Thomas H. White -- January 1, 2005
This is a comprehensive review of K and W call letter assignments for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations in the United States, with an emphasis on stations that are on the "wrong side of the Mississippi".
Sections
Background
 The United States federal government began licencing radio
stations in late 1912, and from the beginning it has assigned call letters
starting with K and W to commercial and broadcasting stations. Moreover,
from the start the policy has been that stations in the west normally got
K-- calls, while W-- calls were issued to stations in the east. (Initially
ship stations were the reverse, with W assignments in the west, and K in
the east). The original K/W boundary ran north from the Texas-New Mexico border, so at first stations along the Gulf of Mexico and northward were assigned W calls. It was only in late January, 1923 that the K/W boundary was shifted east to the current boundary of the Mississippi River. With this change, K's were assigned to most new stations west of the Mississippi, however, existing W stations located west of the Mississippi were allowed to keep their now non-standard calls.Click here for a detailed map showing the boundary change |
NOTES: The source of the Mississippi River is in upper Minnesota, so using it as the K/W boundary leaves a gap in the northern part of the state. In 1987 the Federal Communications Commission noted that the current staff practice was to define the remainder of the boundary as "a line from the headwaters of the [Mississippi] to a point [at the Canadian border] just east of International Falls". This review generally omits stations in Louisiana and Minnesota, because the boundary has not been very strictly followed in those two states. Finally, this review lists stations according to their "community of licence", and does not include stations which only had transmitters on the other side of the divide. (Call letters are assigned according to the station's community of licence--the location of the station's transmitter, even if it is on the other side of the divide, does not matter).
For more detailed information on early U.S. call letter practices, see Mystique of the Three-Letter Callsigns and United States Callsign Policies.
Reasons For The Exceptions
Reviewing the stations on the AM band, many people have noticed that some of them have the "wrong" first letter for the side of the Mississippi River on which they are located. Going over the last eighty years of call letter assignments for AM stations, I came up with six categories of non-conforming stations:
- Stations located east of the Mississippi which were assigned calls from
the KD-- ship block, instead of W--, during a June 1920 to April 1921 anomaly.
(For some reason, during this anomaly almost all new land stations, east and
west, got KU-- or KD-- four-letter calls. This included two broadcasting
stations that just happened to be first licenced during this time: KDKA and
KDPM).
- Stations west of the Mississippi River that were licenced before the late
January 1923 boundary shift, and were located in the slice of W territory that
existed west of the Mississippi prior to the shift. (Originally about 170
stations, not including Minnesota and Louisiana. However, due to very high
deletion rates plus later call changes, only eleven of these original calls
survive: WEW, WHB, WKY, WOC, WOI, WBAP, WDAY, WJAG, WNAX, WOAI, and WTAW).
- Portable stations (prior to 1928), which got W call letters because their
original owners were located east of the Mississippi, but settled in a
permanent home west of the Mississippi. (Four stations: WBBZ, WIBW, WLBN, and
WMBH. There are no examples of a portable crossing in the other direction,
i.e. no K portables "anchoring" in W territory).
- Regular stations that changed their community of licence to the other side
of the K/W divide. (Four stations: KFKX, KSGM, KWEM and WKBB. NOTE: This omits
Louisiana and Minnesota.)
- Owner requests--examples: WACO in Waco, Texas; WDBQ in Dubuque, Iowa; WMT
(Waterloo [Iowa] Morning Tribune).
- Assigned by the Government--three stations. KTGG in Spring Arbor, Michigan reportedly got a "K" callsign because someone at the FCC thought that the "MI" postal code stood for Missouri, a west-of-the-Mississippi state. Also, two additional call assignments appear to have been selected by government regulators: KYWA Chicago, a booster station for KYW, and KOP, licenced to the Detroit Police Department.
 |
| Current AM-band K/W Boundary Exceptions (excluding LA & MN) |
The above map lists the current exceptions to the standard of "K stations west of the Mississippi; W stations east" on the AM band. [28 Stations: 20 W's plus 8 K's. This map omits stations in Louisiana and Minnesota because the boundary has not been very strictly followed in those two states].
The color of the station's call letters reflects the reason for its exceptional status:
- Purple: 1920-1921 anomaly--KDKA.
- Blue: pre-January 1923 boundary shift--WBAP, WDAY, WEW, WHB, WJAG, WKY, WNAX, WOAI, WOC, WOI, and WTAW.
- Gray: ex-portable--WBBZ, WIBW, WMBH.
- Dark Green: moved to other side of the Mississippi--KSGM.
- Red: requested call--KFNS, KWAM, WDBQ, WHO, WMT, WRTH, WSUI, WWLS.
- Light Green: government assigned call--KTGG.
- Black: reason unknown--KFIZ, KQV, KYW.
 |
This map summarizes the current location of W and K stations on the AM band, by state. In the west, in red, are the twelve states (including Hawaii), which have only had stations starting with K. Green designates the two states--Alaska and Arkansas--which had one or more W stations in the past, but now have K stations exclusively. Yellow highlights the fifteen states in the center of the country which currently have both K and W stations. Dark blue marks the nineteen eastern states which have only had W calls. Finally, light blue marks the two states--Mississippi and Ohio--which once had one or more K stations, but now exclusively have W stations. |
K/W Trivia
Boundary Switchover Date
Although I haven't been able to find out the exact date that the K/W boundary for land stations switched to the Mississippi River--the change was barely reported in the press--I have been able to narrow it down to late January, 1923. In reviewing the call letter assignments for broadcasting stations in the original W-west-of-the-Mississippi territory, it appears that the change took place sometime between January 19th and January 29th. The first date is when the State Normal School in Mayville, ND was assigned WRAC and the Taylor Radio Shop in Marion, KS was assigned WRAD. These apparently were the last two stations to fall under the old scheme. The next call assignment to a broadcast station located in the original W-west-of-the Mississippi territory that I am aware of did not come until ten days later. This station, licenced to Fred Mahaffey, Jr., in Houston, TX, was assigned KFCV, and from this point on K calls were issued to virtually all stations west of the Mississippi. (KFCV was deleted January 5, 1925).
Double Exceptions
Generally when one of the non-conforming stations switches to a new callsign, it also switches to the proper letter for its side of the dividing line. However, on a number of occasions the government has allowed stations to select new calls that continue to start with the "wrong letter": WHAA / WSUI Iowa City, IA; WKBB / WDBQ Dubuque, IA; WCK / WSBF and WEB / WIL / WRTH Saint Louis, MO; WJAD / WACO Waco, TX; WJAM / WMT Waterloo, IA; WOAW / WOW Omaha, NE; WNAD / WWLS Norman, OK; KEZK / KFNS Wood River, IL and KWEM / KWAM Memphis, TN.
U.S. Commonwealths, Territories and Possessions
 |
Although Alaska and Hawaii were United States territories until 1959, for call letter purposes they were treated as western states, and normally received K callsigns. In addition, Puerto Rico, currently a U.S. commonwealth, and the Virgin Islands have been treated as eastern states, and both received a full range of W calls.
The Philippines, which were a United States possession until independence in 1946, were treated slightly differently. Stations here were only given calls starting with KZ--, until with independence the new nation was assigned its own block of international calls, and its broadcasting stations switched to calls starting with DX-- through DZ--.
The call letter policy for the remaining Pacific territories, in the years following World War II, has been a little more varied. Using the Mississippi River to divide the world into two halves, it appears that the entire Pacific Ocean should fall into K territory. (The International Dateline presumably doesn't have any significance for U.S. call letter policy. Its location is determined by the fact that it is halfway around the world from Greenwich in London, England, but because the K/W call letter boundary is the Mississippi River, not the Thames, it makes more sense to divide the world in halves at the 90 degree longitude mark, which is the location of the Mississippi River).
Most United States-affiliated broadcasting stations located in the Pacific have in fact been assigned K calls, but for some reason there have also been a few W assignments. Currently all the stations in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands have K calls, as well as all but one station in American Samoa -- the exception is WVUV-648 in Leone. (In 2002 a new station in Tafuna, A.S. operated for a few months as WDJD-585, but it was eventually required to change its call to a K-prefix [KJAL]).
As far as I can determine, all the broadcasting stations in Micronesia and the Marshall Islands were assigned W calls while they were U.S. territories, for reasons that are not readily apparent. However, after both these territories gained independence, the stations were assigned new calls from their own national allocations, starting with V6- for Micronesia, and V7- in the case of the Marshall Islands.
Extremes
Below are the most extreme "out of place" K's and W's on the AM band that I know of (locations are based on the station's community-of-licence, not their transmitter locations):
K's in the East (excluding Pacific)
Farthest east: KYW-1060 Philadelphia (station moved from Chicago)
Farthest east originally licenced location: KDKA-1020 East Pittsburgh, PA (now Pittsburgh)
W's in the West (excluding Pacific)
Farthest west ever: WLAY Fairbanks, AK 1922-1923
Farthest west ever in the lower 48 states: 1 & 2)WDAH 1922-1940 & WPAT 1922-1924, El Paso, TX; 3) WCAT 1922-1952 Rapid City, SD; 4) WEAV 1922-1923 Rushville, NE
Farthest west currently: 1) WOAI-1200 San Antonio, TX; 2) WKY-930 Oklahoma City, OK; 3) WWLS-640 Moore, OK; 4) essentially a three-way tie between WJAG-780 Norfolk, NE, WNAX-570 Yankton, SD and WBAP-820 Fort Worth, TX
K/W Switchover Stations
Below are the AM stations I am aware of which have switched between having K and W calls. For each entry, I've tried to list all of the calls these stations have used over the years. If the final call includes a frequency, that means the station is still licenced:
K => W
KAZW / KZNE / WTAW-1620 College Station, TX
KDWB / WDGY-630 Saint Paul, MN/Hudson, WI
KFGZ / WEMC / WKZO-590 Barrien Springs/Kalamazoo, MI
KFLV / WROK-1440 Rockford, IL
KFLZ / KICK / WOC-1420 Atlantic/Anita/Davenport, IA
KFNG / WREC-600 Coldwater, MS/Whitehaven/Memphis, TN
KGGH / KTSL / WTSL / WAML-1340 Cedar Grove, LA/Shreveport, LA/Laurel, MS
KQYX / WMBH-1560 Joplin, MO
KWKC / KCMO / WHB-810 Kansas City, MO
K => W => K
KANO / KTWN / KKKC / KANO / KBCW / WLOL / KLBP-1470 Anoka/Brooklyn Park, MN
KAOH / KQDS / WNLT / KBXT / KDDS / KQDS-1490 Duluth, MN
KBGG / WSJZ / KBGG-1700 Des Moines, IA
KFMT / WHAT / WGWY / WDGY / KFAN-1130 Minneapolis, MN
KYW / KYW-KFKX / KYW / WRCV / KYW-1060 Chicago, IL/Philadelphia, PA
K => W => K => W => K
KFVE / KWK / KGLD / KASP / WKBQ / KRAM / WKBQ / KKWK / KZJZ / KSLG-1380 Saint Louis, MO
W => K
WAAW / KOWH / KMEO / KOWH / KOZN / KOWH / KCRO-660 Omaha, NE
WAIL / WTKL / KBRH-1260 Baton Rouge, LA
WBBY / WRTH / WKLL / WCEO / KEZK / KFNS-590 Wood River, IL
WCAR / KTSA / KAKI / KTSA-550 San Antonio, TX
WCM / KUT / KNOW / KEYI / KEYU / KMOW / KFON-1490 Austin, TX
WDAF / KCSP-610 Kansas City, MO
WDAN / WGAQ / KWKH / KSBA / KTBS / KEEL-710 Shreveport, LA
WDJD / KJAL-585 Tafuna, AS
WEAH / KFH / KNSS-1330 Wichita, KS
WEAJ / KUSD Vermillion, SD
WFAA / KRQX / KLDD / KKWM / KLIF-570 Dallas, TX
WHB / KCMO-710 Kansas City, MO
WJAD / WACO / KKTK / KTFW-1460 Waco/Burleson, TX
WKAA / KWCR / KSO / KGGO / KDMI / KXNO-1460 Cedar Rapids/Des Moines, IA
WLB / WLB-WGMS / WLB / KUOM-770 Minneapolis, MN
WLBH / KCKN / KFKF / KNHN / KFEZ / KCKN-1340 Kansas City, KS
WLBN / KLRA / KHLT / KBIS / KSYG Chicago, IL (portable)/Little Rock, AR
WMBH / KQYX-1450 Joplin, MO
WOAW / WOW / KOMJ-590 Omaha, NE
WPE / KFIX / KLDS / KLDS-KMBC / KMBC / KMBZ-980 Kansas City, MO
WQDV / WDIX / KCMC-740 Tupelo, MS/Texarkana, TX
WREN / KKGM / KXTR / KWSJ / KKHK-1250 Lawrence/Kansas City, KS
WRR / KAAM / KTCK-1310 Dallas, TX
WTAW / KZNE-1150 College Station, TX
W => K => W
WIGL / WAKX / KXTP / WGEE-970 Superior, WI
WLOL / WRRD / KSJN / KNOW / WMNN / WLOL-1330 Minneapolis, MN
WRHM / WTCN / WWTC / KSNE / WWTC-1280 Minneapolis, MN
WTAM / KYW / WKYC / WWWE / WTAM-1100 Cleveland, OH
W => K => W => K
WPBC / WYOO / WAYL / KKSS / KMFY / WAYL / KMZZ / KRXX / KEGE / KKMS-980 Minneapolis/Richfield, MN
Other
KFOY and WAMD consolidated as KSTP-1500 Saint Paul, MN
WQAC / KGRS and WDAG consolidated as KGNC-710 Amarillo, TX
State-by-State Chronological Recap
Listed below are the standard AM stations I was able to uncover which are exceptions to the current K/W dividing line of the Mississippi River.(This list only reviews regular broadcast service station authorizations. For call letter information for temporary grants, check out the information in United States Temporary Broadcast Station Grants: 1922-1928). Most of this information came from reviewing Commerce Department and Federal Radio Commission and Federal Communications Commission records, including the monthly Radio Service Bulletin. (For more information on government station lists, check out Early Radio Station Lists Issued By the U.S. Government)
As noted earlier, the reasons for the exceptions fall into six categories, plus "unknown":
1. June 1920-April, 1921 anomaly (KD-- calls for all)
2. West-of-the-Mississippi W territory (i.e. prior to the late-January, 1923 shift)
3. Portable station which a found permanent home on the opposite side of the Mississippi
4. Regular station that moved across the Mississippi
5. Call requested by owner
6. Government call assignment
?. Unknown reason
The "out of place" call letters, which are currently in use, are listed in bold, while stations that have been deleted or changed to "conforming" calls are in regular text. In the case where just a year or a month and year are listed, the date is the best estimate I can make using available records:
REASON NOTES
====== ==================
ALASKA
(always K)
09/27/1922 WLAY Fairbanks ? deleted 08/21/1923
NOTE: This list only includes private stations, so the various
government operated facilities in Alaska, such as WVCX Sitka,
WXLL Big Delta and WCVQ Kodiak, are not included.
ARKANSAS
(W prior to late January 1923)
02/16/1922 WOK Pine Bluff 2 deleted 06/--/1924
03/28/1922 WSV Little Rock 2 deleted 11/06/1922
05/04/1922 WCAC Fort Smith 2 deleted 06/12/1923
05/13/1922 WCAV Little Rock 2 deleted 03/11/1925
06/06/1922 WEAX Little Rock 2 deleted 06/11/1923
06/26/1922 WGAR Fort Smith 2 deleted 11/26/1923
03/--/1928 WLBN Little Rock 3 x-Chicago portable. Became KLRA
6/--/1928, deleted 9/--/1997 as KSYG
ILLINOIS
(always W)
11/09/1921 KYW Chicago ? became KYW-KFKX 10/01/1928 (see)
11/--/1922 KFLV Rockford ? became WROK 11/--/1933, WROK-1440
10/01/1928 KYW-KFKX Chicago 4 KFKX was moved from Hastings, NE
and consolidated with KYW (see
11/09/1921). KFKX was then dropped
from the call on 05/13/1933. KYW
later moved to Philadelphia, PA
12/11/1934 (see).
12/--/1928 KYWA Chicago 6 booster transmitter for KYW.
deleted 05/--/1930
--/--/1964 KSGM Chester 4 moved from Sainte Genevieve, MO.
KSGM-980
01/29/1991 KEZK Wood River 5 changed from WCEO, see next.
07/09/1993 KFNS Wood River 5 changed from KEZK, see above.
KFNS-590
IOWA
(W prior to late January 1923)
03/14/1922 WGF Des Moines 2 deleted 09/29/1923
03/28/1922 WHX Des Moines 2 deleted 05/--/1922
04/28/1922 WOI Ames 2 WOI-640 Ames
05/09/1922 WOC Davenport 2 WOC-1420 (call was transferred to
x-KICK 11/11/34)
05/23/1922 WDAX Centerville 2 deleted 01/03/1924
05/25/1922 WEAB Fort Dodge 2 deleted 10/30/1923
06/03/1922 WEAU Sioux City 2 deleted 04/28/1927
06/06/1922 WEAZ Waterloo 2 deleted 11/27/1922
06/23/1922 WGAJ Shenandoah 2 deleted 05/21/1923
06/26/1922 WHAA Iowa City 2 became WSUI 01/29/1925 (see)
06/30/1922 WHAC Waterloo 2 deleted 12/13/1923
06/30/1922 WHAE Sioux City 2 deleted 06/23/1923
07/--/1922 WIAS Burlington 2 deleted 02/--/1934 (Ottumwa)
07/--/1922 WKAA Cedar Rapids 2 became KWCR 11/--/1925,
now KXNO-1460
07/--/1922 WHAI Davenport 2 deleted 12/--/1923
07/--/1922 WIAU Le Mars 2 deleted 05/--/1924
07/--/1922 WIAH Newton 2 deleted 12/--/1923
07/--/1922 WIAE Vinton 2 deleted 06/--/1923
08/01/1922 WJAM Cedar Rapids 2 became WMT 11/11/1928 (see)
09/--/1922 WLAT Burlington 2 deleted 01/--/1924
09/--/1922 WNAG Cresco 2 deleted 01/--/1923
09/--/1922 WLAR Marshalltown 2 deleted 02/--/1923
09/--/1922 WMAR Waterloo 2 deleted 06/--/1923
10/--/1922 WPAF Council Bluffs 2 deleted 10/--/1923
10/--/1922 WOAD Sigourney 2 deleted 05/--/1924
12/--/1922 WQAK Dubuque 2 deleted 10/--/1923
12/--/1922 WRAN Waterloo 2 deleted 05/--/1925
04/15/1924 WHO Des Moines 5 WHO-1040 Des Moines
01/29/1925 WSUI Iowa City 5 changed from WHAA, see 06/26/1922.
WSUI-910
11/11/1928 WMT Waterloo 5 changed from WJAM, see 08/01/1922.
WMT-600, Cedar Rapids
12/--/1939 WKBB Dubuque 4 moved from East Dubuque, IL--
see next.
--/--/1951 WDBQ Dubuque 5 changed from WKBB, see previous.
WDBQ-1490 Dubuque
06/06/2002 WSJZ Des Moines 5 changed from KBGG, call changed back to
KBGG-1700 6/18/2002
KANSAS
(W prior to late January 1923)
03/28/1922 WAH El Dorado 2 deleted 03/06/1923
03/23/1922 WEY Wichita 2 deleted 06/23/1923
04/05/1922 WBL Anthony 2 deleted 12/15/1924
04/06/1922 WTG Manhattan 2 deleted 12/19/1925
04/13/1922 WAAZ Emporia 2 deleted 01/28/1924
04/14/1922 WAAP Wichita 2 deleted 10/15/1923
05/15/1922 WDAD Lindsborg 2 deleted 11/07/1923
05/25/1922 WEAD Atwood 2 deleted 08/13/1923
05/26/1922 WEAH Wichita 2 became KFH 12/--/1925. KNSS-1330
06/08/1922 WFAD Salina 2 deleted 03/08/1923
06/17/1922 WFAY Independence 2 deleted 04/09/1923
07/--/1922 WHAN Wichita 2 deleted 11/--/1922
08/--/1922 WJAQ Topeka 2 deleted 07/--/1924
09/--/1922 WLAS Hutchinson 2 deleted 06/--/1923
09/--/1922 WMAG Liberal 2 deleted 06/--/1923
10/--/1922 WNAK Manhattan 2 deleted 04/--/1923
11/--/1922 WOAJ Parsons 2 deleted 01/--/1924
11/--/1922 WPAM Topeka 2 deleted 10/--/1924
12/--/1922 WPAR Beloit 2 deleted 12/--/1924
01/--/1923 WRAD Marion 2 deleted 03/--/1924
04/--/1927 WREN Lawrence 5 became KKGM 07/30/1999, now
KKHK-1250 Kansas City
01/--/1928 WIBW Topeka 3 x-Chicago portable. WIBW-580 Topeka
05/--/1928 WLBF Kansas City moved from Kansas City, MO (see
11/--/1926), became KCKN 11/--/1936.
Now KCKN-1340.
LOUISIANA
(W before late January 1923, split afterwards)
NOTE: I have not prepared a detailed list for Louisiana, because the
Mississippi River runs through the state, so the K/W boundary
has not been strictly followed.
MICHIGAN
(always W)
03/18/1922 KOP Detroit 6 deleted 11/28/25
04/23/1923 KFGZ Barrien Springs ? became WEMC 01/26/1925, now
WKZO-590 Kalamazoo
10/--/1923 KFLB Menominee ? deleted 06/--/1925
12/--/1923 KFMW Houghton ? deleted 06/--/1926
08/15/1985 KTGG Spring Arbor 6 KTGG-1540 Spring Arbor
MINNESOTA
(W before late January 1923, split afterwards)
NOTE: I have not prepared a detailed list for Minnesota. The Mississippi
River runs through the state, so the K/W boundary has not been
strictly followed. This is particularly true in the northern part
of the state, where the demarcation has been somewhat vague,
because the Mississippi doesn't go all the way to the Canadian
border.
MISSISSIPPI
(always W)
01/--/1924 KFNG Coldwater ? changed to WREC 06/--/1925. Later
moved to Whitehaven, TN, then
Memphis. WREC-600 Memphis
MISSOURI
(W prior to late January 1923)
02/17/1922 WOQ Kansas City 2 deleted 06/14/1934
02/23/1922 WOS Jefferson City 2 deleted 03/27/1936
03/23/1922 WEW Saint Louis 2 WEW-770 Saint Louis
04/03/1922 WCK Saint Louis 2 became WSBF 06/--/1925 (see)
04/05/1922 WEB Saint Louis 2 became WIL 01/--/1925 (see)
04/05/1922 WPE Kansas City 2 relicenced as KFIX 07/03/1923,
now KMBZ-980
04/12/1922 WAAE Saint Louis 2 deleted 09/23/1922
04/13/1922 WAAN Columbia 2 deleted 03/16/1925
05/10/1922 WHB Kansas City 2 WHB-810 Kansas City
05/16/1922 WDAF Kansas City 2 became KCSP-610 09/23/2003
05/31/1922 WEAK Saint Joseph 2 deleted 09/26/1923
06/10/1922 WFAK Brentwood 2 deleted 09/--/1922
06/14/1922 WFAQ Cameron 2 deleted 06/13/1924
07/--/1922 WHAH Joplin 2 deleted 09/--/1924
07/--/1922 WJAC Joplin 2 deleted 01/--/1923
07/--/1922 WIAI Springfield 2 deleted 06/--/1924
07/--/1922 WIAT Tarkio 2 deleted 12/--/1923
08/--/1922 WLAB Carrollton 2 deleted 10/--/1922
08/--/1922 WJAT Marshall 2 deleted 06/--/1924
08/--/1922 WMAD Rockport 2 deleted 07/--/1923
08/--/1922 WKAS Springfield 2 deleted 12/--/1923
09/--/1922 WMAJ Kansas City 2 deleted 06/--/1924
10/--/1922 WNAR Butler 2 deleted 11/--/1925
10/--/1922 WMAY Saint Louis 2 deleted 06/--/1931
11/--/1922 WOAL Webster Groves 2 deleted 02/--/1924
11/29/1922 WPAG Independence 2 deleted 01/05/1923
12/02/1922 WQAB Springfield 2 deleted 11/11/1923
01/--/1923 WRAO Saint Louis 2 deleted 02/--/1925
01/16/1923 WSAB Cape Girardeau 2 deleted 07/17/1925
01/--/1925 WIL Saint Louis 5 changed from WEB--see 04/05/1922,
12/04/1990
06/--/1925 WSBF Saint Louis 5 changed from WCK, see 04/03/1922.
deleted 11/30/1928.
11/--/1926 WLBF Kansas City ? moved to Kansas City, KS
05/--/1928 (see)
07/--/1927 WMBH Joplin 3 x-portable from Chicago, became KQYX
07/25/2001 (see). KQYX-1450
12/04/1990 WRTH Saint Louis 5 changed from WIL--see 01/--/1925.
WRTH-1430
02/01/1994 WKBQ Saint Louis 5 changed from KASP. Changed to KRAM
02/22/1995, back to WKBQ 03/21/1996,
to KKWK 02/16/1998, now KSLG-1380
07/25/2001 WMBH Joplin 5 changed from KQYX, see 07/--/1925.
WMBH-1560
(NOTE: KSD, Saint Louis (now KTRS-550), first licenced 03/14/1922, should
have been a W call, since it came before the January 1923 shift)
NEBRASKA
(W prior to late January 1923)
12/29/1921 WOU Omaha 2 deleted 06/23/1923
03/30/1922 WDV Omaha 2 deleted 02/07/1923
04/19/1922 WAAW Omaha 2 became KOWH 04/--/1939, now KCRO-660
05/06/1922 WCAJ University Place2 deleted 08/01/1933
06/03/1922 WEAV Rushville 2 deleted 06/23/1923
06/16/1922 WFAV Lincoln 2 deleted 04/30/1927
06/26/1922 WGAT Lincoln 2 deleted 04/09/1923
07/--/1922 WIAX Lincoln 2 deleted 02/--/1923
07/--/1922 WJAB Lincoln 2 deleted 02/--/1925
07/--/1922 WKAC Lincoln 2 deleted 09/--/1923
07/--/1922 WIAK Omaha 2 deleted 07/--/1925
07/27/1922 WJAG Norfolk 2 WJAG-780 Norfolk
08/--/1922 WKAM Hastings 2 deleted 12/--/1922
08/--/1922 WLAD Hastings 2 deleted 12/--/1922
08/--/1922 WLAF Lincoln 2 deleted 02/--/1923
08/--/1922 WMAH Lincoln 2 deleted 03/--/1925
08/22/1922 WNAL Omaha 2 deleted 09/--/1928
09/22/1922 WOAE Fremont 2 deleted 01/06/1925
10/--/1922 WRAR David City 2 deleted 10/--/1923
10/--/1922 WSAS Lincoln 2 deleted 04/--/1923
10/--/1922 WPAA Wahoo 2 deleted 06/--/1923
11/27/1922 WOAW Omaha 2 became WOW 12/16/1926 (see)
11/--/1922 WTAU Tecumseh 2 deleted 06/--/1925
12/--/1922 WQAY Hastings 2 deleted 08/--/1923
12/16/1926 WOW Omaha 5 changed from WOAW--see 11/27/1922, be-
came KOMJ 11/22/1999, now KOMJ-590 Omaha
NORTH DAKOTA
(W prior to late January 1923)
05/23/1922 WDAY Fargo, ND 2 WDAY-970 Fargo
08/--/1922 WKAJ Fargo 2 deleted 11/--/1922
10/--/1922 WOAB Grand Forks 2 deleted 10/--/1923
10/--/1922 WMAW Wahpeton 2 deleted 04/--/1924
12/14/1922 WPAK Fargo 2 deleted 05/09/1927
01/19/1923 WRAC Mayville 2 deleted 06/15/1923
OHIO
(always W)
07/--/1922 KDPM Cleveland 1 deleted 1/--/1926 (first assigned
this call as a non-broadcast
station on 02/--/1921)
02/13/1956 KYW Cleveland 5 changed from WTAM, later changed
to WKYC 06/19/65 (see Philadelphia,
PA). Now WTAM-1100.
OKLAHOMA
(W prior to late January 1923)
03/16/1922 WKY Oklahoma City 2 WKY-930 Oklahoma City
03/29/1922 WEH Tulsa 2 deleted 06/12/1923
05/23/1922 WDAV Muskogee 2 deleted 01/15/1923
06/14/1922 WEH Tulsa 2 deleted 06/11/1923
06/19/1922 WGAF Tulsa 2 deleted 11/20/1922
07/--/1922 WHAT Yale 2 deleted 11/--/1922
08/--/1922 WKAK Okemah 2 deleted 06/--/1923
09/--/1922 WOAA Ardmore 2 deleted 12/--/1923
09/26/1922 WNAD Norman 2 became WWLS 12/07/1981 (see)
09/--/1922 WMAB Oklahoma City 2 deleted 06/--/1924
09/--/1922 WLAL Tulsa 2 deleted 04/--/1927 (?)
09/--/1922 WNAF Enid 2 deleted 02/--/1923
11/--/1922 WPAC Okmulgee 2 deleted 01/--/1925
07/--/1928 WBBZ Ponca City 3 x-portable from Chicago. WBBZ-1230
12/07/1981 WWLS Moore 5 changed from WNAD, see 09/26/1922.
Now WWLS-640
PENNSYLVANIA
(always W)
10/27/1920 KDKA East Pittsburgh 1 KDKA-1020 Pittsburgh
01/09/1922 KQV Pittsburgh ? KQV-1410 Pittsburgh (first assigned
this call as a non-broadcast station on
11/--/1921)
12/11/1934 KYW Philadelphia station moved from Chicago, IL
12/11/1934. KYW call transferred to
Cleveland, OH 02/13/1956. X-KYW
became WRCV. Station became KYW
again 06/19/1965.
SOUTH DAKOTA
(W prior to late January 1923)
05/09/1922 WCAT Rapid City 2 deleted 10/28/1952
05/27/1922 WEAJ Vermillion 2 became KUSD 10/--/1925, deleted
11/--/1994
06/14/1922 WFAT Sioux Falls 2 deleted 06/13/1924
08/08/1922 WJAU Yankton 2 deleted 01/02/1923
11/--/1922 WNAX Yankton 2 WNAX-570
TENNESSEE
(always W)
--/--/1953 KWEM Memphis 4 moved from West Memphis, AR--
see next.
--/--/1958 KWAM Memphis 5 Call change from KWEM--
see above. Now KWAM-990.
TEXAS
(W prior to late January 1923)
03/16/1922 WPA Fort Worth 2 deleted 05/24/1923
03/22/1922 WCM Austin 2 relicenced as KUT 10/30/1925, now
KFON-1490 Austin
03/13/1922 WRR Dallas 2 became KAAM 04/14/1978. Now
KTCK-1310. (First assigned the WRR
call as a non-broadcast station on
08/05/1921)
03/23/1922 WEV Houston 2 deleted 01/10/1925
03/29/1922 WTK Paris 2 deleted 11/20/1922
04/26/1922 WBAP Fort Worth 2 WBAP-820 Fort Worth, TX
05/06/1922 WCAK Houston 2 deleted 01/10/1925
05/09/1922 WCAR San Antonio 2 became KTSA 02/--/1927 (?),
now KTSA-550
05/16/1922 WDAG Amarillo 2 merged 06/04/1935 with KGRS as
KGNC. Now KGNC-710
05/16/1922 WDAH El Paso 2 deleted 10/01/1940
05/19/1922 WDAO Dallas 2 deleted 06/--/1924
06/05/1922 WFAA Dallas, TX 2 became KRQX 11/--/83, now KLIF-570
06/06/1922 WEAY Houston 2 deleted 10/24/1925
06/09/1922 WFAH Port Arthur 2 deleted 08/27/1924
06/12/1922 WFAL Houston 2 deleted 11/17/1922
06/14/1922 WGAB Houston 2 deleted 03/23/1923
06/12/1922 WFAL Houston 2 deleted 11/17/1922
06/29/1922 WHAB Galveston 2 deleted 06/--/1924
07/--/1922 WIAC Galveston 2 deleted 01/--/1925
07/--/1922 WJAE San Antonio 2 deleted 02/--/1923
07/--/1922 WJAD Waco 2 became WACO 02/--/1930 (see)
07/--/1922 WKAF Wichita Falls 2 deleted 11/--/1925
08/--/1922 WMAM Beaumont 2 deleted 10/--/1923
08/--/1922 WKAL Orange 2 deleted 06/--/1923
08/--/1922 WLAJ Waco 2 deleted 06/--/1924
09/--/1922 WQAQ Abilene 2 deleted 01/--/1925
09/--/1922 WRAU Amarillo 2 deleted 11/--/1923
09/--/1922 WPAN Houston 2 deleted 12/--/1922
09/--/1922 WOAI San Antonio 2 WOAI-1200 San Antonio
10/--/1922 WNAS Austin 2 deleted 06/--/1924
10/07/1922 WTAW College Station 2 WTAW-1620 College Station
10/--/1922 WSAV Houston 2 deleted 09/--/1925
10/--/1922 WWAX Laredo 2 deleted 11/--/1923
10/--/1922 WWAC Waco 2 deleted 06/--/1924
11/04/1922 WOAF Tyler 2 deleted 04/10/1925
11/--/1922 WOAZ Stamford 2 deleted 11/--/1923
11/21/1922 WRAA Houston 2 deleted 07/15/1925
12/--/1922 WPAT El Paso 2 deleted 06/--/1924
12/--/1922 WQAC Amarillo 2 became KGRS 11/--/1926, merged
06/04/1935 with WDAG as KGNC.
Now KGNC-710.
12/--/1922 WSAT Plainview 2 deleted 06/--/1924
02/--/1930 WACO Waco 5 changed from WJAD, see 07/--/1922.
Became KKTK 06/24/1996. KTFW-1460
Burleson
WISCONSIN
(always W)
07/--/1923 KFIZ Fond Du Lac ? KFIZ-1450 Fond du Lac
02/24/1982 KXTP Superior 5 changed from WAKX. Became
WGEE-970 05/01/2003
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