Call signs in Europe

Call signs in Europe are not formally used for broadcast stations. However, broadcasters have developed their own makeshift call signs.

It is quite common that instead of regular call signs abbreviations of the stations' names are used (e.g. ARD, RTL in Germany, ORF in Austria, BBC, ITV or SKY in the United Kingdom, TF1 in France, TV3 in Spain, etc.). In most of Europe, TV and radio stations have unique names, such as ProSieben in Germany, France 2 in France, Nova Television in Bulgaria, Antena 3 in Spain, etc.

In Britain, there is no call sign in the American sense. Instead, a trade mark system is used. A broadcaster can call their station what they like, so long as it's not obscene, racist, sexist, homophobic/transphobic, libellous, infringes someone else's trade mark or leads to contempt of court. The rules set by Ofcom are very clear:

"Call-signs will not be permitted if they are likely to cause offence, or if they are likely to mislead listeners as to the nature of the service. They are agreed on the understanding that the applicant will have cleared all necessary right and trade-marking issues".^[1]

Also, a station name can be no more than six words. There are no prohibitions on calling a station The Future Sound of Hell, for instance, so long as it does not infringe these rules. As for any brand name, there can be copyright issues.

References