WASHINGTON, DC — What the right hand of the government claims it can’t abide, the left hand doles out as radio station call letters, apparently. Such has certainly proven to be the case for KUNT, a currently non-existent, low-power digital television station in Wailuku, Maui.Although Skokie IL’s KM Communications, Inc. received precisely what it asked for in the new call letters – as well as the less controversial KWTF for its Arizona station – company vice president Kevin Bae issued a formal apology “to anyone that was offended” but the succession of letters. Apparently unaware that some might find KUNT a bit saucier than the average televisions station call letter combo, Bae thanked a Star Bulletin columnist for pointing out the obvious and insists that the entire issue is “extremely embarrassing to me and my company.” Further, Bae assures those with delicate constitutions that “we will file to change those call letters immediately” and “make sure I don’t fall asleep on the job when selecting call signs again.”
Although one might wonder precisely what kind of “sleep” is so deep that the letters KUNT don’t sound like precisely what they spell, Bae and other radio and television station owners did have quite a bit of text to wade through during the recent Federal Communications Commission doling out of new call letters. A 15-page list of available letters was issued by the FCC last week – and KM Communications already owns 80 sets in several states.
Bae says that his attorney had a good laugh at his expense once he heard about the tempest in a teapot.
While computerization of the call letter inventory and assignment has allowed stations to possess letter combinations previously only dreamed of, the short list of creatively colorful station names now includes KCUF-FM near Aspen, CO, which received its mirror image profanity in August, 2005 and proudly proclaims its skills at “Keeping Colorado Uniquely Free.”
Ironically, given the FCC’s near hysteria at the thought of even the most fleeting of rough language being heard on the television airwaves, “objections to the assignment of requested call signs will not be entertained at the FCC,” according to the Code of Federal Regulations.
How KCUF-ed up is that?
