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Unusual station names or slogans

js6592 said:
This isn't exactly unusual, I guess, but maybe unique. Back when I was a kid, in the 1970's, the local 100,000 watt powerhouse that we listened to out of Farmington, Missouri branded itself as KTJJ 98+. (Its frequency is 98.5) The only reason I am posting this is because, in all of the years I've listened to the radio, I have never heard any other station, anywhere in the country or the world, branding itself this way. I've heard J'98 (KTJJ's current logo), K'102, Z'97, or simply 101.9 WSQC or 92.5 KPDJ (all examples, not actual station logos or call letters), but never "plus." Would that mean other stations may have used - instead? (j/k)
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The old KSLE 105.5 in Seminole, OK called itself "K105+" when it signed on. It was an adult CHR that switched to country after about a year. The branding survived the switch to country, but, about a year later, it became KIRC "Real Country" and moved to 105.9. The K105+ branding went away with the change to KIRC, which it remains today.
 
Kent said:
The old KSLE 105.5 in Seminole, OK called itself "K105+" when it signed on. It was an adult CHR that switched to country after about a year. The branding survived the switch to country, but, about a year later, it became KIRC "Real Country" and moved to 105.9. The K105+ branding went away with the change to KIRC, which it remains today.
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Quite a few of those stations that were on a ".5" frequency far removed from a whole number -- which was how most stations branded themselves in the slide-rule-dial days -- went with "1/2" instead. 94.5 WCOZ Boston, for instance, was "Rock 94 1/2," but 93.7 WCGY Lawrence/Boston used only "94" in its branding.
 
gr8oldies said:
I worked at the former WNON, 100.9, Lebanon, IN. Yes, it stood for LebaNON, but it was easy enough to think "NON Radio". Up the road, another employer of mine was WSHW, Frankfort, "Shine 99":. It sort of worked but didn't.

I've never heard 95 Will Rock in Illinois. It makes me think "you keep saying you will rock. When is that going to happen?"
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Wilmington NC had Variety Hits on Will FM. From 2006 to 2008 it was on 98.7, which was really a Jacksonville station, and for a year it was on 104.5.
 
There was another "Plus" in the mid-70s up near me here in Rochester. WADD 1560 in Brockport called itself "The Big Plus," because, you know, "ADD" and all that.

It was a terrible facility - in the winter, it got hammered by WQXR from New York until a few hours after sunrise and starting a few hours before sunset, which left maybe two or three clear hours in December. The wags who worked there called it "The Big Minus" or "The Big Wad."
 
CTListener said:
Quite a few of those stations that were on a ".5" frequency far removed from a whole number -- which was how most stations branded themselves in the slide-rule-dial days -- went with "1/2" instead. 94.5 WCOZ Boston, for instance, was "Rock 94 1/2," but 93.7 WCGY Lawrence/Boston used only "94" in its branding.
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WWWI in the Greensboro NC market, which played country in 1984, was at 94.5 but called itself I-95. Which made no sense because any potential listeners along I-95 would have only been able to pick up WQDR at 94.7. Before it ended up changing to easy listening in 1986, the logo changed to I-94.5.

On a related note, WRHM (107.1) and WVSZ (107.3) in Rock Hill, SC outside Charlotte use an interstate sign as their logo and call themselves Interstate 107.
 
vchimpanzee said:
WWWI in the Greensboro NC market, which played country in 1984, was at 94.5 but called itself I-95. Which made no sense because any potential listeners along I-95 would have only been able to pick up WQDR at 94.7. Before it ended up changing to easy listening in 1986, the logo changed to I-94.5.

On a related note, WRHM (107.1) and WVSZ (107.3) in Rock Hill, SC outside Charlotte use an interstate sign as their logo and call themselves Interstate 107.
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"I-95" in Connecticut is WRKI 95.1 in Brookfield, which is a bit north of the interstate its branding salutes, but it still covers a heavily traveled stretch of the road with its classic rock format.

In Hartford, WTIC-FM 96.5 was branded 96TIC-FM for many years, but added a ".5" around the turn of the millennium.
 
gr8oldies said:
I worked at the former WNON, 100.9, Lebanon, IN. Yes, it stood for LebaNON, but it was easy enough to think "NON Radio". Up the road, another employer of mine was WSHW, Frankfort, "Shine 99":. It sort of worked but didn't.

I've never heard 95 Will Rock in Illinois. It makes me think "you keep saying you will rock. When is that going to happen?"
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You have to go up towards the IL/WI state line to hear "Will Rock". It's mostly stuff that used to rock, from the 2000s on back like "The Loop", but with half the coverage area.
 
I scanned quickly, but apologies if this was posted already.

It's now Christian KTDD-FM, but for a good 11 years, it was (then) Clear Channel's Active Rock station Funky Monkey 104.9 KFNK outside of Seattle.

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I recall a rock station that's no longer with us, who's studios were located in a small community called "Rock Hill". They used that to great effect, when they had a top of the hour sounder that started with a with a deep, booming voiced announcer proclaiming "We're LIVE, from the top of ROCK HILL..."
 
I think there was (is?) a station somewhere in Texas called "The Box."

WPRX 1120 AM a Spanish language music station in New Britain, Connecticut (licensed to Bristol) was once known as “La Puertorriqueñisima.” Today they have the same owner and format, but they changed their name to "Dinámica 1120 Pura Adrenalina."

When WXCT (now WNTY) 990AM in Southington, Connecticut was LMA'd to Anda Productions in 2004 they had a Spanish AC format and went by the name "SuperMax 990."

The now defunct WALE 990 in Greenville, Rhode Island was also doing a Spanish Language Music format as "SuperMax 990."

In the 90s El Principe Communications began leasing weekends on WMMW (now WBOM) 1470 in Meriden, CT they were using the name "La Brava 1470" for their Spanish language music format. Eventually they bought WMMW outright. Then they ran it into the ground. In 1999 El Principe began LMAing WNTY 990 and again used the "La Brava" name. That ended in a nasty court battle in 2000 that ended with El Principe being evicted for non-payment of the LMA.

For 5 years WXCT 990 was doing brokered Spanish Religion mainly from "Radio Cantico Nuevo", but for a brief period during that time they were doing Spanish Religion as "Radio Esperanza." - That name was actually cool to me because Esperanza is the name of a girl I went to high school with.

AM 1060 in the Boston Market was once had Contemporary Christian Music format as "J-Light 1060 WJLT." I think later the format moved to their much smaller sister station in Ashland, Mass AM 650.

There was a short lived station before their licensed got revoked because of identity theft in New Britain, Connecticut called "Radio Zima". They were 103.5 WZMA-LP. They were a Spanish language music station.
 
Yes, The Box is in Houston. The station has been around a good 25 plus years and does well in the market with an Urban format.
 
KPLZ Seattle (101.5) literally called itself K-Plus for some years. Sometimes they used the term 101 Plus. The letters remain, but for some decades it has been "Star 101.5"
 
MarcB said:
Until 2014 when it and their FM Classic Rock sister station were sold to K-LOVE, WCCC AM 1290 in West Hartford, Connecticut was doing Classical Music as Beethoven 1290 and Beethoven dot com. Seems unusual to have a radio station branded after a performer or artist outsider of stunting. This station was on the air around 15 years. K-Love donated the station and it's now WNWW with a Religious Preaching and Teaching formnat as "Faith 94.1" (using the frequency of their FM translator).

WNTY 990 AM in Southington, Connecticut was called "Notty 99" pronounced as "Naughty 99"
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You probably won't be able to answer (I probably couldn't) but I'll ask anyway - why was the brand pronounced "Naughty" but spelled "Notty"? Is it a Nutmegger thing?

ixnay
 
Possibly it is more 'accent' oriented. I recall moving to Kansas City from Richmond, VA. The school officials noticed for words like house, I tended to pronounce the o as more of a long o. In Kansas City it was 'ow' as in ouch. They thought I had a speech problem and needed therapy before my mom had a little talk with them (and she wasn't delighted about what they thought).
 
In Macon, MO, there is KIRK 99.9FM, a "Classic Hits" station, which calls itself "The Captain". They use taglines like "Beam me up Scotty, I gotta listen to 99.9 the Captain" & "99 is the Captain of the team". They also, at one point when the station carried a "Soft AC" format, called themselves "Energy 99".
Wikipedia article about KIRK-FM.
Also, KMZU 100.7FM in Carrollton, MO, calls itself "The Farm" & KRLI 103.9FM in Malta Bend, MO, calls itself "Curly Country 103.9".
 
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In the late '80's, WFYR in Chicago branded itself "103.5 Fire." (At present, the calls are assigned to Cumulus's "97.3 River Country" in Elmwood, Illinois.)
 
In the late 2000's when 92.9FM in Springfield, MO was KOMG & playing "Classic Country", they called themselves "92.9 Bass Country".
 
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