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In broadcasting and radio communications, a callsign (also known as a
call sign or call letters, or abbreviated as a call) is a unique designation for a transmitting station.
In Australia, all radio
stations are issued with a callsign by the Australian
Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). A broadcast
station can nominate call letters of preference, or have them
allocated.
All Australian radio callsigns feature a numerical prefix with the prefix number relating to the state or territory in which the station is based,
as follows:
| 1 |
= Australian Capital
Territory (new designation) |
| 2 |
= New South Wales (and
ACT) |
| 3 |
= Victoria |
| 4 |
= Queensland |
| 5 |
= South Australia |
| 6 |
= Western Australia |
| 7 |
= Tasmania |
| 8 |
= Northern Territory |
After the numerical designation, there is either a two-letter suffix for AM stations (eg: 3LO, 4KQ,
5AA) or a three-letter suffix for FM stations (eg: 3MMM, 2DAY,
6RTR).
A callsign may:
| > |
relate to a
geographical area (eg: 2CA Canberra, ACT; 3MEL Melbourne,
Vic.; 7BU Burney, Tas.)
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| > |
relate to a
station's original owner (eg: 4RGC Cairns, QLD - RG
Radio Cairns; 3AK Melbourne, Vic. - Akron Broadcasting) |
| > |
have repeat
letters (eg. 4MMM Brisbane, Queensland; 7TTT Hobart, Tas.;
3EE Melbourne, Vic.) |
| > |
may spell a
word (eg: 1WAY Canberra, ACT; 2DAY Sydney, NSW; 6IX
Perth, WA) |
| > |
or be entirely
random. |
There is no legal
obligation for a broadcast station to identify itself with its
official two or three letter callsign, so many stations have a
separate "on-air identification", for instance 2SYD
= "Nova 96.9"; 3EE = "Magic 1278" and 2XXX
= "NXFM". Some stations choose to shorten their
on-air name for ease-of-use, such as 3FOX = "Fox FM"
and 5MMM = "Triple M".
Some FM callsigns reflect
the origins of the station as an AM broadcaster. In many cases
when AM stations converted to FM, they merely added a letter
to their callsign (eg: 3KZ Melbourne, Vic. became 3KKZ; 5SA
Adelaide, SA. became 5SSA).
If you want a complete
list of Australian callsigns, you can download the Radio
and Television Broadcasting Stations Book here.
Alternatively, you can
search the Register of Radiocommunications Licences.
For a history of
Australian callsigns, click here.
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