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Stations that give up "heritage" call letters

Just curious, how much was the most you -- or anyone you know -- ever paid for a radio station domain name?


I won't pay extra for a domain. I suspect CBS paid a boatload for radio.com. At one point, I saw the asking price was over $10K. That's crazy.

Some of the new suffixes cost extra too.
 
I won't pay extra for a domain. I suspect CBS paid a boatload for radio.com. At one point, I saw the asking price was over $10K. That's crazy.

Some of the new suffixes cost extra too.

Naming rights to the downtown Phoenix baseball stadium and the ASU sports facilities were a hell of a lot more than that. The irony is most people still call the ballpark BOB (which at one time meant Bank One Ballpark).
 
>>>CBS is holding the KFRC calls, Are they going to use it for classic hit format anymore?<<<

The trouble is, the KCBS-FM call letters are already in use in Los Angeles. I'm sure CBS might want to put the KCBS-FM call letters in place of KFRC in San Francisco, to go with KCBS-AM, but since those calls are in use 350 miles to the south, CBS simply kept the old call sign for the FM All-News simulcast.

Same in Chicago. CBS has an All-News duo with WBBM as the historic AM call letters. But they can't make the FM station WBBM-FM, since those calls are already on CBS's Top 40 station in the same market. So CBS has kept the old call sign, WCFS (which stands for Chicago's "Fresh," a handle CBS uses on some of its AC stations). The AC format is long gone, but the call letters remain. Just as in San Francisco, the Oldies/Classic Hits format is gone but the KFRC call letters remain. Both All-News operations are identified by the AM's heritage call letters.

When buying a station or changing formats on an existing station, some owners immediately pay the $200, or whatever it is these days, for a call sign change. Some keep the old call letters, figuring they can live with them, or only using them for the legal I.D. How many formerly Easy Listening stations still have "EZ" in their call signs? I have to laugh when I see a Hard Rock station, like KEZO Omaha, keeping the old call letters refering to EaZy Omaha. Or how about Classic Rock WHJY Providence, which was once an Easy Listening station calling itself "Joy." There's nothing easy or joyful about those stations today. But I'm sure hardly anyone remembers what the call letters once stood for.
 
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The trouble is, the KCBS-FM call letters are already in use in Los Angeles. I'm sure CBS might want to put the KCBS-FM call letters in place of KFRC in San Francisco, to go with KCBS-AM, but since those calls are in use 350 miles to the south, CBS simply kept the old call sign for the FM All-News simulcast.

The fact that CBS did not even try to get a close match, like KCBF or KEBS shows that call letters are really a minor concern in such situations.

A key point in San Francisco is that the KFRC calls don't even appear in Nielsen as the AM and FM are combined under "KCBS".
 
The trouble is, the KCBS-FM call letters are already in use in Los Angeles. I'm sure CBS might want to put the KCBS-FM call letters in place of KFRC in San Francisco, to go with KCBS-AM, but since those calls are in use 350 miles to the south, CBS simply kept the old call sign for the FM All-News simulcast.

Proof that CBS does not care one whit about what the call letters are on the FM simulcast: The KCBS-FM calls are relegated in L.A. to the hourly legal I.D., as the station identifies as "Jack". If they thought they needed the calls in S.F., it would be little more than the filing fee to change them.

The fact is ... they don't, and as long as they don't none of us should be debating this. Let's move on, please.
 
>>>CBS is holding the KFRC calls, Are they going to use it for classic hit format anymore?<<<

The trouble is, the KCBS-FM call letters are already in use in Los Angeles. I'm sure CBS might want to put the KCBS-FM call letters in place of KFRC in San Francisco, to go with KCBS-AM, but since those calls are in use 350 miles to the south, CBS simply kept the old call sign for the FM All-News simulcast.

Same in Chicago. CBS has an All-News duo with WBBM as the historic AM call letters. But they can't make the FM station WBBM-FM, since those calls are already on CBS's Top 40 station in the same market. So CBS has kept the old call sign, WCFS (which stands for Chicago's "Fresh," a handle CBS uses on some of its AC stations). The AC format is long gone, but the call letters remain. Just as in San Francisco, the Oldies/Classic Hits format is gone but the KFRC call letters remain. Both All-News operations are identified by the AM's heritage call letters.

When buying a station or changing formats on an existing station, some owners immediately pay the $200, or whatever it is these days, for a call sign change. Some keep the old call letters, figuring they can live with them, or only using them for the legal I.D. How many formerly Easy Listening stations still have "EZ" in their call signs? I have to laugh when I see a Hard Rock station, like KEZO Omaha, keeping the old call letters refering to EaZy Omaha. Or how about Classic Rock WHJY Providence, which was once an Easy Listening station calling itself "Joy." There's nothing easy or joyful about those stations today. But I'm sure hardly anyone remembers what the call letters once stood for.

WODS Boston was flipped by CBS from oldies/classic hits to CHR a few years ago but the old call is still there, suggesting OlDieS to anyone who sees or hears it. Of course, hardly anyone does, as it is buried in the "Amp" top-of-hour ID and never used in print or billboard advertising.
 
I don't get it, If Calls are not a thing with CBS

Why don't they just put KCBS-FM on 106.9 & put new calls on 93.1

Someone in the Bay Area might end up taking it
 
I don't get it, If Calls are not a thing with CBS

Why don't they just put KCBS-FM on 106.9 & put new calls on 93.1

Someone in the Bay Area might end up taking it

Probably they leave the KCBS-FM calls in LA because time buyers recognize them as an established station with traditionally upper tier ratings. Changing calls would confuse buyers who would not recognize the new ones; buyers only see calls, not name, slogan or dial position on rankers used for making buys.
 
I don't get it, If Calls are not a thing with CBS

Why don't they just put KCBS-FM on 106.9 & put new calls on 93.1

Someone in the Bay Area might end up taking it

To quote Bill Murray's character in the movie "Meatballs" ...

It just doesn't matter.
It just doesn't matter.
It just doesn't matter.
It just doesn't matter.

It just doesn't matter.
It just doesn't matter.

It just doesn't matter!
It just doesn't matter!

IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER!
 
There's nothing easy or joyful about those stations today.
But I'm sure hardly anyone remembers what the call letters once stood for.
I remember how there were, and maybe still are, two users-types of the "Joy" brand:
One being soft AC and the other, CC.
 
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