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Why do all radio station call numbers start with either "K" or "W"?

I'm in a debate with a friend about this, and after some googling and wiki-ing, we have decided to put it up to Questionland. Why those specific letters? Did they stand for something at one point? Are the local TV stations KOMO, KIRO, etc. related to the fact that radio stations around here start with "K"?

airinem asked in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report

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  • Ozomahtli_small
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    Every country has it's own internationally recognized set of letters it uses to identify radio stations, and the United States uses K and W. K is used west of the Mississippi River, and W is used east.

    Letters were first assigned in 1912 as a way to identify the sources of broadcasts. This became an obvious necessity after the use of radio exploded in the early 1900's.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_sign#International_series

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_sign#North_America

    Mahtli69 answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report
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  • Spaceship_small
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    Mahtli69 is exactly right.
    The use of these prefix letters is assigned by the FCC, Federal Communications Commission, and is split across the country at the Mississippi River.

    However, the designation of W or K was somewhat arbitrary, although it does make the opportunity to spell out amusing words or images. Many stations have capitalized on this.

    In fact some local residents come up with their own explanation for a particular string of letters. For example...WOAP was "Women's Old Army Pants" or WTAW TV was "Worst TV Any Where."

    But these days, radio stations rely as much on a branding expression... "Power 102", "The Wave", "The River", "Bob FM" (no kidding) to identify their image to listeners, but at the top of the hour, you'll hear their legal ID, including call letters and city of license. It may be burried inside some other phrase or message, but it will be there.

    O my captain answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report
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