KHCW becomes KIAH next month.

[TexasTom]

Most people couldn't tell you the call letters of a TV station if their lives depended on it. Nobody says, hey, Maude, turn on KPRC. It's always "Channel 2." Or Channel 11. Or Channel 13. Or Channel 39.

Up here in D/FW, the only station that could be identified by its calls is maybe WFAA - and that's only because they're the only "W" TV station in the market (and one of only two in the state, WOAI in San Antonio being the other). So it makes them unique. But even then, most people will call them "Channel 8."

Also in DFW, channel 21 identifies themselves on air as "TXA-21", which is a shortening of their call letters (KTXA). And channel 52 uses their KFWD call letters prominently in their on-air identifcation. But I'm not sure how many viewers around here would identify either station by their calls, despite the promotional efforts to the contrary.

In other markets, there are stations that are highly identifiable by viewers based on their call letters. KING-TV in Seattle comes to mind -- I suspect that most Puget Sound area viewers could identify "KING" every bit as quickly as they would "channel 5". But I also suspect that KING and the few other heritage stations with highly recognizeable call letters are the exceptions that prove the rule -- because you're right that few people could identify the call letters of the stations that they watch. And even fewer would actually care.

 

[hifidistortion]

KIAH would have worked better for either 55 KTBU-no longer known as "The Tube", or 51 KNWS-Which hasn't been news for years.

 

[adguy]

Now that I think about it, more Houstonians, transplanted and natives, would have identified more with KHPD than KIAH. Since most every newscast begins with a shooting, stabbing or kidnapping, HPD gets more press than the airport (IAH). I guess if there's ever a plane mishap, lost luggage flap or airport drug bust they are covered. With oil in the new on a daily basis now, maybe they could have used KOIL or KNSA (NASA). So much was skipped when they made this decision. LOL!!!!!

 

[TroyG]

Well, apparently the new calls will go into effect as of July 15th. At that time, 39 will be looking for new anchors for its hourlong 9:00PM Newscast. Expect Mia Gradney to go back to weekends with Alan Hemberger. Steve Simon's status of being a permanent weekday anchor is very slim to none. So expect him to leave & join his wife over at KPRC-TV.

I think it's going to be hard for people to pronounced 39's latest calls. I would pronounce it Ky-ah as in Mariah. In Seattle, they pronounce the stations calls as KOMO(COMO), KING, KONG (Hence, Hollywood's famous Ape)& KIRO(Cai-ro). Here in Houston we have stations that are said in one word. Like KIKK, KILT, KODA & now, KAMA. Stay tuned

 

[arnoldevns]

Up here in the DFW area, a few stations rely on their call letters on a regular basis:

WFAA Channel 8 uses their calls in their website address: wfaa.com. All the on-air branding just calls the station Channel 8.

KTXA Channel 21 calls itself TXA-21 and uses TXA in their website address: txa21tv.com

KDFI Channel 27 used to use the full KDFI calls to brand itself a lot. Now they go by "My 27"

KDAF Channel 33 used it's calls for branding purposes during the transition from Fox to WB in 1995. It has started to use them again during it's news and other promotions. The graphic on the screen still says CW33, but the announcers call the station KDAF33.

KFWD Channel 52 uses it's calls quite a bit, but also brands itself as TV52.

 

[jd]

Good points. But note that out of the big four om D/FW, these stations don't use call letters in their own-air branding at all:

FOX-4 //web site myfoxdfw.com
NBC-5 //web site nbc5i.com
CBS-11 //web site cbs11tv.com/

One of these days we'll see Channel 8 abandon their call letters in their branding, too, since with each passing year it adds less to their image. Even the old timers who might remember when the WFAA call letters meant something just don't care. With that said, I view this switch in call letters for a minor player like Channel 39 in Houston as completely meaningless.

 

[CW]

Good points. But note that out of the big four om D/FW, these stations don't use call letters in their own-air branding at all:

FOX-4 //web site myfoxdfw.com
NBC-5 //web site nbc5i.com
CBS-11 //web site cbs11tv.com/

One of these days we'll see Channel 8 abandon their call letters in their branding, too, since with each passing year it adds less to their image. Even the old timers who might remember when the WFAA call letters meant something just don't care. With that said, I view this switch in call letters for a minor player like Channel 39 in Houston as completely meaningless.

With KDAF starting to use CW33 less, and 39 dropping the CW in their call, its starting to look like the days of the CW network are numbered (whew..less confusion! besides, I aint a network! =

 

[adguy]

It has been announced by several unofficial sources that the CW will fold before the fall season begins and programming already produced will be offered to the former CW stations this year only.

As for calls, they are very overrated, but the KIAH is still one of the dumbest ideas IMHO.

 

[TexasTom]

One of these days we'll see Channel 8 abandon their call letters in their branding, too, since with each passing year it adds less to their image. Even the old timers who might remember when the WFAA call letters meant something just don't care.

I don't see it happening -- from what I've seen in multiple markets, Belo generally does not brand their stations by network. Belo's stations in Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Seattle/Tacoma, Portland (OR), Spokane, and Boise/Nampa do not use network/channel branding; most use either their call letters or a call letter/channel number combination.

Frankly, I think that's a smart move on Belo's part. Yeah, they could run "ABC8" in DFW, "CBS11" in Houston, "NBC5" in Seattle/Tacoma, "CBS2" in Portland, etc -- but then they would have generic stations that will pretty much rise and fall with their network affiliations. Look at the situation that XETV/6 in Tijuana/San Diego is now facing -- they lost their Fox affiliation, and with it they've also lost the on-air branding that they've used for the last couple of decades. I wonder how much it will hurt their continuity with viewers when they abruptly change from "Fox6" to "CW6" next month? They will even need to change their website, since that is currently www.fox6.com. Anyone think that Fox will let them continue to use that domain? That's gotta hurt...and it is something that Belo doesn't need to worry about, since channel 8 here would still be "WFAA" no matter what network it was affiliated with (or even if it became an independent).

Aside from that, there is a lot of buzz that the future of local television stations is, well, local. After all, it's the local content like news that can't be pulled down as streaming video from a network website, or downloaded using BitTorrent. And it's that local content that will drive viewers to a station's website. Belo is much better positioned for that future than are the multitude of genericly branded network clones.

 

[dhett]

None of Belo's Arizona stations feature their call letters. They brand KMSB in Tucson as Fox 11, KTTU in Tucson as My 18, and KASW in Phoenix as CW 6 (from its cable position). KTVK in Phoenix is 3TV, and is an indie.

But I agree that stations would do better to establish a brand independent of the network. Doubly so for keeping call letters independent of the network. KHWB became meaningless; KHCW might have also. However, KIAH is worse. It's even awkward when saying the call letters; it doesn't roll off the tongue smoothly.

 

[adguy]

Localizing your branding is wise, but not by the calls unless the calls are uniquely unique. KIAH doesn't even come close to that. If 39 had anyone with any marketing savy or expertise they would brand themselves using something simple to start with like "Houston 39". You can expand and come up with new ideas from that.

I now like KBBQ. Yes it is close to KKBQ radio, but who in Houston doesn't associate themselves with good BBQ. Hey, they will be front and center when the rodeo BBQ cookoff comes around every year for a couple of days. More LOL!!!

 

[compubit]

I'm beginning to wonder if the Tribune stations are going drop their "CW"-emphasis outside of CW programming, particularly news? WGN already does it on the news (of course it's partly due superstation), KTLA use Prime News (vs. CW5 or CWLA), KWGN calls their newscasts 2News. Now with KHCW changing to KIAH and renaming the news 39 News at Nine...

Also, when recently in Denver, KWGN was using a "Circle 2" bug during syndicated programming, rather than a CW2 bug (Opaque white circle with their 2 logo on the right half of the circle (touching the right side).

Hmmm....