WCAN (AM)

WCAN was an AM radio station in Jacksonville, Florida, licensed to the Southeastern Radio Telephone Company beginning May 8, 1922, and deleted on October 26, 1922. It was the first broadcasting station licensed in the state of Florida.

History

On December 1, 1921, the U.S. Department of Commerce, which regulated radio at this time, adopted the first regulations formally establishing a broadcasting station category, which set aside the wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz) for entertainment broadcasts, and 485 meters (619 kHz) for market and weather reports.[1] WCAN was the first Florida broadcasting station to receive a license under the new regulations, issued for operation on the 360 meter "entertainment" wavelength on May 8, 1922, to the Southeastern Radio Telephone Company in Jacksonville.[2] The call letters were randomly assigned from a sequential roster of available call signs.

After a series of test transmissions, WCAN made its formal debut broadcast at 7:45 p.m. on the evening of May 17, publicized by a local newspaper, the Florida Times-Union.[3]

In July 1922, a listener reported receiving WCAN in Gulfport, Florida,[4] and the next month the station was heard in Tuinucu, Cuba, at a distance of 550 miles (890 km).[5]

WCAN was deleted on October 26, 1922.[6]

References

1. "Amendments to Regulations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 3, 1922, page 10.
2. "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, June 1, 1922, page 3. Limited Commercial license, serial #361, issued to the Southeastern Radio Telephone Company in Jacksonville for a three month term.
3. "Program Will be Broadcast Tonight by WCAN Station Established by Southeastern Radiotelephone Company", (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union, May 17, 1922, as reprinted in "1922: Radio Comes To Florida" (Chapter 3), Towers in the Sand: The History of Florida Broadcasting by Donn R. Colee Jr., 2016.
4. "Times Pleases Port Ricky Folk: Golfport Hears Well", Tampa Daily Times, July 24, page 7.
5. Radio Golf", Radio Broadcasting News, August 5, 1922, page 16.
6. "Strike out all particulars", Radio Service Bulletin, November 1, 1922, page 7.