still considered "Standard".

If a TV station and FM is co-owned and named, no "-FM" suffix is used. Example: WMGM-TV 40 - WMGM (103.7fm)

And that concludes our radio history lesson for today class. Quiz on Friday.
 
Irishfl said:
WTUX said:
Regarding the WCAU-TV call letters. Channel 10 was always WCAU-TV. This did not happen 5 years ago.
Click to expand...
No, CH10 is now WCAU. It was wcau-tv. Thats was my point. You mentioned wcau as a heritage call, but also mentioned when the calls move around it cheapens them. Well 1210 was wcau from 1922 to 1990. Ch10 didn't switch from wcau-tv to just wcau until 1995, when the big nbc/cbs switch happened. Thus there was no wcau for a good 5 years, which brings me back to my orignal point, doesn't that cheapen the wcau calls?
Click to expand...

But to any normal viewer (that is, not those of us who actually care about suffixes on call signs), WCAU vs WCAU-TV is a meaningless distinction.
 
The WBEN call letters don't have heritage in Philadelphia, but they're legendary call letters in Buffalo (WBEN News Radio 930). Wonder how much Entercom charged Greater Media for the right to use those calls on their Philadelphia FM.
 
Once calls are returned to the FCC for new ones, they're up for grabs.

That's why WIBG is now Ocean City, NJ. Others like WDVR are now parked on their third signal, WKHI, classic Top 40 FM in Ocean City Maryland is now Froggy 99.9. Those calls wer snapped up by competing Great Scott (WPAZ Pottstown) and are now at 107.5 Fruitland MD.

I don't know if 930 dropped them or they were purchased. WKTU, NY were purchased from Howard Green in AC when they wanted to revive the dance station in NYC. 98.3 in OC, NJ grabbed the calls when they put "KOOL 98.3" on. To keep it simple, Howard switched the name to WTKU
 
Radknowski said:
The WBEN call letters don't have heritage in Philadelphia...
Click to expand...

"Ben" Franklin does not have heritage in Philladelphia? How odd.
 
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