The FCC identifies a TV station's RF channel with a callsign. Callsigns are 4 letters, or 5 alphanumeric characters, and in raw cases only 3 letters. They will always start with "K" or "W". Callsigns that start with a "W" are east of the Mississippi River, callsigns that start with a "K" are west of the river.
| Callsign | |
|
K _ _ _ _
W _ _ _ _ |
West of Mississippi River
East of Mississippi River |
Some full power stations have a callsign that include a suffix of "-DT" or "-TV". All low power stations callsigns include a 1 or 2 letter suffix (-D, -LD, -LP). Service Class is basically allowed maximum Effective Radiated Power (ERP), and varies with region. Station Class is either Full Power or Low Power.
| Callsign | - | Class |
| W or K _ _ _ _ | - | _ _ |
| e.g. K25NG | - | D |
| Suffix | Description | Class | Max ERP |
|---|---|---|---|
| - DT | Digital TV | Full Power |
185 kW
-- VHF 1000 kW -- UHF |
| - TV | Television | ||
| none | |||
| - CD | Class A Digital | Low Power Primary |
3 kW -- VHF 15 kW -- UHF |
| - D | Digital |
Low Power Secondary |
|
| - LD | Low Power Digital | ||
| - LP | Low Power TV |
|
TV Station Callsigns |