TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns

'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns

Anthony Bellanga <anthonybellanga@withheld> wrote:

> Louisiana and Minnesota both "straddle" the Mississippi River.

In my experience (mostly in cable TV), the Mississippi-River rule can be
more accurately stated as follows:

"K" = west of the Mississippi River plus the entire state of
Minnesota.

"W" = east of the Mississippi River plus Louisiana parishes
located in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans DMAs.

But even with this version of the rule there are numerous exceptions,
especially in the case of low-power television stations (LPTV, Class
A, translators, and boosters). Here's my list of television-station
exceptions:

- "K" callsigns in the "W" half:
K07WE Baton Rouge LA
K10NG New Orleans LA
K14IE New Orleans LA
K55EX New Orleans LA
K58GB Baton Rouge LA
K59DG New Orleans LA
K65FP Baton Rouge LA
KDKA-TV KDKA-DT Pittsburgh PA
KFOL-CA Houma LA
KWBJ-LP Morgan City LA
KYW-TV KYW-DT Philadelphia PA
KZUP-CA Baton Rouge LA

- "W" callsigns in the "K" half:
W61AF Grand Marais MN
W62DB Minneapolis MN
WBWX-CA Minneapolis MN
WCCO-TV WCCO-DT Minneapolis MN
WCMN-LP Saint Cloud MN
WDAF-TV WDAF-DT Kansas City MO
WDAY-TV WDAY-DT Fargo ND
WDAZ-TV WDAZ-DT Devils Lake ND
WDIO-TV WDIO-DT Duluth MN
WDSE WDSE-DT Duluth MN
WFAA-TV WFAA-DT Dallas TX
WFTC WFTC-DT Minneapolis MN
WIBW-TV WIBW-DT Topeka KS
WHO-TV WHO-DT Des Moines IA
WIRT WIRT-DT Hibbing MN
WOAI-TV WOAI-DT San Antonio TX
WOI-TV WOI-DT Des Moines IA
WOWT WOWT-DT Omaha NE

Source: TvRadioWorld <http://www.tvradioworld.com/region1/>.

There are even more exceptions in the case of radio. Robert Bonomi
mentioned several of them in TD V23:500, but there are many others
(far too many for me to attempt to list here). For anyone really
interested, the place to start is:
<http://www.tvradioworld.com/region1/usa/usastates.asp>.

Bonomi's list included:

> WOI (AM, FM, and TV ... ), Ames, Iowa

WOI(AM) and WOI-FM are licensed to Iowa State University. WOI-TV is a
commercial station (ABC affiliate) serving the Des Moines/Ames/
Marshalltown DMA; it's still licensed to Ames, but it claims "Des
Moines" in its publicity. ISU does not operate a TV station (most
public television stations in Iowa are operated by Iowa Public
Television, a state agency independent of the state universities).

> WWL Waterloo, Iowa. Intrestingly, KWWL is in the same town.

WWL(AM) and WWL-TV are now located in New Orleans, LA.

> WSUI Iowa City, Iowa Also the home of KSUI. *SAME* owner,
> even. :)

WSUI(AM) and KSUI(FM) are licensed to the University of Iowa
(formerly, State University of Iowa; hence, "SUI"). UI does not
operate a TV station (same reason ISU doesn't).

> WOW Omaha, Nebraska

AM only; sister TV is WOWT.

> WMT Cedar Rapids, Iowa

WMT(AM) and WMT-FM only; sister TV is KGAN(TV), formerly WMT-TV.

> WOC Davenport, Iowa

AM only; sister FM is WLLR(FM); sister TV is KWQC(TV).

> WRR Dallas, Texas

FM only (PAT: classical music, streamed online!)

> WBAP Ft. Worth, Texas

AM only.

> WCAL Northfield, Minnesota

FM only. Sold to Minnesota Public Radio on 8-10-04; formerly owned by St.
Olaf College.

> WJOD Asbury, Iowa

FM only (Dubuque market).

> WJON St. Cloud, Minnesota

AM only; sister FM is WWJO(FM).

> WNAX Yankton, South Dakota

AM only.

> WOWT Omaha, Nebraska

TV only; sister AM is WOW.

> WTAW College Station, Texas

AM only.

> WWLS Moore, Oklahoma

WWLS(AM) and WWLS-FM only.

> WWJO St. Cloud, Minnesota

FM only; sister AM is WJON.

> WYRQ Little Falls, Minnesota

AM only.

> and, some hair-splitting (Metro area crosses the river,
> transmitter_could_ be on the Illinois side of the Missippi):

> WIL St. Louis, Missouri

FM only. Transmitter is located in Missouri.

> WRTH St. Louis, Missouri

The FCC has no record of this callsign.

> WLTE Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota

FM only. Transmitter is located in Minnesota, on the east side of the
Mississippi River. That's still on the "K" side of the line according to
the version of the rule I stated above.

> WMCN St. Paul, Minnesota

FM only. Transmitter is located in Minnesota, on the east side of the
Mississippi River.

> WBJI Blackduck, Minnesota

FM only. Blackduck is in Beltrami County (page 72-B2 in DeLorme).

> WIRN Buhl, Minnesota

FM only; Minnesota Public Radio affiliate. Buhl is in St. Louis County,
near Hibbing (page 75-D6 in DeLorme).

> WACO Waco, Texas.

FM only.

R. T. Wurth <rwurth@att.net> wrote:

> There were some W-s, WEW and WIL, licensed to serve St. Louis,
> west of the Mississippi, and thus signing as WEW, St. Louis, and
> WIL, St. Louis (technically broadcast radio/tv call signs had to
> include the community of license as well as the call letters).
> These would appear to be breaking the Mississippi rule. I can
> think of a few possible reasons that might make them technically
> non-exceptions. It is possible that they transmitted from
> across the river in Illinois, and that the rule referred to
> transmitter site, not to community of licensure, or it may have
> been that they were originally licensed to E. St. Louis, IL, and
> then petitioned to move their license to St. Louis. Does anyone
> know the real explanation? Were these stations exceptions, too,
> or were they special cases?

They're both exceptions. Callsigns are attached to the community of
license without regard to the location of the transmitter.

WEW(AM) is licensed to St. Louis, but the transmitter is located in
Washington Park, Illinois. FCC record at:
<http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?list=0&facid=1088>.

WIL-FM is licensed to St. Louis, and the transmitter is located in
Missouri. FCC record (scroll down below WILL-FM) at:
<http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?call=wil>

Neal McLain

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Is there a 'WIL' (one /L/) in
St. Louis? The reason I ask is because there is a 'WILL' (two /L/)
at the University of Illinois in Champaign, 580 KC on AM band.) PAT]

Post Followup Article	Use your browser's quoting feature to quote article into reply
Go to Next message: John R. Covert: "Re: AMTRAK (was Re: Last, Sad Laugh! A Nice Place to Work!)"
Go to Previous message: jmayson@nyx.net: "Callsigns and Horse Teeth"
Next in thread: Mark Roberts: "Re: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns"
May be reply: Mark Roberts: "Re: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns"
May be reply: Garrett Wollman: "Re: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns"
May be reply: Dave Close: "Re: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns"
May be reply: Linc Madison: "Re: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns"
May be reply: Steve Sobol: "Re: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns"
May be reply: Robert Bonomi: "Re: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns"
May be reply: Dave Close: "Re: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns"
May be reply: Wesrock@aol.com: "Re: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns"
May be reply: Mark Roberts: "Re: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns"
May be reply: Neal McLain: "Re: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns"
May be reply: J Kelly: "Re: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns"
May be reply: Wesrock@aol.com: "Re: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns"
May be reply: Robert Bonomi: "Re: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns"
May be reply: J Kelly: "Re: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns"
May be reply: Mark Roberts: "Re: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns"
May be reply: Steve Crow: "Re: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns"
May be reply: Neal McLain: "Re: 'K' v. 'W' Television Station Callsigns"
TELECOM Digest: Home Page