Longest Used Call Letters and Frequencies

[jon]

While writing Today in Broadcast History, I concluded that CFAC Calgary has the Alberta record for call letters longest in use. CJCA Edmonton lost out because of the few months they were off the air in the early 1990s.

Today, I started looking at longest use of a frequency. CKUA Edmonton is likely the winner, as 580 KHz has always been their frequency, including their predecessor, CFCK, which the University of Alberta bought in 1927. CFCK started out early enough that they were actually originally assigned to a wavelength, before North America switched to frequencies.

Anyone else like to provide some Canadian radio records? Or new categories or contenders for those listed above?

[jon]

CKAC Montreal may well have the Canadian record for both call letters and frequency (730 KHz).

[Russ_Byth]

Jon... I think the CKWX call letters came into being in 1927 as well. As a broadcasting company though, it started in Nanaimo in 1923 using CFDC.

[jon]

The CFAC, CJCA and CKAC call letters all were assigned and in use in 1922, and all three stations still use those call letters.

But, you are right in that CKWX has the oldest call letters that still exist in Vancouver, and probably all of B.C. CJOR previously held the record (1926) until 1988.

KDKA Pittsburgh likely has the North American record for call letters.

In Canada, it appears that C call letters were first issued for medium wave AM stations in April 1922.

[Promotions Guy]

Heres a slightly different one. CKXM FM (formally CFRN FM) was the only Canadian radio station to operate from an authentic log cabin that was originally built as the CFRN transmitter building when RN first went on air. The station operated there until the building was demolished. We had tried to save the old historic building by donating it to Fort Edmonton Park but it didn;t fit the scheme at the Fort. Imagine it could have continued to offer weekend programming live from the log cabin at Fort Edmonton Park. A piece of Canadian history bull dozed.

[jon]

Here is a trivia question for you: what was CKXM's next studio?

Answer: I think they had just changed call letters to CJKE at the time, but they are the only station to ever have had a studio in the Edmonton Convention Centre, now known as the Shaw Conference Centre. You know, the place where my employer at the time made most of the $66 million dollars the City put into the ground doing the Geotechnical Engineering to strengthen the river bank before the City could spend $20 million to actually build the building into the river bank.

[cart_machine]

Jon... I think the CKWX call letters came into being in 1927 as well.

Here's the thread:

viewtopic.php?t=656

I don't know how dashes and apostrophes came out as question marks. They were OK when I originally posted. Must be due to the changeover of the message board.

cArtie.

[jon]

I've cleaned up that message now.

The conversion software was the weakest link in our whole conversion plan for the board. It was unsupported and the author had walked away from it several years earlier.

In retrospect, and then, we concluded that it was the best alternative. I hate to think where we'd be now if we had stayed on the InvisionFree board. In fact, I'm not sure if we could have, given that InvisionFree was planning a forced march to their new board software.

[Promotions Guy]

Strange Jon I don;t remember CKXM - CJKE being in convention centre. I did the launch and the switch we were still in the log cabin. Msut have been clsoer to the switch from CJKE to The Bear

[johnsykes]

For years and years, CFCF, when it was part of Marconi Radio, aired promos depicting that station as being the first in Canadian radio....seems to me it was 1919 but won't swear to that date. Now its all for naught with the call letters gone by the way of the dodo bird.

[jon]

Yes, John, CFCF may even have the bragging rights as the first radio station in the world, depending, of course, on exactly how you define a radio station. As a DX'er in the '60s, CFCF's claim was the one I understood the DX community to generally believe.

At the time, I even had an exact date for the 1919 CFCF debut under the call letters XWA. And looked it up in microfilm copies of Vancouver newspapers, but saw nothing on the subject on or anywhere around that date.

From what I've read more recently, XWA was licensed in 1919, but did not broadcast like a real radio station until 1920. The X call letters were "experimental licenses" and it was not until about April 1922 that commercial radio licenses were issued, with C call letters.

From what I've read recently, the CFCF call letters were assigned in 1922 at roughly the same time as CKAC and CHYC received call letters as part of the Canadian government issuing the first commercial licenses, in this case in Montreal. CFCF was Marconi-owned, CKAC La Presse and CHYC Northern Electric (now Nortel).

As you say, for the purposes of our current discussion, CFCF kept neither its frequency nor its call letters. Though CFCF stood for "Canada's First, Canada's First". In the mid-1920s, when stations were first licensed to frequencies instead of wavelengths, CFCF was on 730 KHz, then 1030, before moving to its familiar home of 600 KHz in 1933. 600 went silent on April 23, 2000, as the former CFCF moved to 940 KHz, taking the frequency vacated by CBM when they moved to FM, and getting 50,000 watts in the process. The CFCF call letters disappeared on September 9, 1991, becoming CIQC. The call letters changed again, to CINW, during the frequency change.

[Aaron]

The CFCF call letters still live on on Channel 12, which is now "CTV Montreal". They still used them on-air up until 2 years ago.

[gwp]

For years and years, CFCF, when it was part of Marconi Radio, aired promos depicting that station as being the first in Canadian radio....seems to me it was 1919 but won't swear to that date. Now its all for naught with the call letters gone by the way of the dodo bird.

From "Straight Up" by T.J. Allard copywrite 1979.
"Late in 1918, the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of Canada opened XWA in Montreal. It was formally licensed in 1919 as CFCF, to become the first regularly operated broadcasting station in the world. (It continues to serve under those call letters - 1979. )
It's original audience was comprised largely of ships in the St. Lawrence River and "ham" operators. On May 20, 1920, CFCF originated a special program with full orchestra and soloist Dorothy Lutton in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Royal Society of Canada at Ottawa's Chateau Laurier. REception was good in the capital city, where the amazed audience included Sir Robert Borden, the Duke of Devonshire, William Lyon Mackenzie King and Sir Henry Drayton.
Public reaciton was immediate and explosive. Electrical shops could not cope with the demand for home receivers. Department stores quickly established radio divisions. CFCF programs were wired into local theatres for broadcast during intermission.
The Marconi Company immediatley began plans for broadcasting stations throughout Canada. It opened CHCB in Toronto which originated the first broadcast from the CNE, using an "on location" studiio, accompainied by a large display of transmitting and receiving equipment. It also opened CFCB, Vancouver. That was closed in 1923; CHCB in 1925. "

[Eldon-Mr.CFAY]

Greetings Everyone,
Another great topic and something I am interested in but never really thought about before. Thanks Jon for starting this one off and your stats on stations with the longest used call letters and Frequencies in Canada. Really enjoyed reading this one too!!!!

Anyone bother to try this on US AM or FM stations, mighty big job with the huge amount of radio stations in the USA!!!! My guess would be three letter calls that still are used like KJR 950, perhaps KPQ 560 Wenatchee, KOA 850 Denver, Colorado, maybe WLW 700 Cincinnati, Ohio and WWL 870 New Orleans. Speaking of WWL I was listening to them on both the GE Superadio Portable over the air this week at night coming in well, also had my Grace Wi-Fi Radio with the same broadcast and it was like someone repeating themselves. The delay time over the same broadcast was about 30 seconds to a minute from the over the air reception on from the Superadio. Streaming Audio from the Grace Wi-Fi Radio was slightly delaying the same over the air WWL Programming. Congratulations RadioFan on hearing them recently out in New West. too!!! They come in at night near Cobourg, Ontario fairly well most of the time. I was listening to their 24/7 Hurricane broadcast coverage and they did an excellent job with lots of local phone calls etc. about Hurricane Isaac. Lots of power outages in the New Orleans area from this supposedly smaller Hurricane. Lots of people down there did not think it was a Category One Hurricane at all!!!!

Also WIST 690 New Orleans covered it live 24/7 for quite awhile too, I listened to some of their programming on the Grace Wi-Fi Radio too, good local coverage as well. Liked WWL 870 the most though. Even KKAY 1590 with their oldies and black gospel programming which is mostly local had some info. about the Hurricane. On the Big O Gospel Show the Southern accented announcer said " Well folks we got a big ole Hurricane here, I don't like those ole Hurricanes, not me man, not me!!!!" KKAY 1590 is in White Castle, Louisiana north of New Orleans. Quite a station and local!!!!

Anyway thought I would comment on this topic too as I browse the Radio West Archives this morning!

All the Best, from Eldon