Call letters remain one of the most important aspect of radio stations. In fact, with all the radio slogans and nicknames out there, it's about the only way to easily identify a station outside of its frequency.
All call letters in the West begin with "K." Any station that has call letters that begin with a K are west of the Mississippi. Stations east of the Mississippi begin with "W." (Only WACO in Waco, Texas, has been granted an exception to the rule.)
And radio stations try to adapt their call letters in some way to what the station does, or where it is, or as an acronym of some kind.
For example, the two most obvious in Salt Lake City are KSL, AM-1160, which took the "SL" for "Salt Lake" (this was Utah's first station, in 1922, and the original letters were "KZN"; "KSL" came 13 months later), and KALL, AM-910, a variation of "Call," encouraging listeners to call the station (its earliest radio ads in 1945 said, "Dial KALL . . . That's all!").
Here's a rundown of some — but not all — of Utah stations' call-letter meanings, with special thanks to Joey Santarelli of Roy for his expertise and also to Friend Weller of Cache Valley:
AM stations:
KNRS, AM-570: "News radio station." Previous call letters were KISN-AM, and before that, KLUB.
KSUB, AM-590, Cedar City. The SU represents "southern Utah."
KVNU in Logan (AM-610). The last three letters were selected because they represent "voice (of) northern Utah."
KMTI, AM-650 and FM-105.1: Abbreviation of "Manti," the station's home.
KOAL, AM-750: Variation of "coal," a big industry in the station's hometown of Price. The station is Utah's fourth-oldest, having started in 1936. However, the station was originally KEUB for Eastern Utah Broadcasting Co
KVEL, AM-920: Abbreviation of "Vernal," the station's home.
KOVO, AM-960: "Ovo" of Provo, was Utah County's first radio station in 1939. Now an all-sports station.
KSVC, AM-980: Acronym for "Sevier County," a Rich-field-licensed station.
KIQN, AM-1010: "IQN" represents "IntelliQuest Media," the station's owner, though it has been for sale recently.
KKDS, AM-1060: Was "Kids" radio starting in 1990, until a format change took place at the end of 1997 to all-American classics. Call letters originally were KRSP-AM.
KWUN, AM-1230: Originally stood for "Radio One," and a previous format.
KFNZ, AM-1320: Abbreviation of "FANZ" for "K-Fan," all-sports radio, originated in 1996.
KTMP, AM-1340: Represents "(Mount) Timpanogos"; a Heber City station.
KLGN, AM-1390: Abbreviation of "Logan," station's home.
KLO, AM-1430: Originally stood for "Logan/Ogden."
KMRI, AM-1550: Stands for "Miracle Rock" church, the station's owner. (The "I" doesn't stand for anything.)
KXOL, AM-1660: Represents "extra oldies" in the station's format.
FM stations:
KWCR, FM-88.1, "Weber College Radio" or "Wildcat Radio" in Ogden, even though Weber has university status.
KPGR, FM-88.1: "Pleasant Grove Radio," a high school student station.
KPCW, FM-88.3: Represented "Park City West" in its early days.
KBYU, FM-89.1: "Brigham Young University" station.
KUER, FM-90.1: "Utah Educational Radio," from the University of Utah.
KRCL, FM-90.9" Is "Listeners' Community Radio" in a backward form.
KUSU, FM-91.5: "Utah State University" station from Logan.
KOHS, FM-91.7: "Orem High School" student station.
KURF, FM-91.7: Stands for "Utah Family Radio."
KUBL, FM-93.3: A variation of "BUL" for K-Bull. A sister radio station in Reno already has the KBUL call letters, so KUBL is the next closest abbreviation available.
KBEE, FM-98.7: "Bee" is the station's mascot and nickname.
KURR, FM-99.5" Represents "Utah's rock 'n' roll."
KSFI, FM-100.3: "Simmons Family Inc.," owner of the station. It was KSL-FM before Bonneville International sold it.
KBER, FM-101.1: "The Bear," a variation spelling of the station's mascot. (Frequency used to be KDAB: "Droubay and Bush," who were the owners.)
KKAT, FM-101.9: Variation of cat, station's mascot.
KQMB, FM-102.7: Stands for Quarry Broadcasting, station's previous owner.
KCPX, FM-105.7: Used to represent "Columbia Pictures," which bought the station in 1959; it was then found at AM-1320.
KOSY, FM-106.5: Variation of station's nickname, "KOZY, 106.5," soft and relaxing favorites.
KRAR, FM-106.9: Abbreviation for "rock 'n' roll," a previous station format.
KENZ, FM-107.5: "EN" is short for "The End" (station nickname) and "Z" is the last letter of the alphabet, another accent on the nickname and its extreme right position on the dial.
LEN ALLEN, Utah's oldest radio voice, is going to be out of action longer than expected. The 75-year-old radio personality, who had throat surgery in late August, may not be back on the air at Ogden's KLO (AM-1430) until late October. Allen's co-host, Dan Jessop, said doctors found an additional problem with Allen's throat last week. Allen started his career on KLO in 1947.
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com