Call letters

How do the call letters work here in the U.K.?

Like for example, in Canada the call letters consists of 3-4 letters that start with CB, CF, CH, CI, CJ, or CK. -> ie. CKEM-TV, CKY-TV

And in the states, same amount of letters but starts with K or W -> ie. WMAQ-TV, KXLY-TV, KGO-TV

So how are they arranged here?

Hi I don't want to sound ignorant but what are call letters?

i don't think we have them in the UK, do we?

In the UK (and Europe as a whole I think) we have never used call letters as such, or RF channel numbers, to identify our broadcasters/transmitters. Our broadcasters are arranged such that everyone, wherever they live, should be able to just receive the four or five main networks (the fifth network is more limited in coverage) and no real others.

We don't need a way of identifying our transmitter/broadcasters using callsigns.

This is because in the UK we do not have local broadcasters - who may or may not be affiliated to networks - who only broadcast on one transmitter, and thus one frequency.

The two BBC TV channels are for example VERY networked, and does not carry advertising. BBC One is the name for the first British channel. It is commonly tuned to the first 'programme/channel' space on UK TVs, though it could be anywhere between UHF 21 and 69 in reality (with a few exceptions) Whether you are watching the BBC in England in the southwest or the northeast, it will almost always be showing the same programmes at the same time. (There are bigger variations for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland - but these are still not huge)

The BBC does carry regional variations - but these are commonly limited to news and the odd parliament or documentary programme once or twice a week (less than 2 hours a day of variations in the English regions) - but again these are often carried by more than one transmitter.

ITV, commonly tuned to channel 3 on UK TVs, is less networked as it started as a federation of regional franchise holders. However, these franchise holders broadcast using more than one transmitter, and are named by company, rather than a callsign. e.g. ITV programmes in the East Anglia area are broadcast by Anglia TV. (This is broadcast via three main transmitters, and lots of relays) During peaktime - and increasingly off-peak as well - ITV shares a common network programme schedule as well. Individual franchise holders make the networked shows, but they are broadcast in all franchise areas usually.

On analogue TV we have the following broadcasters :

BBC One
BBC Two
ITV
Channel Four (S4C in Wales - carrying some Welsh language programmes)
Channel Five

And IIRC they change from 21-36 to 36-69 in alternate transmitter regions.

In Spain only the radio stations which broadcast through MW (Medium Wave) have call letters, but they don´t use them. For example, Radio Barcelona is EAJ1, Radio España (in Madrid) is EAJ2.

Here in Spain the TV channels are very networked. The signals are broadcasted through 1800 technical facilities owned by Retevision (which had the monopoly until 2000) which cover 99% of the population. In Pamplona (where I live) we have 2 transmitters (each broadcast the same channels but in different UHF positions).

On analogue there are five national channels: TVE 1 (la Primera), TVE 2 (La 2), Antena 3, Telecinco (cinco=five) and Canal +.  All of the TV channels carry advertising.

TVE1 and TVE2 are state owned channels. TVE1 is similar to BBC1 and TVE2 is similar to BBC2. TVE1 and TVE2 have 17 regional ouputs. TVE1 regional outputs consist mainly of a newscast and a magazine between 1400 and 1430. TVE2 regional outputs consist of a newscast between 2000 and 2030.

Antena 3 and Telecinco are very networked although in some regions they broadcast a regional newscast.

TVE1, TVE2, Antena 3 and Telecinco sometimes have regional ads.

Canal + is a pay-tv channel (although it can broadcast up to six hours per day of free programs, like news or magazines) and doesn´t have regional outputs.

In Canarias, Galicia, Euskadi, Cataluña, Comunidad de Madrid, Comunidad Valenciana and Andalucia there are also two (except in Galicia and Canarias with only one) more regional channels owned by the regional governments.

And finally there are a lot of local channels (the majority of them aren´t regulated). In Pamplona we have Canal 4 which is affiliated with Localia (a company that owns several local channels).

2LO,2ZY, 5IT were early bbc regional names but they changed .

Can you imagine that!

Now on 2ZY, Look East with...

From my limited time in Spain, there was a channel called TV3 with a sort of red triangle logo, along with the Antenna, also I'm sure there was Canal 9 or something too.

I thought the UK was given 'G' call letter assignments. Check out the experimental call sign at sub-tv:

http://www.sub-tv.co.uk/atvtestcards.asp

Interesting - the G- prefix is currently used by Amateur Radio operators in the UK. (And I suppose for TV transmissions in the amateur TV bands)

Call letters were used in the 1920s in the UK and Ireland, but changed to names in the 1930s. Some that I know:

2LO 'to London' - BBC London Station (now Radio 4)
2BE 'to Belfast' - BBC Belfast Station (now Radio Ulster)
2RN 'to Eireann' - RTE Dublin Station (now RTE Radio 1)