Zzz: Legal IDs

[TVradioguru]

That's a good point actually. In every other non-broadcast radio service all that is required is that you ID on occasion with just a call sign. If the commission were in the neighborhood and really wanted to know what the COL to a particular station is, it's a simple matter to cross-reference the call sign with the COL.

My experience is the commission generally doesn't get too worked up about TOH-ID's from a single enforcement perspective. However not complying would be added on if the station were being checked out for other rule violations. Sort of like the seatbelt or talking on the cell phone while driving law.

 

[AQH]

CALL LETTERS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED BY CITY OF LICENSE.

That's not necessarily true. There are other things you can put in the middle between the calls and the city of license. IIRC, things such as the channel number, station owner (as defined on the license), or the exact frequency (not "KUBE 93 FM, Seattle," for example) can be put in between.

There are some very creative legal IDs out there. WKTU, for example, is not licensed for New York City, they're actually licensed for Lake Success, but have always done a great job at burying it. WHTZ, New York's Z-100 is actually licensed for Newark, New Jersey. WHQT in Miami is actually licensed to Coral Gables. You get the idea.

 

[TowerLamp]

CALL LETTERS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED BY CITY OF LICENSE.

That's not necessarily true. There are other things you can put in the middle between the calls and the city of license... things such as the channel number, station owner (as defined on the license)...

Yep, some years ago when KJR was briefly owned by Metro Media (remember them?) The proud new owners changed the legal to match the rest of their properties. The new TOH legal for KJR AM was: "KJR, Metro Media Seattle".

It wasn't long before a listener called on the request line asking "Where is Metromedia, Washington?"