Call signs in South America

Call signs in South America are used for a variety of purposes, including identifying radio and TV stations. Argentina and Brazil both have broadcast call signs systems. Some stations still broadcast their call signs a few times a day, but this practice is becoming very rare.

Argentina


Argentinian broadcast call signs consist of two (or, more recently, three) letters followed by multiple numbers. The second letter, as used in television call signs from the 1960s, traditionally indicated the region; LS call signs were given to stations in Buenos Aires, LT in the northeastern region, LU in the southern region, LV in the central region and LW in the northwestern region. (LR was used for some radio stations, especially in Buenos Aires; the earliest radio stations in the Argentine capital had call signs of LR plus one digit.) Most TV stations had call signs with higher two-digit numbers. The five main stations in the Buenos Aires area had call signs from LS 82 to LS 86, while stations in Rosario, Santa Fe had call signs LT 83 and LT 85.

Since 2000 or earlier, call signs beginning with LR and a third letter, as well as have been assigned,

For instance, LRL 421 is Canal 21 in Buenos Aires. There are other Callsigns almost unused, I.E. AYP 75 FM 99.5 MHz. in Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires, and LOL Observatorio Naval (National Observatory, a time signal station which operates in Shortwave.

Brazil


For TV and radio stations the letters ZY are used, followed by one letter and three numbers. ZYA and ZYB are allocated to television stations, ZYI, ZYJ, ZYL and ZYK designate AM stations, ZYG is used for shortwave stations, ZYC, ZYD, ZYM and ZYU are given to FM stations.

For example, ZYB-883 (analog channel 18) is TV Tribuna in Santos.

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