Understanding Radio Station Call Signs

December 22, 2015 5:36 PM

I am working on a project where I am comparing NPR member stations to the list of stations at each state broadcasting association's website. I have found several cases where the same station call sign on the same band and at the same frequency is listed in two different communities. For example, Texas station KTTZ-FM 89.1 is shown by the NPR 2013 station list to be in Leander and Lubbock. Is this a mistake?
posted by CollectiveMind to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

That particular one looks like an error. You will notice the next station on the list, KUTX, is also in Leander, which seems unlikely. According to their Web site, KTTZ is in Lubbock.

Sometimes stations do broadcast in multiple areas, but usually the call letters and frequency are different.
posted by kindall at 5:43 PM on December 22, 2015

Maybe the station is listed in more that one location if it uses a translator or booster?
posted by Grumpy old geek at 6:54 PM on December 22, 2015 [4 favorites]

KUTX's tower IS in Leander.

I still think it might be a typo. Looking up the FCC info doesn't mention Leander anywhere, and I've never heard a booster for KTTZ driving around the Austin area. (Also, when looking for info showing KTTZ in Leander, this ask was the second hit in google)
posted by lownote at 7:54 PM on December 22, 2015

The studio (mailing address) and transmitter site -- both important to the FCC -- may be miles apart, even tens of miles apart.
 
posted by Herodios at 10:52 PM on December 22, 2015

Response by poster: Repeater stations have a call sign that consists of a combination of five letters and numbers, as opposed to a regular station which has a call sign of four letters only.
posted by CollectiveMind at 11:30 PM on December 22, 2015

Response by poster: Another example, WSHU AM 1260 is listed as being both in Norwalk CT and Westport CT. Is one location the studio while the other is the transmitter site? Or is this another mistake?
posted by CollectiveMind at 11:41 PM on December 22, 2015

In LA, some stations broadcast from Pasadena but say they are from LA. And KCRW broadcasts as KCRY/KCRU etc. in different areas across SoCal.
posted by persona au gratin at 2:29 AM on December 23, 2015

It's been a while since I worked in radio, but as I recall, if a station's transmitter signal can be measured in any given area (a certain minimum number of microwatts/microvolts/something like that), that area can be included in station identification announcements.

Transmitters can be in other geographic areas from the main station which controls the transmitter via phone line or microwave signal. It's the control point that is the licensed location.
posted by DandyRandy at 1:44 PM on December 23, 2015