Template:FCC letter/doc
![]() | This is a documentation subpage for Template:FCC letter. It may contain usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original template page. |
{{FCC letter}} generates a web-link for the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) database to retrieve an imported letter, or history cards, of the specified station. These letters are stored as PDF files.
Usage
[edit]{{FCC letter|letterid=Letter ID|hcards=yes|callsign=Callsign and/or description of letter/document}}
Parameters
[edit]|letterid=
- The id of the imported letter (required). Please note that the|letterid=
is not the same as the facility ID of the station. On the FCC site, the letter is linked with the following URL, with the letterid as the parameter:https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=<letterid>
|hcards=
- This optional parameter is needed only if the imported letter consists of FCC history cards. When it does, it is set to "yes," which adds the text "FCC History Cards for..." in front of the value of the callsign parameter.
|callsign=
- The callsign and/or the description of the imported letter/document (required).
Examples
[edit]Code | Result |
---|---|
{{FCC letter|letterid=86435|hcards=yes|callsign=WABC-TV}} |
FCC History Cards for WABC-TV |
{{FCC letter|letterid=65990|hcards=yes|callsign=WOC (covering KICK (1927-1934) & WOC (1934-1980))}} |
FCC History Cards for WOC (covering KICK (1927-1934) & WOC (1934-1980)) |
{{FCC letter|letterid=52212|callsign=WCBS-TV license renewal and the Tri-State "Like It Is" Support Coalition}} |
WCBS-TV license renewal and the Tri-State "Like It Is" Support Coalition |
Resource information
[edit]The FCC "History Cards" were collections of 5 by 8 inch (12.7 by 20.3 cm) index cards, maintained for each AM, FM and TV broadcasting station. They were introduced in early 1927, at the time of the establishment of the Federal Radio Commission (FRC), and were taken over by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) after its formation in 1934. The History Cards replaced earlier card files that had been maintained by the Commerce Department. (Commerce had regulated U.S. radio broadcasting from 1920 to 1927.)
The History Cards were stored in large, publicly accessible pull-out trays. They were individually updated using typewriters, and were used until 1980, when they were replaced by the computerized Broadcast Application Processing System (BAPS). As part of the changeover, the History Cards for active stations (plus a few deleted stations) were copied to microfiche as reversed monochrome images. Subsequently the FCC converted the microfiche images to PDF files, that were made accessible online. The original card sets were sorted alphabetically by station call letters, however, the FCC PDF file copies are accessed via Letter IDs assigned by the FCC's Consolidated Database System (CDBS). | |
FCC History Card organization | |
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FCC PDF file version | Original card appearance |
The first set of cards in an individual station's card deck were "buff" colored. The front of these cards were labeled "Broadcasting Station License Record", and they were used to record basic station data including "Date First Licensed", and current owner and transmitter and studio site information. For stations with a "Date First Licensed" prior to March 1927, the information comes from the earlier Department of Commerce files. This sample card is the first one for KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. | |
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The backs of this first series of cards were labeled "Construction Permit and License Record". Recorded here was chronological summary information about Construction Permits, plus license grants and renewals | |
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The second series in an individual station's card deck, which was initially called "Station Application Record" and later "Application Record - Broadcasting", summarized chronologically a station's applications. These cards were white in color.
Although most of the History Card files only include information starting with the 1927 establishment of the Federal Radio Commission, for a few older stations someone transcribed information from the earlier Department of Commerce files, which was the case with KDKA. | |
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In a small number of cases there was a third series of cards, "Record of Applications Requesting Facilities of Broadcasting Station", which recorded information about competing applications to supplant a station. These competing application cards were reddish in color.
This sample card is for KYW, then in Chicago, which faced numerous competing applications until it was authorized to move to Philadelphia. | |
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Earlier Department of Commerce files | |
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From 1912 until the 1927 formation of the Federal Radio Commission, radio stations were regulated by the Bureau of Navigation within the Department of Commerce. In general all information from this period is omitted from the FCC History Cards, although there are a few cases the Commerce information was transcribed in the opening sections of the FCC History Cards: examples include KDKA Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, WPTF Raleigh, North Carolina and WTMJ Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Commerce had its own set of card files for record keeping, and maintained three sets of station card files, which were organized for cross-referencing purposes by call sign, by location, and by owner. The files were further divided between active and deleted stations. The Call Sign and Location files were on 5 by 8 inch (12.7 by 20.3 cm) index cards. and the Owner cards were 3 by 5 inch (7.62 by 12.7 cm). Until the early 1980s, the Commerce card files were publicly accessible at the then-FCC headquarters location at 1919 M Street, NW in Washington, D.C. Unlike the FCC History Cards, the Commerce cards files were never microfiched. | |
Under Commerce Department regulation, when a new station's initial application was received in Washington, call letters were immediately assigned and a Call Letter card, used for recording technical and ownership information, was created for the station. A second similar set of cards, organized by Location and sorted by city and state, was kept for cross-referencing purposes.![]() Information on the source and type of the new station application, plus the date of its arrival at Commerce, was normally typed on the back of a station's Call Letter card. ![]() Toward the end of 1922 it had become clear that broadcasting was more than a passing fad, so the Bureau created Call Letter cards for Broadcasting Stations, which were pink. ![]() | |
The assignment of call letters basically provided an identifier for a station, but in order to transmit on a regular basis, a station also had to have a license or other formal operating authorization. Station license information was primarily documented in formal licenses issued to the stations, with a copy kept at Washington. It was also summarized in a third set of cards—Owner cards.
Effective December 1, 1921, the Department of Commerce created the first formal regulations for broadcasting stations. During the period of the original broadcast service grants—consisting of Entertainment transmissions on 360 meters (833 kHz), and Market and Weather reports on 485 meters (619 kHz)—white index cards were used for the Owner files. Through 1922 the information on most of these cards was hand written . ![]() In late September 1922, a second entertainment wavelength, 400 meters (750 kHz), was added as the "Class B" wavelength. Stations on 360 meters, now known as Class A stations, continued using white cards. But for the new Class B authorizations the Bureau of Navigation recorded the license information on distinctive orange cards. ![]() The broadcast band was greatly expanded on May 15, 1923. Instead of just two individual entertainment wavelengths, bands of frequencies were created for assignments for the Class A and Class B stations. The Owner cards for the Class B stations continued to be orange, but Class A station Owner cards switched from white to blue. A dwindling number of stations, now referred to as Class C, remained on 360 meters, and their Owner cards continued to be white. Therefore, a station's category could be identified at a glance: blue for Class A, orange for Class B, and white for Class C. ![]() In July 1926, adverse legal rulings caused federal regulation of broadcasting stations to break down, and until the early 1927 formation of the Federal Radio Commission stations were free to operate on frequencies and with powers of their own choosing. Therefore, the Bureau of Navigation went back to just using white cards for all Owner cards. ![]() |
TemplateData
[edit]TemplateData for FCC letter
Template to create links to imported letters in the Federal Communications Commission CDBS database.
Parameter | Description | Type | Status | |
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Letter ID | letterid | Numerical letter ID in the FCC CDBS database, usually five digits, at the end of the URL. | Number | required |
History card flag | hcards | Displays "FCC History Cards for" if flagged yes. Use if the CDBS letter is a set of History Cards.
| Boolean | optional |
Call sign or URL text | callsign | Call sign of station or custom URL text. | String | required |
See also
[edit]