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Meanings behind Mississippi call letters

T

the golden boy

One thing I like about radio are the call letters, especially if there is a meaning behind it. Some calls are obvious, like those named for the communities they serve (like WCLD-FM/AM Cleveland, WBKN Brookhaven, WNLA FM/AM Indianola, etc.). Some are named to spell out (or come close) their moniker, like WWJK Jackson (Jack FM) or WMJY Biloxi (Magic 93.7). A few I can think of:

WZNF Lumberton (Z Ninety Five; predecessor was WLNF, which stood for Live Ninety Five)
WJKK Vicksburg (Jackson's Kapitol Kountry, though it's now Mix 98.7)
WRBJ Brandon (Roberts Broadcasting Jackson; former calls WRJH was We Raise Jesus Higher)
WYOY Gluckstadt (according to WYOY Wikipedia entry, it's a play on 101)
WTWZ Jackson (Terry Wood is the owner, so I would assume that the T is for Terry and W for Wood?)

Does anyone know the original meaning behind WMGO Canton? When they were on FM (before becoming WYAB and when it was at 93.1), it stood for We Mean Great Oldies.
 
With respect to WRJH - June Harris herself said that the calls originally stood for "Roy and June Harris," but took on the "Raising Jesus Higher" some years later.

Not sure about the original WMGO, but WYAB doesn't stand for anything at all. Our original calls were going to be WYAZ (Yazoo City), which was available at the time, and the station was to be called 'Z93'. I received a nice letter from the Z106 folks before moving to Mississippi, however, and we opted to go with 'B93', changing to 'WYAB' instead. The domain name www.wyab.com was also available at the time, so it worked out well. As a side note, had we moved to 103.9 and to Jackson earlier that we had, the calls would have been changed to WJKB, for Jackson's 'B103 point 9', but since www.wjkb.com wasn't available at that time, we left it at WYAB.

--- Casual Observer
 
WMGO stood for Watch Mississippi Go. I ain't sure where it was gonna go, but it needed to go somewhere. This 1370 station was originally WDOB as I recall.
 
I had a partner when we applied for a frequency in Fayette, Ms. in the late 70's...it in now WTYJ...have any idea what it stands for...trivia question of the month...JBI
 
WSLI-Standard Life Insurance
WCOC-Meridian-Crystal Oil?
WRBC-Rebel Broadcasting
WZRX-Z-Rock (when it was a rock station)
WJNT-Jackson's News Talk
WKKE (WJNT) Kicker Country 1190 (Later 1180) Also "Key 1180" when it was christian.
WJMI (Jackson Mississippi?)
WJFR 96.3 Jackson-Jackson Family Radio
WJXN-"Jackson"
WJYV 850 forest (remember that one?) "Jive"
WJSU-self explanitory
WMPR-Mississippi Public Radio
WJDX-Jackson DX ??
WPRL 1190 "Pearl"
WEPA-"Eupora"
WQBC-We Quote Better Cotton
Speaking which. I've notice that the last few times I've been through Vicksburg WQBC has been off the air. Is it gone forever? If it is, its a shame because I believe its the oldest station in Mississippi that still has its original call letters.
 
From Greenville:

WJPR... John Pepper Radio. John Pepper put the station on the air, and a few years later he and first WJPR GM Bert Ferguson moved to Memphis and started the legendary WDIA. Later, he teamed with William Tanner, and Pepper-Tanner made a killing bartering jingles for air time.

WDDT... Delta Democrat Times.

WBAD... It goes without saying. Was there ever a greater set of calls for an R&B station? As they proclaimed back in the 70's, "We're the men with the music, not the boys with the noise." (At that time, I was one of the boys with the noise.)

WBAQ... Mr. Artman told me it stood for Broadcast Audio Quality, but y'know, I'm fairly gullible.

WESY... As attested by Mr. JBI, this long-time soul legend began its life as and easy-listening station.

One from late 70's Jackson... 1590 sold its birthright for a bowl of pottage by ditching WWUN for WYIG. The latter letters were selected based on their physical resemblance to "Y16". Ugh.
 
When we flipped WLYN to WOHT we would get hate calls...one that hit me was an old lady that told me I was going to hell because I was playing "N word" music and couldnt spell HOT!!!
 
OK... from my neck of the woods:

WBIL/Biloxi: It should be obvious.

WLOX/Biloxi: See above.

WBSL/Bay St. Louis: Again.

WOSM/Ocean Springs: See a trend here?

WPMP/Pascagoula-Moss Point. Hmmm.

WPMO: Added the "O" for Ocean Springs upon upgrade. Now, WKNN - K Ninety-Nine.

WRPM/Poplarville: Care to take a guess?

WIGG/Wiggins: I'm thinkin'... Wiggins?*

WROA/Gulfport: Those calls have to mean something. Just not sure what. I'll ask a buddy I know who worked there in the day.

WGUD/Pascagoula: "Good Radio." Bleh.

-DE

*BTW: When did WIGG go dark. I drove through Wiggins yesterday and it was dark. That's a real shame -- as quaint as it was, it was true local radio.
 
DeadElvis said:
*BTW: When did WIGG go dark. I drove through Wiggins yesterday and it was dark. That's a real shame -- as quaint as it was, it was true local radio.
Click to expand...

A.R. Byrd is in bad health, from what I have heard. They filed to take the station dark just recently. Hopefully it will come back.

RFB
 
Byrd is indeed a BIRD! Enjoyed working on his station in the 70's Nice guy...Can't remember his wife's name....
 
> oops thats right DeadElvis...mind gets fuzzy after so many years

I remember, largely because I was working across town at the time. It was fun watching the boys from Baton Rouge claim they were not changing formats while they were building a stand-up board at a beautiful music station.

DE
 
DeadElvis said:
> oops thats right DeadElvis...mind gets fuzzy after so many years

I remember, largely because I was working across town at the time. It was fun watching the boys from Baton Rouge claim they were not changing formats while they were building a stand-up board at a beautiful music station.

DE
Click to expand...

I was working at WMSI / WJDX when they made the switch to WOHT during the big ice storm in '89. When they finally got power back at the transmitter site, you could hear them at several spots on the FM dial from the antenna being coated with 2-3 inches of ice.

RFB
 
Deadelvis asked about the significance of WROA. My recollection: Riviera of America. Here's one that will test you: the meaning of WHNY, 1250 in McComb. Answer tomorrow. While you're at it, try WCCA in McComb for a bonus.
 
Also on the Coast, WQRZ, an LPFM in Bay St. Louis is run by a ham. Everyone with a license would know what those calls imply.

WVMI/Biloxi? Again, I can guess what those storied calls meant. But I have no personal knowledge.

While we're talking Jackson, let us not forget the classic WRBC. That was Rebel Broadcasting Company, correct? Also in Central Mississippi, I *should* know what WSJC meant. I don't.

- DE
 
I missed the first day on the air at Hot 95 because I was sick! We made the switch and people thought the ice storm was behind it. We and Miss 103 ( i think) were the only stations on the air!
 
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