TV Stations that Have Never Changed Call Letters

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFTO-DT

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBLT-DT

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBOT-DT

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHCH-DT

Here are some of the longest running TV call letters in Canada, CHCH, CFTO, CBLT, CBOT.

 

[RandTV]

Discounting the addition of the "-DT" suffix after the digital transition, Canada's two oldest TV stations (CBFT Montreal and CBLT Toronto) still have the same call letters, although CBLT has changed channels twice over the years.

Others from Ontario, pre-1970 sign-ons:
Barrie - CKVR 3 (1955)
Hamilton - CHCH 11 (1954)
Kingston - CKWS 11 (1954)
Kitchener/Waterloo - CKCO 13 (1954)
London - CFPL 10 (1953)
Ottawa - CBOT 4 (1953), CBOFT 9 (1955), CJOH 13 (1961)
Peterborough - CHEX 12 (1955)
Toronto - CFTO 9 (1960)
Wingham - CKNX 8 (1955, though it only exists as a full satellite of CFPL anymore)

I tend to omit the "-TV" and "-DT" suffixed myself when it comes to TV callsigns.

 

[Evan Stripes Carr]

My apologies - WNEH is still on the air. However, it's ironic that WNTV the Greenville station is the on the air but Spartanburg's WRET went dark (especially with having ETV Upstate's studios at USC Upstate in Spartanburg).

I'm thinking WNEH probably helps bring ETV service to Greenwood/Laurens/Abbeville/Edgefield/McCormick and even the (North) Augusta/Aiken area.

When did WNEH Greenwood go defunct? I didn't hear anything. Are they sharing spectrum with some other station, or are they off the air entirely?

I've never quite understood the need for an SCETV station in that area, but granted, given the terrain, they might be a bit far afield of WNTV and WRLK for reliable OTA reception in Greenwood and surrounding counties.

 

[IM42A]

My apologies - WNEH is still on the air. However, it's ironic that WNTV the Greenville station is the on the air but Spartanburg's WRET went dark (especially with having ETV Upstate's studios at USC Upstate in Spartanburg).

I'm thinking WNEH probably helps bring ETV service to Greenwood/Laurens/Abbeville/Edgefield/McCormick and even the (North) Augusta/Aiken area.

The decision to pick WNTV over WRET was possibly driven by WNTV getting a VHF signal (OTA channel 8). I'm just speculating. And at any rate, WNTV's signal still shows up on PSIP as being both channels 29.x and 49.x, so that WRET still exists as a "ghost station" of sorts.

WNEH does fill in a gap of what would be otherwise marginal SCETV coverage from WNTV, WRLK, and even WEBA. State public TV networks typically seek to provide easily accessible coverage of as much of their home states as possible, even to the point of "overkill" as you have in Kentucky and North Carolina. In Kentucky, they really don't need KET stations in both Owensboro and Henderson, Paducah and Murray, and Pikeville and Hazard. The Paducah KET station (WKPD-29) came into being when independent WDXR folded and donated their license to KET. Eastern North Carolina is utterly saturated with NC PBS stations, and in western NC, you have stations in Asheville and Canton, which are only a few miles apart.

 

[CCBInMI]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFTO-DT

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBLT-DT

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBOT-DT

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHCH-DT

Here are some of the longest running TV call letters in Canada, CHCH, CFTO, CBLT, CBOT.

Some others outside Ontario with startups in 1960 or earlier:

CBAFT Moncton NB (1959)
CBHT Halifax (1954)
CBMT Montreal (1954)
CJBR Rimouski QC (1954)
CBUT Vancouver (1953)
CBWT Winnipeg (1954)
CBWFT Winnipeg (1960) (the French network's first affiliate west of Ontario)
CFCN Calgary (1960)
CFQC Saskatoon (1954)
CFRN Edmonton (1954)
CHAN Vancouver (1960)
CHEK Victoria BC (1956) (original CP had call letters CKTV, these were never used on air)
CJCB Sydney NS (1954)
CKCK Regina (1954)
CKCW Moncton NB (1954)
CKTM Trois-Rivieres, QC (1958) (the CP first had the call sign CFTM, which was never used on air and soon surfaced in Montreal)

1961 saw CFCF and CFTM Montreal, CJCH Halifax and CJOH Ottawa take to the air as well.

 

[ThePowerCow]

In Alabama, off the top of my head:
WALA, WKRG Mobile
WCOV, WSFA Montgomery
WTVY Dothan
WBRC Birmingham.
Not sure about Huntsville.

I'm sure there's more.

 

[rjoc]

Here in Massachusetts, WWLP in Springfield, although moving in it's early years from Channel 61 to Channel 22 and later to "mapped" Channel 22, has had the same call letters since going on the air in 1953.

Both of Boston's PBS member stations, WGBH-2 and WGBX-44, have had their original call letters since going on the air in 1955 and 1967 respectively. And WGBY-57 Springfield has been using those call letters since first going on the air circa 1970 or 1971.

In Providence, WJAR-10 has been using those call letters since their first day on the air in 1949.

In Northern New England, Portland's WCSH-6 and WMTW-8 has had those call letters since their respective first broadcasts in 1953 and 1954.

And don't forget Maine first TV Station WABI TV Bangor; Also WAGM TV Presque Isle in Northern Maine, both have same calls since day one.