Why do radio call letters start with K?

In the United States, call signs begin with the letter K, W or N. N is reserved for military and government use, so we are left with K, generally for stations West of the Mississippi River and W for those East.

Where do radio call letters change from W to K?

East of the river, all call signs start with W [5]. The origin of the division goes back just over a century. In 1912, the U.S. federal government started licensing terrestrial radio stations, assigning the call letters W and K to stations in the east, respectively the west of the country.

Why do TV and radio stations start with W?

In 1928, the Federal Radio Commission decided on a few rules that remain in effect to this day: all radio/TV call names were required to be four letters in length. stations east of the Mississippi River were required to start their call names with ‘W’

Do all radio stations start with W?

All broadcast call signs in the United States begin with either K or W, with “K” usually west of the Mississippi River and “W” usually east of it. Initial letters AA through AL, as well as N, are internationally allocated to the United States but are not used for broadcast stations.

Do all Canadian radio stations start with C?

Conventional radio and television broadcasting stations assignments are generally three, four or five letters long (not including the “–FM”, “–TV”, or “–DT” suffix) and almost exclusively use “C” call signs; with a few exceptions noted below, the “V” calls are restricted to specialized uses such as amateur radio.

Why are some radio stations K and others W?

The letters ‘N’ and ‘A’ were given to military stations, but ‘K’ and ‘W’ were assigned out for commercial use. Radio stations east of the Mississippi River had to start their stations with ‘W’, and stations west of the Mississippi with ‘K’.

Why do radio station names start with W?

Why do television stations start with W?