- From: dean blackketter <dean@corp.webtv.net>
- Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 10:38:33 -0700
- To: "Michael A. Dolan" <miked@tbt.com>, www-tv@w3.org (WWW TV List)
At 07:25 AM 8/31/99 -0700, Michael A. Dolan wrote: > > tv:kqed (ITU standard international callsign) > > > >I'd like to lose this too; it's an americanism, and confuses the issues, I > >think. Is there a station with callsign FIRM? > >Huh? ITU is an international organization. The above callsign is >globally unique and has nothing to do with the US (except that the >"k" prefix belongs to the US). Of all the technical issues with tv:, >this is not one. For clarification, the ITU only specifies the first three characters in US call signs. If I remember correctly, the US has KAA through KZZ, NAA through NZZ, and WAA through WZZ. Countries are allowed to extend these call signs (thereby extending the space), and so in the US we have mostly 4 letter FCC assigned call signs, like KQED and WNBC. (I believe, also, that these are more formally known as KQED-TV and WNBC-TV to distinguish them from their radio counterparts.) Interestingly, according to the ITU, the call letters BBC is actually the property of The People's Republic of China, who control BAA through BZZ. -dean
Received on Tuesday, 31 August 1999 13:41:59 UTC