Call Signs/Call Letters

Further Reading Fiske. John. Television Culture, London: Methuen. 1987 Mayerle, Judine, "Character Shaping Genre in Cagney and Brower, Susan. "TV 'Trash and Treasure': Marketing Dallas Lacey," Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media and Cagney and Lacey," Vide Angle (1989) (Spring 1987) Clark, Danae. "Cagney and Lacey: Feminist Strategies of De- McHenry, Susan. "The Rise and Fall-and Rise of TV's Cagney tection,'" in Television and Women's Culture: The Politics of and Lacer" Ms. (April 1984) the Popular, edited by Mary Ellen Brown. Newbury Park. Montgomery. Kathryn C., Target /'rime Time: Advocacy Groups California: Sage, 1990 and the Struggle over Entertainment Television, New York: D'Acci. Julie. Defining Women: Television and the Case of Oxford University Press, 1989 Cagney and Lacey, Chapel Hill: University of North Car- Rosen, Marjorie, "Cagney and Lacey," Ms. (October 1981) olina Press, 1994

U.S. Broadcasting Policy

Call letters are used by television stations to identify origin in the earliest days of radio. Blocks of initial let- themselves to the TV audience. The call letters usually ters were assigned to various countries following the consist of various combinations of four letters, some- London International Radiotelegraph Conference of times followed by the suffix "TV": for example, 1912. The letters W, K, N. and A were assigned to the WAAA-TV. Since many early television stations United States. W and K were used to designate com- shared common ownership with radio stations, they of- mercial broadcasters, whereas N and A were allocated ten shared the same call letters. If the radio station call to military users of the radio spectrum. The initial let- letters were WBBB, the TV station simply became ters C and X were assigned to Canada and Mexico, WBBB-TV. respectively, and are still used today to identify Cana- Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regu- dian and Mexican television stations. lations require that each TV station identify itself at The first U.S. radio stations were allowed to select least once each hour by call letters and by city of li- their own call letters beginning with either a W or a K. cense. The announcement should be made at or close Also, early radio stations could select either a three - to the hour during a natural break in programming and letter or a four-letter combination. Later, around 1928, can he made either visually or aurally. Stations have the Federal Radio Commission formalized rules re- the option to insert their channel numbers between the quiring that all stations use four-letter combinations. call letters and the city of license, and virtually all sta- Further, those stations east of the Mississippi were re- tions follow this practice: for example, KRON-TV, quired to use an initial W, while those stations west of channel 4, San Francisco. In advertising and promo- the Mississippi were required to use an initial K. tional announcements. stations generally promote their Stations already on the air were allowed to keep channel assignments more vigorously than their call their call letters regardless of number or location. Ra- letters. dio and, later, television stations such as KDKA, Pitts- Some of the more ingenious call letters actually burgh, Pennsylvania; WGN, Chicago; WHO. Des identify the channel either by word or by Roman nu- Moines. Iowa: and WOW, Omaha, Nebraska. demon- meral. These include KTWO, Casper. Wyoming; strate their pioneer status and their unbroken owner- KFOR, Oklahoma City; WTEN, Albany, New York; ship by being notable exceptions to the current rules. and KTEN, Ada, Oklahoma. Two Roman numeral ex- When WOR-TV, New York, was acquired by a new amples include WIXT, Syracuse, New York, and KXII, owner, the station was required to adhere to the four- Ardmore, Oklahoma. Two other stations, WPVI, letter requirement and became WWOR-TV. Philadelphia, and KPVI, Pocatello. Idaho, both use a P Call letters often tell something about station owner- for their respective cities followed by Roman numerals ship. New York stations WABC-TV, WCBS-TV. and to indicate their channel -6 assignments. WNBC-TV are each owned and operated by the respec- The procedures for assigning call letters have their tive networks contained within their call letters. So too

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