April 4
Today in history has been a busy day in the world of radio and television station debuts.
WKRC-TV (April 4, 1949)
WKRC-TV, channel 12, Cincinnati, Ohio's ABC affiliate, signed on the air on this date 75 years ago. It is the second oldest television station that serves the Cincinnati area, and is still an ABC affiliate. The call sign was derived from the initials of the original owner of WKRC-AM, Clarence Ogden, who founded the Kodel Radio Company.
WYTV (April 4, 1953)
WYTV in Youngstown, Ohio, celebrates 71 years on the air today. It was originally known as WKST-TV for the first ten years that it was broadcasting, as it was partnered with WKST-AM 1200 in New Castle, Pennsylvania. The original call sign stood for the city of New Castle (KaSTle). Then, in 1963, the call letters changed to WYTV, simply standing for Youngstown TeleVision.
KFDA-TV (April 4, 1953)
Along with WYTV, Amarillo, Texas' CBS affiliate KFDA-TV celebrates its 71st birthday today. It is the second television station to sign on and serve the market in Amarillo, the first being KAMR-TV, who signed on in March of the same year. The call sign has stayed the same throughout the 71 years that KFDA-TV has broadcasted, the Amarillo Broadcasting Company suggesting they use the same call letters as their radio station that had been broadcasting since 1939. Unfortunately, we are unsure of what the call sign represents.
WPWR-TV (April 4, 1982)
A young station compared to many, WPWR-TV, the MyNetworkTV affiliate in Gary, Indiana, celebrates 42 years as a station today. It began as an independent station splitting time between the English WPWR-TV, and the Spanish language WBBS-TV. It then became an affiliate of UPN in 1995, MyNetworkTV in 2006, the CW IN 2016, then made a return to MyNetworkTV. These days, it shares a frequency with WFLD, Chicago's FOX affiliate. The call letters are easy to figure out -- PoWeR.
Radio stations:
Many radio stations around North America celebrate their anniversaries today. These include:
WLTJ, 92.9 FM, Pittsburgh, PA (1942, 82 years)
WJFP, 740 AM, Chester, PA (1948, 76 years)
WSIP, 1490 AM, Paintsville, KY (1949, 75 years)
CFAN, 99.3 FM, Miramichi, NB (1949, 75 years)
WJFK, 106.7 FM, Manassas, VA (1961, 63 years)
WUPR, 1530 AM, Utuado, PR (1964, 60 years)
KUCO, 90.1 FM, Oklahoma City, OK (1966, 58 years)
CFXE, 94.3 FM, Edson, AB (1968, 56 years)
WOHF, 92.1 FM, Bellevue, OH (1973, 51 years)
WOES, 91.3 FM, Ovid-Elsie, MI (1978, 46 years)
KAGJ, 88.9 FM, Ephraim, UT (1994, 30 years)
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