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STATIONS WITH "TV" IN THEIR CALL LETTERS

Two Florida "honorable mentions" that don't have "TV" in their calls, but their calls stand for "television"

Jacksonville's WTLV, channel 12 (NBC) and WTEV, channel 47 (CBS).
 
WSB uses the "-TV" in its logo but generally identifies
itself simply as Channel 2.

Knoxville used to have WTVK (later WKXT, then WVLT),
with the WTVK call letters being picked up by (I believe)
the Fox affiliate in Ft. Myers/Naples.
 
There was a WATV. You have to go back pretty far to get there - 1948-1957ish - but it was the original call on channel 13 in Newark NJ before it became WNTA-TV and then WNDT/WNET.
 
RadioDaze said:
Two Florida "honorable mentions" that don't have "TV" in their calls, but their calls stand for "television"

Jacksonville's WTLV, channel 12 (NBC) and WTEV, channel 47 (CBS).

WTLV actually stands for "twelve" as in Channel 12.
 
bpatrick said:
WSB uses the "-TV" in its logo but generally identifies
itself simply as Channel 2.

Knoxville used to have WTVK (later WKXT, then WVLT),
with the WTVK call letters being picked up by (I believe)
the Fox affiliate in Ft. Myers/Naples.

CW, not Fox, and they changed to WXCW back in 2006. The Fox affiliate, WFTX, got those calls when it started. It was started by the owners of WFTS Tampa (Family Group), then sold quickly after 15 months to WTHI. (WTHI became the proud owner of a Florida television station. Until Emmis sold off its stations all to separate owners, they continued to be co-owned.)
 
Re: STATIONS WITH "TV" IN THEIR CALL LETTERS (sorry, rather lengthy reply...)

w9wi said:
How about a complete list, from the FCC Engineering Database as of yesterday...


KBTV Port Arthur, Texas
KBTV-CD Sacramento
I have a question, What is the story of these two "KBTV"s? One is for a full powered TV Station in Texas while the other is a low powered TV Station in California. I am assuming that the FCC allows for two TV Stations to carry the same call letters as long as one is an LPTV? Is there other TV Stations with a similar situation as KBTV?
 
Raymie said:
bpatrick said:
WSB uses the "-TV" in its logo but generally identifies
itself simply as Channel 2.

Knoxville used to have WTVK (later WKXT, then WVLT),
with the WTVK call letters being picked up by (I believe)
the Fox affiliate in Ft. Myers/Naples.

CW, not Fox, and they changed to WXCW back in 2006. The Fox affiliate, WFTX, got those calls when it started. It was started by the owners of WFTS Tampa (Family Group), then sold quickly after 15 months to WTHI. (WTHI became the proud owner of a Florida television station. Until Emmis sold off its stations all to separate owners, they continued to be co-owned.)

You mean the CBS station in Terre Haute, IN, WTHI?
 
Re: STATIONS WITH "TV" IN THEIR CALL LETTERS (sorry, rather lengthy reply...)

Madmansam said:
I have a question, What is the story of these two "KBTV"s? One is for a full powered TV Station in Texas while the other is a low powered TV Station in California. I am assuming that the FCC allows for two TV Stations to carry the same call letters as long as one is an LPTV? Is there other TV Stations with a similar situation as KBTV?

The -TV or -CD suffix is part of the callsign, so KBTV-TV and KBTV-CD are two different calls.

There are other examples. You'll find at least one on that list I posted -- KTVW-DT Phoenix & KTVW-CD Flagstaff. It's also possible to have a -CD and -LD with the same basic calls, and to have a FM and a -LP FM with the same basic calls.

BTW there's an error in that list I posted, in that the KTVH calls are no longer in Hutchinson, Kansas. (the station is now KWCH-DT) KTVH is now in Helena, Montana.
 
Re: STATIONS WITH "TV" IN THEIR CALL LETTERS (sorry, rather lengthy reply...)

Madmansam said:
w9wi said:
How about a complete list, from the FCC Engineering Database as of yesterday...


KBTV Port Arthur, Texas
KBTV-CD Sacramento
I have a question, What is the story of these two "KBTV"s? One is for a full powered TV Station in Texas while the other is a low powered TV Station in California. I am assuming that the FCC allows for two TV Stations to carry the same call letters as long as one is an LPTV? Is there other TV Stations with a similar situation as KBTV?

As long as they are not the same class of station, they can have the same base call letters. Daystar operated both KDTP-CA 48 and KDTP-LP 58 in Phoenix, the former a Daystar station and the latter a JTV station. However, when Daystar decided they didn't want a Class A station anymore, KDTP-CA first became K48LK, then KDPH-LP. KDTP-LP has a CP for a companion digital station, KDTP-LD, and when KDPH-LP first applied for a digital companion, it was still KDTP-CA, which the FCC put on the new companion station. So now the FCC database shows two stations with calls KDTP-LD.

Other examples I'm aware of:
[list type=square]
[*]WPXJ-TV 51.x (23) Batavia NY and WPXJ-LP 41 Jacksonville FL. Both are owned by ION Media.
[*]KCOS 13 El Paso TX, a PBS member station, and KCOS-LP 28 Phoenix, a former Fe-TV and LFN station owned by Carlos Ortiz, Sr., now a longtime silent station owned by Ortiz' widow, Aracelis Ortiz.
[/list]

Note: the FCC's call sign reservation system will not allow duplicate base calls, so there must be an alternate way to do that. Doesn't the original owner of the calls need to give their blessing first?
 
The reason Daystar dropped its Class A license is that you can't have a station run off the DirecTV Daystar feed and fulfill your local program requirements. (One time in analog, their signal went out and you could see a DirecTV logo!)
 
Re: STATIONS WITH "TV" IN THEIR CALL LETTERS (sorry, rather lengthy reply...)

w9wi said:
Madmansam said:
I have a question, What is the story of these two "KBTV"s? One is for a full powered TV Station in Texas while the other is a low powered TV Station in California. I am assuming that the FCC allows for two TV Stations to carry the same call letters as long as one is an LPTV? Is there other TV Stations with a similar situation as KBTV?

The -TV or -CD suffix is part of the callsign, so KBTV-TV and KBTV-CD are two different calls.

There are other examples. You'll find at least one on that list I posted -- KTVW-DT Phoenix & KTVW-CD Flagstaff. It's also possible to have a -CD and -LD with the same basic calls, and to have a FM and a -LP FM with the same basic calls.

BTW there's an error in that list I posted, in that the KTVH calls are no longer in Hutchinson, Kansas. (the station is now KWCH-DT) KTVH is now in Helena, Montana.
OK, I know what the initials of "TV", "LP" & "DT" stand for but what does "CA" & "CD" stand for as part of a TV station calls?
 
-CA = Class A TV. Technical parameters are the same as -LP, but there are additional non-technical requirements. Essentially, the station must comply with all full-power TV rules, except those for which compliance is impossible due to the low power. In return, the -CA station cannot be bumped from its channel by a new full-power station. (-LP stations can be bumped)

-CD = Same as above, but digital.

There is also a -LD, which is the digital equivalent of a -LP.
 
Madmansam said:
I know of four in California. KXTV-10 & KSTV-LP 32 in Sacramento, KDTV-14 in San Francisco & KFTV-21 in Fresno. I am sure there are more.
Add the following.....

KGTV 10 (ABC) San Diego, CA
KCTV 5 (CBS) Kansas City
KBTV 3 (CBS) Bryan (??), TX (How can I forget this one? KUSA 9 used to have this call)
WPTV 5 West Palm Beach, FL (NBC)

Some of these may have already been listed by others though......

Cheers :D
 
Pat Cook said:
Madmansam said:
I know of four in California. KXTV-10 & KSTV-LP 32 in Sacramento, KDTV-14 in San Francisco & KFTV-21 in Fresno. I am sure there are more.
Add the following.....

KGTV 10 (ABC) San Diego, CA
KCTV 5 (CBS) Kansas City
KBTV 3 (CBS) Bryan (??), TX (How can I forget this one? KUSA 9 used to have this call)
WPTV 5 West Palm Beach, FL (NBC)

Some of these may have already been listed by others though......

Cheers :D

Channel 3 in Bryan, TX is KBTX, not KBTV. KBTV is Channel 4 in Port Arthur(Beaumont), TX.
 
RyanHoward said:
Pat Cook said:
Madmansam said:
I know of four in California. KXTV-10 & KSTV-LP 32 in Sacramento, KDTV-14 in San Francisco & KFTV-21 in Fresno. I am sure there are more.
Add the following.....

KGTV 10 (ABC) San Diego, CA
KCTV 5 (CBS) Kansas City
KBTV 3 (CBS) Bryan (??), TX (How can I forget this one? KUSA 9 used to have this call)
WPTV 5 West Palm Beach, FL (NBC)

Some of these may have already been listed by others though......

Cheers :D

Channel 3 in Bryan, TX is KBTX, not KBTV. KBTV is Channel 4 in Port Arthur(Beaumont), TX.
Well at least I was close ;D

Cheers :D
 
Pat Cook said:
Madmansam said:
I know of four in California. KXTV-10 & KSTV-LP 32 in Sacramento, KDTV-14 in San Francisco & KFTV-21 in Fresno. I am sure there are more.
Add the following.....

KGTV 10 (ABC) San Diego, CA
KCTV 5 (CBS) Kansas City
KBTV 3 (CBS) Bryan (??), TX (How can I forget this one? KUSA 9 used to have this call)
WPTV 5 West Palm Beach, FL (NBC)

Some of these may have already been listed by others though......

Cheers :D

In CA besides KGTV 10 theres also KNTV 11 (NBC) San Jose/ San Francisco/Oakland
 
Has there ever, in history, been a TV station with the call letters WTVV? I don't think there has!

cd
 
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