Radio call sign meanings

[nfitz]

Originally Posted by Paolo

that would be the letters C F

All the original radio stations in Canada started with CF. I don't think when the radio stations were created in the 1920's, that anyone in the country ever thought that CF stood for "Canada's First". I think that this is a myth invented by radio geeks in recent years.

Can you reference any contemporary documents for this meaning?

Originally Posted by Jaymeister

The first commercial radio station in Canada was the dearly departed CFCF 600 in Montreal, and its call letters were referred to as meaning "Canada's First, Canada's Finest".

I've heard this too - but is there any contemporary references to this, or is this a retcon?

[I_Want_My_HDTV]

Call letters often have a meaning to the owners or are abbreviations/acronyms of station slogans. Just as often, the letters are picked because they sound good together or are easy to remember. We had a station here that was the first name of the owner, CJOE (for Joe McManus.)

I have no direct evidence of meanings for CFCF. Those things often disappear and then become folk lore. CFCF does sound good and is very easy to remember. OTOH, "Canada's First, Canada's Finest" sounds reasonable as a station slogan. You might want to check out the History section of the Wikipedia entry. I am amazed that it took 33 years to get a broadcasting license. It's also interesting that the US owners lost ownership of the station in even less time, due to government legislation.

This site also has some information.

[nfitz]

Wikipedia entries are often very wrong. Though the CFCF "meaning" does seem to go back decades at least, rather than some which only seem to go back a fortnight. I'd be interested to see if they really go back to the 1920's.

[tbsingleton73]

I don't know about radio, but I know in aviation. Each countries aircraft have unique call signs or registration letters. In Canada it's either C-FXXX or C-GXXX. In the US is starts with N and usually has numbers and letters that follow.
It could be the same thing. And according to this link, it likely is the case.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_sign

[I_Want_My_HDTV]

The second site appears to confirm some of the Wikipedia entry. If true, CFCF operated 40 years without a license. I guess enforcement of broadcast regulations was weak in those days.

[jwt873]

Just as a note of interest, not all of the AM/FM public broadcast radio stations in Canada start with the letter 'C' ... In Newfoundland you can hear radio stations VOCM at 1210 AM and VOAR at 590 AM and 97.5 FM.

[Dr.Dave]

People might find this interesting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITU_prefix
VO prefix - Newfoundland prior to when it joined Canada
CF–CK, CY–CZ prefix - Canada

[nfitz]

Originally Posted by Dr.Dave

VO prefix - Newfoundland prior to when it joined Canada
CF–CK, CY–CZ prefix - Canada

VO still belongs to Canada. There's nothing stopping the CRTC issuing, for example, VOAA to a radio station in British Columbia. Canada also has VA-VG, and VX-VY.

Note that CB doesn't belong to Canada - but belongs to Chile.

[magnet]

CBC stations have the CB prefix...
From WIKI

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation operates the vast majority of its stations with call signs beginning with CB. This is through a special agreement with the government of Chile, which is officially assigned the CB prefix.

Ack! nfitz posted 4 minutes before me....
sorry

[hugh]

I think this might answer the question

In the U.S., I believe anything West of the Mississippi starts with a K. Anything East of the Mississippi starts with a W.

[nfitz]

Originally Posted by hugh

I think this might answer the question

Interesting. Whether this represent the actual meaning of these, or the origin of much the retconning I'm not sure! I've got a hard time swallowing that in the 1920's anyone thought the CF in CFCF, CFTR, CFRB, etc. had any meaning, when the applications were made for these particular codes. For CFCF I've always figured that whoever applied was just looking for something easy to remember - though clearly the TR for Ted Rogers and RB for Rogers Batteryless in themselves had some meaning.

I guess the question, is when these call signs were first established, were they acronyms, or backronyms. (Though for CFRB might be a combo ... the RB is an acronym, but CFRB is a backronym).

[magnet]

There was a period in the 1920's that all new call signs in the US started with "K". This is why KDKA Pittsburgh exists. Today the Mississippi River Divides West (K) and East (W).

[kcbrk32]

Interestingly enough, just over the border in North Dakota, there is WDAZ Devil's Lake - Grand Forks and WDAY Fargo.

In Manitoba, there is CKX Brandon and CKY Winnipeg. CKX radio started in the 1950's. maybe even before.

[nfitz]

CKX AM (now called CKXA) in Brandon started in the 1920s. And there's been a CKY in Winnipeg since the 1920s. But I don't see the relation to the discussion.

[holymoly]

CFCF is considered the first radio station in the world, as it was 1919
to be the first radio station to broadcast regular programming.
This is contrary to the American claims it was KDKA of Pittsburgh.

The Montreal station call letters were first XWA.