EMF playing musical chairs with call signs in NYC and elsewhere

[TheBigA]

WPAT is still WPAT after 60 years, multiple owners, several formats, and it's no longer in Paterson. Obviously no concern about branding there.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Why do any stations change call letters, then?

So why do stations change every time there is an ownership change or format flip? They do it apparently because it's radio, it's part of their brand. Or maybe the owners have a pride in radio and see call letters as a reflection of that.

Among the reasons, I'll add one from a sales perspective: new owners often want to disassociate from the previous owner, particularly if they perceive that the station had a bad sales image.

Remember, a large percentage of agency buys are made from out of market, and buyers only know the sales reps, and not much else except what they are pitched. When they pull numbers, the only thing they see are the calls.

New calls: new agency sales image.

Otherwise, many changes are format based. I became manager of WJIT in San Juan years ago. The "jit" letters pronounce as "hit" in Spanish, so those were marvelous calls. But the station had spent 6 years under those calls at dead last in the ratings as "Radio Jit". The image of the station was one of dreadful programming and lousy audio. We changed calls to WQII, 11-Q, and went off the air for 3 months to rebuild and to wipe the image.

Call letters with a bad image can be a jinx.

 

[Kemosabe]

WPAT is still WPAT after 60 years, multiple owners, several formats, and it's no longer in Paterson.

In terms of its call sign, WPAT has been WPAT for nearly 80 years.

 

[TheBigA]

In terms of its call sign, WPAT has been WPAT for nearly 80 years.

I was referring to 93.1 But yes, the AM has been around since 1941.