1 of 1- RadioActive
- Moderator
Offline 
One Radio Station, Three Sets Of Call Letters At The Same Time
Back in the very early days of radio and TV, it wasn’t unusual for a station to be “shared time,” meaning it was operated by one group for a certain number of hours, then handed off to somebody else for the rest of the day.
It was a common thing in the 20s, 30s and 40s, although there weren’t many in this area. (I remember WHEC-TV Channel 10 in Rochester was a shared time station with WVET until 1961, when the former took it over completely.) But ever since then, it’s been a practice consigned to history.
So I was surprised to read on Wednesday that a low-powered community radio station in Providence, Rhode Island is now on the air, sharing its time among three separate owners. But what’s really weird is that depending on the day or hour, it will have three separate sets of call letters on the same frequency.
WBRU, a formerly defunct station, gets 50% of the airtime, WFOO (and you thought CKNT was a lousy call letter choice!) takes 44% and little WVVX gets the rest, at 6%. Imagine trying to sort that out in the ratings! (Although being a low power outlet, I doubt it will factor into or pay a rating service.)
I bring this up only because I thought this was a long buried idea and I’ve never heard of it happening in the past 60 years. Does anyone else know of a similar arrangement anywhere else in the world? I can’t think of a single one these days.
One Radio Station, Three Sets Of Call Letters
(Screen grab courtesy WJAR-TV Providence.)
- Saul
- Member
Offline
Re: One Radio Station, Three Sets Of Call Letters At The Same Time
WPBT channel 2 in Miami FL shared with WTHS until 1979. I remember it having both when I started radio-TC DXing in 1977... it was one of my most common TV catches via e-skip. Details below ... it is Wikipedia, but I'm sure there are other sources, and I know from my own eyes and ears that the sharing of the channel was fact.
Last edited by Saul (February 20, 2019 1:30 pm)
- RadioActive
- Moderator
Offline
Re: One Radio Station, Three Sets Of Call Letters At The Same Time
Indeed, you are correct, Saul. I'd completely forgotten about the weirdness in Miami. When I was a kid, my family went to Miami for Christmas vacation over several years. And while I don't recall actually noticing this at the time (and really who was watching TV during rare vacay time in Florida? And even then, an educational station?) I do remember it now.
And just to prove it (and the fact I never throw anything out) here's a TV Guide channel listing from the South Florida edition from December 19, 1970.
- •
Thread Starter- fybush
- Member
Offline
Re: One Radio Station, Three Sets Of Call Letters At The Same Time
I'm a little late to the game here, having been traveling, but this sort of share-time thing is somewhat common these days for low-power FM stations. When multiple applicants all filed for the same frequency in the last translator window, the FCC used a points system to pick the winner - but in many cases, it resulted in a tie, and one way to resolve that tie was to agree to share time on a frequency.