United States Temporary Broadcast Station Grants: 1922-1928

Thomas H. White -- January 1, 2009

Information about early temporary AM (mediumwave) broadcast station grants issued in the United States.
Sections

Background

In the United States there were at least 70 "temporary" broadcast station authorizations issued from 1922 to 1928, in addition to the standard broadcasting grants. None of these temporary grants was mentioned in the Radio Service Bulletin, or the official station lists, with one exception. For some reason KRCA Los Angeles-San Francisco was included in the July, 1926 Radio Service Bulletin's monthly list of new stations, with a note that it was temporary. (It is not clear why this one exception was made. Most temporary grants were long gone by the time the bulletin reached its subscribers, so it made sense to omit the temporary grants.) Also, as far as I can tell there are no records for these stations in the Washington National Records Center in Suitland, MD.

The main source for information on these stations came from two card files which, in the late 1980s, were located at the Federal Communications Commission building at 1919 M Street, NW, in Washington, DC. These card files had been used by the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Navigation, and included broadcast station information back to 1921. One file listed stations by state, and the other by callsign. The regular and temporary station cards were mixed together, so I went through each file card-by-card, noting the temporary grants. (For a review of what these cards looked like, see: Early Commerce Department Records: Examples). The Department of Commerce stopped adding new information to these card files around late 1928/early 1929, as the Federal Radio Commission started a new card file system. I do not have any information on temporary station grants -- if any -- issued after 1928.

Although temporary stations weren't reported in the standard government publications, radio magazines in the early twenties do have references to a few of them. It appears the Commerce Department at this time issued weekly news releases on station actions, which were reprinted by the magazines, and occasionally included information about temporary grants. In addition, S. E. Frost's Education's Own Stations includes reviews of five of the temporary stations: Bancroft School, Haddonfield, NJ (WRAQ); Gardenville High School, Gardenville, NY (WGHS); Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, NY (WDBG); Milton College, Milton, MI (WSAM); and Northern State Normal School, Marquette, MI (WBI). (I suspect Frost found out about these stations by reviewing the same card files I did.) Ray Poindexter's Arkansas Airwaves has an entry for KFMB Little Rock, but does not have any information on its temporary authorization.

Policies

In the period before the 1927 formation of the Federal Radio Commission, temporary stations generally followed the same procedures that standard stations did. Call letters were assigned when the station request was received in Washington. Most temporary station requests came directly to Washington as informal letters or telegrams. A few took the formal route of sending a Form 761, "Applicant's Description of Apparatus", to their region's Radio Inspector, who reviewed the information and then forwarded the form to Washington. (Although these were the same routes used by standard stations, in a reversal of the temporary station pattern most of the regular applicants filled out Form 761s, and only a few sent direct letters or telegrams).

Click here for a detailed map showing the boundary changeK/W MAP The temporary station call letters came from the same blocks used for regular stations: three letter calls until mid-1922, generally followed by sequentially assigned calls of W-A- and W-B- in the east, and KF-- and KG-- in the west. The dividing line between K's and W's was also the same: the eastern borders of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico until late January, 1923, when the boundary was shifted to the Mississippi River. However, for some reason three of these stations didn't follow the standard rule: 4/24/1924 KFPZ Bay City, MI and 10/2/1928 KGIE Milwaukee, WI should have been W's, and 9/6/1924 WEBN Estes Park, CO should have been a K. Like the regular stations there were also a few specially requested calls: 12/10/1924 WNOR ("New Orleans Radio"), 2/19/1925 WADC ("Automobile Dealers Company"), 6/23/1925 WGHS ("Gardenville High School"), 8/12/1925 KUPR ("Union Pacific Railroad"), 9/5/1925 KRCA ("Radio Corporation of America"), 1/4/1926 WLFQ ("Lawrence F. Quigley", mayor), and 7/4/1928 KGHQ (appears to have been specially requested, presumably for "General Headquarters").

On some cards there is a note that the temporary request would be followed by regular broadcasting application, and in a few cases this proved true, with a regular licence with the same call issued a short time after the temporary grant. Included in this group are 6/5/1922 KDZT Seattle, WA; 6/--/1922 WGAX Washington Court House, OH; 11/--/1923 KFMB Little Rock, AR and 2/19/1925 WADC Akron, OH. More unusual are two cases, 11/1/1924 WBAH Minneapolis, MN and 10/--/1925 WDAL Jacksonville, FL, where previously deleted regular stations made temporary comebacks under their original owners and calls.

Some of these stations made more than one appearance, over a period of up to a year, which gave them longer lifespans than some "permanent" stations. And a few were portables (which normally meant they were moved from site to site, rather than operated while moving)--how much more ephemeral could a station be than both portable and temporary?

Obviously there is no way to insure this list is complete. However, there couldn't have been too many more stations, because most of their calls were issued sequentially, and there don't appear to be many "missing" calls in this time period. Also, all of the temporary grants reported in contemporary magazines and in Education's Own Stations were found in the card files. And finally, these card files are very complete with respect to regular station grants.

[One outstanding question is in Kansas City, Missouri. Mark Roberts found that, according to reports in the Kansas City Post, its February 23-24, 1922 broadcasts actually went out under a Special Amateur authorization, 9ZH, instead of "WHO" as listed in the Commerce files. Also, from March through May, 1922 the Post reported making broadcasts under the callsign of WRW, but this assignment does not appear in the Commerce files. See History of "WRW" for more details.]

Station Lists

Listed chronologically below are the temporary grants I was able to uncover. Information for many of the stations is incomplete, as some cards omitted some station data. When available, the following information is listed: First Air Date (or best guess, when there is no recorded information on operating days), Call, Frequency (three dashes means none was recorded, 833 means it was listed as 360 meters), City and State, Owner, Notation on the origin of the request (listed in quotes-this would also normally be the date the call was assigned), Notation on the operating days authorized (also in quotes, this is the date used for the chronological listing), and any additional station information and notes. TG stands for "telegram", "Let" for "letter". A recap of the stations, this time listed by state, follows the main list below:

Main List: Stations by Date (see next list for state information)

01/--/1922 WPU --- BUFFALO, NY. Buffalo Courier + Enquirer,"1/20/22 TG from C. C. Cliswold"
02/--/1922 KDP --- SEATTLE, WA. Saint James Cathedral, "Fm Radio Inspector Seattle 2/2/22"
02/23/1922   WHO --- KANSAS CITY, MO. Kansas City Post, "TG from Dick Smith, Mgr Ed, 2/22/22", "temp 2/23-24/22"
03/--/1922 WWS --- PELLA, IA. Fowler Telephone Company, "TG 3/1/22", "temp bdcst pend lic". NOTE: No regular licence was ever issued.
03/10/1922 WBI --- MARQUETTE, MI. Northern State Normal School, "temp 3/10-11/22"
03/16/1922 WTB --- EVANSVILLE, IN. Sieffert Electric Co., "Let from Cong. Luhring 3/6/22", "temp 3/16/22"
03/--/1922 WSH --- NEW YORK, NY. Experimenter Information Service, "761 fm NY 3/10/22", "temp 4 days"
03/1922?? KYG --- PORTLAND, OR. Radio Service Bureau. No info, but appears to be separate from Willard P. Hawley, Jr.'s KYG, also in Portland, that was a standard broadcast station from 3/28/22-10/13/22.
03/23/1922 WMX 833 PORT HURON, MI. Port Huron Times Herald, TG 3/20/22 for 3/23/22, and 3/23/23 for 3/27/23
03/27/1922 WTA --- UHRICHSVILLE, OH. Board of Trade, "let fm Brd of Trade 3/9/22", "only for one day, March 27, 1922"
03/--/1922 WDS --- RICHMOND, VA. Mann S. Valentine, "TG 3/27/22", "temp"
04/1922?? KDU --- YAKIMA, WA. Hillman Brothers. No information, but the KDU call was assigned to a non-broadcast station in May 1922, so this KDU appears to have come earlier.
04/16/1922 WAAT 833 JERSEY CITY, NJ. Jersey Review, "TG 4/15/22", "temp 4/16 + 19/22 pend appli." NOTE: This station appears in a number of non-government lists, and seems to have actually been on the air for much of 1922. Also, on 8/19/1926 a new, regular, station in Jersey City, WKBD, was set up by Frank V. Bremer, a representative of the Jersey Review. A short time later WKBD changed its call to WAAT. It is now WNYM-970, Hackensack, NJ.
04/16/1922 WAAU --- PHILADELPHIA, PA. H. C. Kuser, "TG 4/15/22", "temp 4/16/22"
04/28/1922 WBAC --- DES MOINES, IA. Kiwanis Club, "TG 4/18/22", "temp 4/28-29/22" [Also 4/28-29/23 on 1050 khz]
05/13/1922 WCAI --- TOPEKA, KS. Frank E. Samuel, "TG 5/5/22", "temp 5/13/22", "Amer. Legion Dept. HQ, State"
06/05/1922 WDAZ --- SCRANTON, PA. American Radio Relay League (Roy C. Ehrhardt, trf Asst), "5/23/22", "temp June 5, 6, 7, 1922"
06/05/1922 KDZT --- SEATTLE, WA. Seattle Radio Association, "761 6/2/22", "temp 6/5-10/22". NOTE: Later received a regular broadcasting licence, with the same call and owner, 8/1/1922-12/7/1923.
06/--/1922 WEAL --- DES MOINES, IA (special train). Mystic Shrine, "TG 5/31/22", "temp to coast and back"
06/--/1922 WGAG --- MILWAUKEE, WI. Wisconsin Radio Show, "TG 6/2/22 fr Spearman Lewis, Mgr Dr, Plankington Hotel", "temp".
06/--/1922 WGAX --- WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, OH. Radio Electric Company, "6/22/22 fm owner", "temp auth". NOTE: Later received a regular broadcasting licence, with the same call and owner, 9/--/1922 to 7/20/1923.
07/26/1922 WIAM --- DUNMORE, PA. F. M. Tarbox, "letter 7/14/22", "temp 7/26-27/22", "335 S. Blakley St."
08/--/1922 WJAW --- AUDUBON, IA. Reinemund Hardware Company, "TG 8/9/22", "temp"
08/--/1922 WJAY --- DES MOINES, IA. Iowa State Fair, "let State Dept Agri-Iowa 8/10/22", "temp"
11/10/1922 WNAZ --- BETHLEHEM, PA. Lehigh Radio Co., "let Radio Inspector Baltimore 11/2/22", "temp 11/10/22"
11/19/1922 WOAM ---BETHLEHEM, PA. Arthur F. Breisch, "from Radio Inspector Baltimore 11/15/22", "temp 11/19/22"
01/14/1923 KFFD --- TACOMA, WA. Saint Patrick's Cathedral, "TG fm Wm. A. Mullins Co 1/11/23", "temp 1/14-21/23"
01/19/1923 WQAG --- REDFIELD, SD. Frederick L. Legler, "TG 1/18/23 from Charles M. C. Woodland", "1/19/23 only"
03/20/1923 WSAM --- MILTON, WI. Milton College (A G Sayre), "TG from owner 3/19/23", "temp 3/20-21/23"
05/07/1923 WRAQ --- HADDONFIELD, NJ. Bancroft School (Dr. E. A. Farrington), "5/5/23" for "5/7-10/23" plus "4/28/24" for "5/11-17/24"
10/--/1923 WTAV 1070RICHMOND, VA. Sydnor Pump & Well Co., "temp see case 2190NR 10-1-23"
10/--/1923 KFLC --- DALLAS, TX. State Fair of Texas, "TG fm R. A. Hall, 2913 Live Oak St., Dallas, TX, 10/13/23", "2 weeks"
11/--/1923 KFMB 1180 LITTLE ROCK, AR. Christian Churches of Little Rock, "TG H. L. Remmell 11/3/23", "temp pend lic". NOTE: Later received a regular broadcast licence, with the same call and owner, 11/--/1923 to 6/1/1925.
04/08/1924 WCBP 1150 DIXON, IL. Dixon Evening Telegram (George B. Shaw), "let 3/20/24", "temp 4/8/24"
04/08/1924 WCBS 1330 MACOMB, IL. Macomb Journal, "TG 4/7/24", "temp 4/8/24, 11/4/24"
04/24/1924 KFPZ --- BAY CITY, MI. Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, "TG fm Elks Bay City 4/23/24", "temp 4/24/24 one day"
04/25/1924 KFPJ --- HURON, SD. Merle Buck, "4/20/24", "temp 4/25/24"
05/10/1924 WDBM 860 FORT WAYNE, IN. Robert Dreisbach, "TG 5/6/24", "temp 5/10/24 3:00 to 6:00 PM"
05/30/1924 WDBG --- GETTYSBURG, PA. Gettysburg College, "SR Baltimore, 4/28/24", "temp 5/30/24, 11/11/24"
06/--/1924 WEBB --- PORTLAND, ME. RCA Exhibit, "fr G. H. Clark 6/20/24", "temp one week"
07/12/1924 WEBF 1170 DAYTON, OH. East Dayton Electric Company, "let from Cong. Fitzgerald 7/2/24", "temp 7/12/24"
08/27/1924 WEBM --- DETROIT, MI. Detroit Yacht Club, "let 8/19/24", "temp 8/27/24 to 9/1/24"
09/06/1924 WEBN 1300 ESTES PARK, CO. Boy Scouts of America, "fm Jas E. West 8/28/24", "temp week 9/6/24", "Sys-Western Elec Co, 50 watts"
10/15/1924 KFRK --- DES MOINES, IA. Iowa Federation of Labor, "TG fm J. C. Lewis, Iowa Fed Labor, 10/14/24", "temp 10/15/24"
11/01/1924 WBAH 720 MINNEAPOLIS, MN. The Dayton Company, "temp 11/1/24". NOTE: This was a revival of a standard broadcasting station, with the same call and owner, that had been licenced from 4/21/1922 to 9/5/1924.
11/18/1924 WFBP --- CHATHAM, OH. H. J. Kohji, "TG 11/18/24", "temp 11/18/24"
12/10/1924 WNOR --- NEW ORLEANS, LA. New Orleans Radio Assoc., "let fm SR New Orleans 11/18/24", "temp one week beg 12/10/24"
01/15/1925 WGBP 1200 TAMPA, FL. M. L. Price Music Company, "761 fm SR Atlanta", "temp 1/15-20/25, 10/6/25", "339 Plant Ave., 50 watts"
02/06/1925 WGBV --- STROUDSBURG, PA. Monroe County Newspapers (Colley S. Baker, editor), "TG 2/3/25", "temp 2/6-7/25"
02/19/1925 WADC --- AKRON, OH. Automobile Dealers Company, "TG from Frank O'Neill 2/16/25", "temp 2/19-28/25, 2/28-3/3/25", "auth ext TG to G. J. Harter on request of cong Davy". NOTE: In March, 1925 a new regular station, WADC in Akron, was licenced to the Allen Theater. This station is now WARF-1350 in Akron.
04/02/1925 WHBZ 1090 ANDERSON, SC. J. A. Mitchell, "TG 4/1/25", "temp 4/2/25"
03/05/1925 WIBB 1360 FREEPORT, IL. Ridgeway Electric Company, "TG Ridgeway 3/3/25", "temp 3/5-6-7/25"
05/10/1925 KFVP 1090 OMAHA, NE (portable). Chamber of Commerce (Omaha), "TG from Chamber of Commerce 5/5/25", "5/10/25-5/24/25"
05/24/1925 KFVP 1090 SIOUX FALLS, SD (portable). Chamber of Commerce (Sioux Falls), "TG from Chamber of Commerce, Sioux Falls 5/19/25", "5/24/25-5/29/25"
06/23/1925 WGHS --- GARDENVILLE, NY. Gardenville High Sch. (Lester Eggleston), "6/17/25", "temp one day 6/23/25"
08/--/1925 KFWL --- PAI MAUI, HI. C. L. Ludin, "fm San Francisco 6/22/25", "Wedn evening, Aug. and Sept. 1925"
08/12/1925 KUPR 1110 OMAHA, NE. Union Pacific Railroad, (portable, moving train). "res 7/23/25, deleted 9/11/25", "45 days from 8/12/25", "1416 Dodge St."
09/05/1925 KRCA --- LOS ANGELES, CA. Radio Corporation of America. First assignment was "temp one week 9/5/25-9/9/25". Three more assignments followed, all listed as 100 watts on 983 khz: San Francisco, 8/21/26-8/28/26; Los Angeles, 9/5/26-9/11/26; and Riverside, 9/--/26. "deleted 12/31/26"
09/14/1925 WJBJ --- BUTLER, PA. Walter Morris, "9/9/25", "temp one day 9/14/25"
10/--/1925 WJBH 1220 ROCKY MOUNT, NC. Evening Telegram, "SR Atlanta 9/29/25", "temp 15 days in October", "10 watts"
10/--/1925 WDAL --- JACKSONVILLE, FL. Florida Times-Union, "fr owner 10/2/25", "temp auth during World Series" NOTE: This was a revival of a standard broadcasting station, with the same call and owner, that had been licenced from 5/19/1922-12/22/1923.
10/19/1925 WJBM 1220 BATTLE CREEK, MI. Enquirer News, "10/1/25","temp 10/19-21/25", "10 watts, range 1 mile"
01/04/1926 WLFQ 1320 CHELSEA, MA. Lawrence F. Quigley (Mayor of Chelsea), "req 12/31/25", "temp 1/4/26 night only"
05/03/1926 WJBS 1260 AUBURN, NY. George I. Stevens, "4/23/26", "temp one day 5/3/26", "50 watts"
11/15/1926 WLBD --- ERIE, PA. Dispatch-Herald, "let 11/4/26", "auth 11/15-20/26, auth 11/23/26 cont oper", "canc call let 5/13/27-no reply to letters"
05/28/1927 WNBV 1500 BARABOO, WI. Young Men's Christian Association, "operate one night 5/28/27"
05/27/1928 KGGU --- SAN FRANCISCO, CA. San Francisco Post Enquirer, "temp one day 5/27/28"
07/04/1928 KGHQ 590 OAKLAND, CA. U S Army, Col. C. P. Mader, Chairman Parade Committee, "call assigned upon TG request", "temp 7/4/28 only"
08/10/1928 WTBF 1460 SKOWHEGAN, ME. Blin Page, "temp ten days from 8/10/28"
10/02/1928 KGIE 1500 MILWAUKEE, WI. Wisconsin Radio Trade Association, "temp 10/2/28 to 10/7/28"
Recap: Stations by State (see chronological list above for full station details)

  AR  LITTLE ROCK11/--/1923KFMB 1180 Christian Churches, Little Rock
CA LOS ANGELES 09/05/1925 KRCA --- R.C.A. (also RIVERSIDE and SAN FRANCISCO)
  OAKLAND 07/04/1928 KGHQ 590 U S Army, Col. C.P. Mader, Chairman
  SAN FRANCISCO 05/27/1928 KGGU---San Francisco Post Enquirer
CO ESTES PARK 09/06/1924 WEBN1300 Boy Scouts of America
FL JACKSONVILLE 10/--/1925 WDAL --- Florida Times-Union
  TAMPA 01/15/1925 WGBP 1200 M. L. Price Music Company
HI PAI MAUI 08/--/1925 KFWL --- C. L. Ludin
IL DIXON 04/08/1924 WCBP 1150 Dixon Evening Telegram
  FREEPORT 03/05/1925 WIBB 1360 Ridgeway Electric Company
  MACOMB 04/08/1924 WCBS 1330 Macomb Journal
IN EVANSVILLE 03/16/1922 WTB --- Sieffert Electric Company
  FORT WAYNE 05/10/1924 WDBM 860 Robert Dreisbach
IA AUDUBON 08/--/1922 WJAW --- Reinemund Hardware Company
  DES MOINES 04/28/1922 WBAC 833 Kiwanis Club
  DES MOINES(port.)06/--/1922WEAL833 Mystic Shrine (special train)
  DES MOINES 08/--/1922 WJAY 833 Iowa State Fair State
  DES MOINES 10/15/1924 KFRK --- Iowa Federation of Labor
  PELLA 03/--/1922 WWS --- Fowler Telephone Company
KS TOPEKA 05/13/1922 WCAI 833 Frank E. Samuel
LA NEW ORLEANS 12/10/1924 WNOR --- New Orleans Radio Association
ME PORTLAND 06/--/1924 WEBB --- RCA Exhibit
  SKOWHEGAN 08/10/1928 WTBF 1460 Blin Page
MA CHELSEA 01/04/1926 WLFQ 1320 Lawrence F. Quigley (Mayor)
MI BATTLE CREEK 10/19/1925 WJBM 1220 Enquirer News
  BAY CITY 04/24/1924 KFPZ --- Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks
  DETROIT 08/27/1924 WEBM --- Detroit Yacht Club
  MARQUETTE 03/10/1922 WBI --- Northern State Normal School
  PORT HURON 03/23/1922 WMX 833 Port Huron Times Herald
MN MINNEAPOLIS 11/01/1924 WBAH 720 The Dayton Company
MO KANSAS CITY 02/23/1922 WHO --- Kansas City Post
NE OMAHA (portable) 05/10/1925 KFVP 1090 Chamber of Commerce (Omaha)
  OMAHA (portable) 08/12/1925 KUPR 1110 Union Pacific Railroad
NJ HADDONFIELD 05/07/1923 WRAQ --- Bancroft School (Dr Farrington)
  JERSEY CITY 04/16/1922 WAAT 833 Jersey Review
NY AUBURN 05/03/1926 WJBS 1260 George I. Stevens
  BUFFALO 01/--/1922 WPU --- Buffalo Courier + Enquirer
  GARDENVILLE 06/23/1925 WGHS --- Gardenville High School
  NEW YORK 03/--/1922 WSH --- Experimenter Information Service
NC ROCKY MOUNT 10/--/1925 WJBH 1220 Evening Telegram
OH AKRON 02/19/1925 WADC --- Automobile Dealers Company
  CHATHAM 11/18/1924 WFBP --- H. J. Kohji
  DAYTON 07/12/1924 WEBF 1170 East Dayton Electric Company
  UHRICHSVILLE 03/27/1922 WTA --- Board of Trade
  WASHINGTON C. H.06/--/1922WGAX--- Radio Electric Co.
OR PORTLAND 03/--/1922? KYG --- Radio Service Bureau
PA BETHLEHEM 11/10/1922 WNAZ 833 Lehigh Radio Company
  BETHLEHEM 11/19/1922 WOAM --- Arthur F. Breisch
  BUTLER 09/14/1925 WJBJ --- Walter Morris
  DUNMORE 07/26/1922 WIAM 833 F. M. Tarbox
  ERIE 11/15/1926 WLBD --- Dispatch-Herald
  GETTYSBURG 05/30/1924 WDBG --- Gettysburg College
  PHILADELPHIA 04/16/1922 WAAU 833 H. C. Kuser
  SCRANTON 06/05/1922 WDAZ 833 American Radio Relay League
  STROUDSBURG 02/06/1925 WGBV --- Monroe County Newspapers
SC ANDERSON 04/02/1925 WHBZ 1090 J. A. Mitchell
SD HURON 04/25/1924 KFPJ --- Merle Buck
  REDFIELD 01/19/1923 WQAG 833 Frederick L. Legler
  SIOUX FALLS(port.)5/24/1925KFVP1090Chamber of Comm (S.F.)
TX DALLAS 10/--/1923 KFLC --- State Fair of Texas
VA RICHMOND 03/--/1922 WDS --- Mann S. Valentine
  RICHMOND 10/--/1923 WTAV 1070 Sydnor Pump & Well Company
WA SEATTLE 02/--/1922 KDP --- Saint James Cathedral
  SEATTLE 06/05/1922 KDZT --- Seattle Radio Association
  TACOMA 01/14/1923 KFFD 833 Saint Patrick's Cathedral
  YAKIMA 04/--/1922??KDU --- Hillman Brothers
WI BARABOO 05/28/1927 WNBV 1500 Young Men's Christian Association
  MILTON 03/20/1923 WSAM --- Milton College (A. G. Sayre)
  MILWAUKEE 06/--/1922 WGAG 833 Wisconsin Radio Show
  MILWAUKEE 10/02/1928 KGIE 1500 Wisconsin Radio Trade Association

Additional Stations

Three stations included in the card files apparently were outside of the broadcast frequencies.

One is KGEE, listed as "Portable, vessel in Catalina Channel, Cal." It is listed on 80 meters (which would be equivalent to 3750 khz) with the notation "TG 1/13/27 auth oper one day 1/15/27 for channel swimming contest. E. W. Lippincott, 262 American Avenue, Long Beach, California".

The second is WCT, the Evening News Association, in Detroit, MI, which submitted a Form 761 from Detroit on October 3, 1922, for "temp 10/3-12/22". It is listed as a "Private" station, authorized for 300 and 500 meters [1000 and 600 khz]. In contrast, broadcast stations at this time fell under the "Limited Commercial" classification, and used 360, 400 and 485 meters (833, 750 and 619 khz).

The final station is probably the most famous temporary station ever to operate in the United States. WJY, in Hoboken, NJ, was a "temp station, one day operation" which was used on July 2, 1921 as a "radiophone to broadcast Dempsey-Carpentier fight". According to the records, the request to set up the station came in the form of "let NY 6/24/21" from R.C.A. WJY operated on the longwave wavelength of 1600 meters, or 187 khz. (NOTE: In May, 1923 R.C.A. received an authorization for a regular station, also assigned the call WJY, in New York City, which lasted until 1927. However, this later WJY was not directly related to the earlier longwave temporary grant.)