Quick question to you Americans...

Reading and watching a bunch of novels and movies it came to my attention that the name of nearly every (west coast?) radio station begins with a K, like, whatever, KABC. Can anyone explain to an old European what that means, or where it has its origins?

 

I believe most (if not all) radio and TV stations west of the Mississippi start with a "K" and those East start with a "W."


But then I'm a product of the American public schools system so that might not be right.

 

Easier license recognition for items regulated by the US Government.

broadcasting begins with K or W; aircraft begin with N

everything after those letters is the unique license ID.

 

From Wikipedia:

In the United States, the first letter generally is K for stations west of the Mississippi River and W for those east of the Mississippi. There are a number of exceptions, such as KDKA in Pittsburgh and WFAA in Dallas, but these are historical artifacts from a rule change in the 1930s, and most of the exceptions are located in the states immediately to either side of the river. The westernmost station in the continental United States beginning with W is WOAI in San Antonio. WVUV in Pago Pago, American Samoa, is the westernmost station with a W call-sign. KYW in Philadelphia is the easternmost station with a K call sign.

 

Now that was quick! I tried Wiki before, but didn't really know what to look for. Thanks, mates!

 

Cool fact! I never knew this.

 

Any answer as to WHY those specific letters were chosen?

 

http://www.oldradio.com/current/bc_k&w.htm

"Before 1912, a station could pick and use wha ever call sign it desired. Some calls were (largely due to the original usage of telegraphic code) one or two letters. For instance, DeForest's station in New York was called "NY." Others used various combinations of letters and numbers. The letters "W" and "K" were randomly assigned to the USA (along with "N") by the predecessor of the International Telecommunications Union. [NOTE: KAA-KCZ was originally allocated to Germany, and not used in the U.S. until 1929.] The first call signs were three letters issued in random, sequential order, with no meanings attached, although there seem to be a few that are more than simple coincidence. By 1922, four letters were needed to keep up with the demand for new stations..... "

 

Why are there so few station with three letters, like KGO in San Francisco Vs. more common four letter station names?

 

Maybe the older ones got 2 ID letters, but when the number of stations grew bigger, they had to add a letter/letters to be able to assign a code to everyone?