The radio reported news from Alaska, and to conclude its broadcast said,
. . . ."Thanks to our sister station, KCHU in Valdez, Alaska."

KCHU? Pronounced k-chu, as in a sneeze? How appropriate!

I have an online friend who lives and works at a radio station in Alaska. This is not one that he knows, but he has done some work for a station in Fairbanks, KUAK "quack".

Then he told me about a station he applied for in Pennsylvania - WKOK. (I'll refrain from pronouncing that).

hmm

When I was a child living in Galena, Kansas, my dad turned on the radio loud every morning at six. His favorite station was KWTO ("Keep Watchin The Ozarks, in Sprangfeel, Mzurah," where the ozark mountain music was broadcast live all day long.

Another favorite was KOAM "the four-state station serving Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri from Pittsburg, Kansas.

When I lived in Montana our favorite was CJOC "the voice of the Sunny South, in Lethbridge, Alberta.

In another life my favorite was XELO. "Equis é ele ó, en Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, República Mexicana."

I remember WIND in Chicago...great name for the windy city.

I wondered how the "K" and "W" letters started in the radio world, and found this letter (a bit rude!) to Straight Dope about them, and their response.

In Atlanta, GA, the premium station is WSB... 750 am.. named for "Welcome South, Brother!"

I currently have my car radio tuned to WSNY "Sunny 95" because they're playing continuous holiday favorites. I must admit, though, that I am known to smack the button when the "annoying" songs come on . . .

Elvis' "Blue Christmas" is at the top of the list for annoyances for me.

I do smack the button on my car all the time. I go from AM to FM and all over the place, looking for something good. Except for NPR and an occasional Bulls or Cubs game, there is nothing to be found!

Today, I heard Porky Pig's version of "I'll Have a Blue Christmas . . . iddyhip iddyhip b'deepa wwww-without iddy you"

I almost had to pull over. It was better (and cheaper) than taking valium.

I absolutely detest "Grandma got run over by a reindeer"...

but I love the Chipmunks song... "ALVIN!"...

Gosh, KHC, I agree with you on both those songs! Of course, being Jewish, it does get annoying hearing them every moment of the day, no matter where you are. One of our stations went to all Christmas songs, all the time, before Thanksgiving.

Here are the orginial meaninngs of the call-letters of some Chicago stations:

WGN - Worlds Greatest Newspaper [Chicago Tribune]
WLS - Worlds Largest Store [Sears]
WVON - W - Voice Of the Negro

I vaguely recall that WCFL was W - Chicago Federation of Labor.

Here are a few, culled from a site I found. In some cases, I'm not sure whether these are the official reason for the name, or are the commercial or jocular use made of it

Dayton, Ohio, home of the Wright Brothers, has WING, WRGT, and WAVI (aviation)

In very hot state of Arizona, KOOL and KOLD are a pleasure in Phoenix and Tucson.

KIKU in Hawaii ran Japanese programing. Kiku means 'chrysanthemum' in Japanese.

WFAT radio in Michigane was a winking reference to owner's girth.
WFAT-TV in Pennsylvania used the slogan "FAT: we'll grow on you".

Work on the original atom bomb was done in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Those cities became home for WATO and KBOM.

WEIO in Wisconsin is from 'Old McDonald Had A Farm ... E-I-E-I-O'.

quote:

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I almost had to pull over. It was better (and cheaper) than taking valium.

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You don't live anywhere near Northern Los Angeles, so how can you be a valium girl?

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In another life my favorite was XELO. _"Equis é ele ó, en Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, República Mexicana."_

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And there's XTRA in Tijuana. Xtra what, I do not know. And there used to be KFWB in Los Angeles. It always amused me to think of it as "Kafwubb." Shouda been Porky Pig's station. Here in Portland we've got a scary station: KBOO. But, as Kalleh noted, most radio stations and TV stations now days are KRAP or W-ROT.

Of course, in the UK, radio stations all have names so there's no question of trying to make funny acronyms.

Someone remarked that all AM radio stations seem to be staffed by absolute morons. You can use your imagination about FM stations...

Back in 1968, one of those times when I wish I had been recording KBOL (AM) in Boulder, Colorado ... The announcer said, "... and the chance for probability for tomorrow is fifty percent."

Boise, the capital city of Idaho, was the home of radio station KBOI. When the company created a TV station, using some of its existing buildings, it needed a new set of letters for that station. A sign-painter pointed out that the easiest way to change all the building-signs was to white out a bit of the O in KBOI, changing the O to a C. Thus was born KBCI-TV.

WMUF in Paris, TN was named for MUFfin, the owner's dog.
KDOG in Mankato, MN used the slogan "We've got a leg up on the competition."

This message has been edited. Last edited by: wordnerd,

[QUOTE]Originally posted by shufitz:
Here are the orginial meanings of the call-

how about WTTW? Window to the World!