Why do radio stations fave four-letter names, what do they mean, and how are they assigned?

Question

105.7 KPNT? 99.1 HFS? 93.1 WPOC? What do they mean? Where do they come from?

Answer 1

The practice of using a four letter code probably followed the use of the same to identify each and every ship that carried a radio transmitter. The first letter would identify the nationality of the ship (W and K are the "U.S." identifiers for radio and television stations) and the rest would be as random as telephone numbers. All that matters is that no ship has the same 4 letters as any other ship.

There being fewer radio and TV stations than ships or telephones, there were more letters available to share, so people were able to choose them as people choose vanity plates for their vehicles. All that matters is that nobody else has already bagged it, that it carried the correct "country code" and that it is not indecent. Radio frequencies are assigned the same way - first come, first served.

Answer 2

It was too much to find 110.5 on your radio dial, but a 4-letter name was easy. All American stations east of the Mississippi start with W, whereas western stations start with K. The exception is KDKA which is in Pittsburgh.

Answer 3

the letters are short for the radio station name

Answer 4

i live west of the miss. and we have both K's and W's.  some only use 3 letters.  in kansas we have WHB, WIBW, WDAF. San Antonio has WOAI.

Answer 5

something catchy to remember, and they usually stand for something. longer would be harder to remember, shorter wouldn't stand for anything.

Answer 6

I'm not sure if they're assigned or if they are chosen by the station owners,  The town I used to live in has a radio station called WATD.  The call letters stand for "We're At The Dump"  (their transmitter is located at the local landfill).  When we lived in St. Petersburg, Florida, the local radio station was WTSP.  Stood for "Welcome To St. Petersburg".......etc.  Don't know if this helps or not.........

Answer 7

The radio stations that have three-letter call letters, like WSM in Nashville, Tennessee, have probably been around longer. As more and more radio stations came into existence, thee FCC had to allow the newer ones to have more letters.

As to the difference between "W" and "K", the difference there is geographical. Radio stations located east of the Mississippi River have call letters beginning with "W". Radio stations located west of the Mississippi River have call letters beginning with "K".

Answer 8

For the call letters, I know east of the mississippi is W.  West of the mississippi is K.