For the first time in years, the iconic WKRP call letters are available from a North Carolina broadcaster auctioning them off to TV, AM or full-power FM stations in Greater Cincinnati — and half of America.
“I would like nothing better than to see a Cincinnati-licensed commercial radio or television station participate in our process and ‘bring WKRP home,’ “ says D.P. McIntire, general manager of 100-watt low-power WKRP-LPFM (101.9) in Raleigh, N.C.
No Cincinnati broadcaster has ever used the WKRP call letters — although WBQC-TV (Channel 25) rebranded its low-power station as “WKRP TV” (no hyphen) in 2008.
McIntire also is executive director of Oak City Media Inc., the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which owns the station branded as “101 nine WKRP.” They’re auctioning off the call letters by April 30 to generate funds for the nonprofit, which would then help other low-power FM stations “in need of funds to stay afloat,” he told Radio + Television Business Report.
No Greater Cincinnati area has expressed an interest in the call letters yet, McIntire says. Interested parties have until March 15 to apply.
“Admittedly we're trying to monetize the call sign as best we can, and have structured a program to that end, but our lawyers are going over all the details just to ensure no one involved violates FCC or IRS regulations, so nothing has been mentioned with respect to money thus far,” he says.
WKRP in Cincinnati, which aired four seasons on CBS (1978-82), was a beloved ensemble comedy about a struggling low-rated station which had just switched from “easy listening” music to rock ‘n’ roll. The cast of crazy characters included stoner morning man Dr. Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman); late-night DJ Venus Flytrap (Tim Reid); nerdy newsman Les Nessman (Richard Sanders); program director Andy Travis (Gary Sandy); salesman Herb Tarlek (Frank Bonner); station manager Arthur “Big Guy” Carlson (Gordon Jump) and receptionist Jennifer Marlowe (Loni Anderson). Creator Hugh Wilson based the sitcom on a station in Atlanta, where he worked in advertising.
Soon after WKRP in Cincinnati premiered on CBS in 1978, WKRC-AM (500 kHz) edited the sitcom’s theme song to say, “WKRC in Cincinnati.”
Five years after WKRP was canceled, local radio engineer Jim Stitt considered acquiring the WKRP calls for his WIOK-FM in Falmouth. But he faced two insurmountable hurdles in 1987 — the Falmouth signal didn’t reach downtown Cincinnati, and West Georgia College northwest of Atlanta didn’t want to sell its WKRP call letters to anyone without also purchasing the entire campus radio station.
Stitt’s research also showed that potential listeners might think his radio station was as incompetent as the fictional TV one. “It was funny on the TV, but there might be an image problem with a radio station in this community that would adopt those call letters,” he told me in 1987. Some of his consultants were “very vehement ... against the whole thing.”
It’s hard to tell what kind of programming airs on Raleigh’s KRP, because the station doesn’t stream its signal. The schedule includes Music in the Morning (6-10 a.m.), That Show with D.P. McIntire (10 a.m.-2 p.m.) Democracy Now! (3-4 p.m.) and a novelty music show called Weird Al & Friends (4-6 p.m.) with “a host sounding like Krusty the Clown” from The Simpsons, McIntire says.
WKRP-LPFM’s only direct connection to the TV show are promotional liners like “More music and Les Nessman.” And every Thanksgiving the station broadcasts the audio track from WKRP’s infamous “Turkeys Away” turkey-drop episode nonstop for more than 48 hours, with permission from 21st Century Fox.
“How well it translates to a solely audio story I can’t tell. But it’s been a station tradition since 2015,” McIntire says.
The North Carolina group obtained the call letters in 2014, and signed on in 2015. McIntire said he immediately received a letter from Cincinnati’s Block Broadcasting offering a “sharing agreement” with its WKRP trademark. McIntire says he was not interested.
“There’s an age demographic from 35 to 80 with which that call sign resonates. Nostalgia sells. And someone with the resources to really invest and to lean in to it as a branding element probably wouldn't regret it,” he says.
"Licensed AM, FM or commercial TV station operators whom the FCC assigns call signs beginning with a "W" (east of the Mississippi River) “is welcome to get documentation on our program and how it will be conducted simply by e-mailing me at dpmcintire@wkrpfm.com,” he says. McIntire will send them an application due back by March 15.
“We will then separate contenders from pretenders, with the final step being, essentially, a private auction among three finalists in each of the categories (TV, AM and full-power FMs) the FCC will allow shared call signs. I'm anticipating its conclusion — be it with call signs being shared in all categories or not — by April 30, 2026,” he says.
Is it time for a WKRP in Cincinnati?
“Part of me feels that the WKRP call sign belongs in the Cincinnati market in some form or fashion,” McIntire says. “But whether that will occur or not I can't speculate.”
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