doug — off the record

… call letters and frequencies?

Hey, how about this? Two posts two weeks in a row! Remember when I posted daily?

The inspiration for this post actually came from a comment to last week’s post.

“Hey, whatever happened to identifying radio stations by their “call letters”?”

I added the frequencies bit since it seemed appropriate.

Back in the day, we identified radio stations by frequencies and call letters.

Some that come to mind…

• CKLW – AM 800
• CFTR – AM 680
• CKNX – AM 920
• CKNX FM – FM 101.7
• WDET – FM 101.9
• CJAM – FM 99.1
• and I’m sure you could easily add your own from your memories of listening to the radio

Some, we could even sing.

It’s interesting. These days, we typically don’t name the radio station by their call letters, frequencies or jingles. They have names.

In the morning, I listen to CoolRadio while doing some morning work. Actually, I listen to two CoolRadio stations – first from Wingham since it has a news broadcast at 6am. Then, I switch to the Windsor station for local news, radio, and talk. Interestingly, there are also CoolRadio stations in Chatham and Sarnia. So, if you’re referring to one, you need to be specific.

Some other stations that come to mind by their branding are:

• Detroit’s Wheels
• Virgin Radio
• The Bounce
• Radio Betna
• Windsor’s Country
• The X
• Thru The Bible Radio Network

For research, I did scan for stations while out visiting beaches this past week. Want to find more? Open Google Maps and search for Radio Stations. There are all kinds of stations that I had no idea existed. Move the map and do a search again. Centre on Toronto and do a search and be prepared to be blown away.

It does get more involved once you throw Sirius Radio into the mix. I have a bunch of presets at the ready …

• Classic Vinyl Top 100
• Road Trip Radio
• The Bridge
• Deep Tracks
• Prime Country
• Tom Morello’s Battle Hymns
• E Street Radio

What’s unique is that all of these stations are identified by number/frequency to your radio. The radio doesn’t really care about the names. (I’m guessing anyway … <grin>)

• AM 540 to 1600 kHz (Amplitude Modulation)
• FM 88 to 108 MHz (Frequency Modulation)
• SiriusXM (Channels 2- 970 and then more just on the app) S-Band 2.3200 – 2.3450 GHz)

It’s easy to say that the numbers aren’t necessary. But, go out and buy a new car and you’ll find that the numbers are absolutely crucial to setting up your new radio presets.

So, for a Sunday, what are your thoughts?

• do you call your favourite stations by their frequency, call letters, or the on-air brand name?
• do you actually know what frequency your favourite station is broadcast on?
• do you use radio presets for a variety of stations or is your radio set to just your favourite station?
• what is your favourite station?
• AM and FM are free radio whereas SirusXM is a paid service. Do you consider the cost worthwhile?
• is your preference music, talk, news, or something other?
• are you a channel surfer?

As always for a Sunday, I’d be most interested in your thoughts on this topic. Please share them in the comments below.

This is now an irregular Sunday morning themed post. You can check out all the previous posts here.