what does the w stand for in television stations, and radio stations? ex: wabc,wdas?

Answer 1

not all station names start with a 'W'. A good many start with a 'K', as you can see by looking up "radio stations" or "television stations" in the Yellow Pages of any Quad-Cities telephone book.
The next thing to know is that the Quad-Cities is unusual in that it has both 'W' and 'K' stations. That's because the Mississippi River runs through here, and in 1923 the Mississippi was set as a dividing line for the assignment of call letters. All stations east of the river were to start with a 'W' and all those west of the river were to start with a 'K'. But stations already in existance were permitted to keep whatever call letters they had, which is why WOC radio in Davenport begins with a 'W' even though it's west of the river.

The history of using a 'W' or 'K' as first letters in broadcast station names is somewhat murky and complicated but if you want to struggle through it, visit United States Callsign Policies.

So far as we can determine there is no standard meaning for either the 'W' or the 'K'. Call letters from some stations are said to stand for something, but that's mostly a promotional thing.




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Answer 2

It does not really stand for anything. It is one of two letters used as the first part of radio and TV station call letters in the US. Call letters that start with W are east of the Mississippi while call letters that start with K are in the west.

Answer 3

It doesn't stand for anything. It is just a letter. Basically says which side of the Missippi the station is on. Except KDKA which is the only station east that starts with a K.

Answer 4

All stations east of the Mississippi river start with W all that are west start with K.

Answer 5

Stations beginning with W are east of the Mississippi; those beginning with K are west.

It's just two arbitrary letters chosen by the FCC.

Answer 6

the W in radio station is just to determine where the station plays. For example : I live in Sothern California and instead of W's they are K's (KIIS, KROQ, etc.)

Answer 7

I don't really know what it "stands" for, but I do know that west of the Mississippi the stations are all "K" rather then "W"
So we have KABC, KCBS, etc,

Answer 8

depends. in Massachusetts it stands for Worcestor most of the time...

Answer 9

i don't know, but west of the mississippi river, the W is a K (KABC, KROC etc)

Answer 10

I thiunk It means weather but I'm not sure.