How does the other stations choose their call letters?

[adrian]

I know that KHON got theres by combining K (the letter that means is west of the Mississippi river) and HON (honolulu); while KHNL is K + HNL (abbreviation for honolulu, as what you'd find when airports show the flight info).

How did KITV and KGMB get theirs?
I about this while I was waiting for the bus this morning

[helen]

Re: How does the other stations choose their call letters?

No idea but KITV used to be known as KHVH, but that was during the late 60's.

[pzarquon]

Re: How does the other stations choose their call letters?

Whether they came up with the slogan to match the call letters or the other way around, KITV implies that "ITV" is "island television."

KGMB was the first station in Hawaii, and while I imagine there's a story behind them (oh, Mel!), part of me wonders if the call letters were selected before folks had gotten the bright idea to have letters that were catchy or could stand for something.

Apparently, KGMB and KHON (then KONA) were in a race to be first on the air in 1952...

[BigD]

Re: How does the other stations choose their call letters?

KITV was 1st known as KULA in the 1950s until Henry J Kaiser bought it and renamed it KHVH to match the name initials of his then hotel Kaiser Hawaiin Village Hotel.

[Moto]

Re: How does the other stations choose their call letters?

Later on Watamul Broadcasting jumped into the picture with KTRG, which would later become KIKU (Japanese broadcasting station), which later became KHNL.

[lancer808]

Re: How does the other stations choose their call letters?

George M. Bowles was the Chief Engineer when KGMB was a radio station back in the mid-1930s. The station was named after him (G-M-B).

Source: "The Companies We Keep" by Bob Sigall (pg. 302)