# List of temporary broadcasting stations in the United States

List of temporary broadcasting stations in the United States is a review of broadcasting stations which were not issued standard licenses, but instead were given temporary authorizations, to be used for special purposes and limited time periods. In a small number of cases these authorizations were followed by a standard license, or this represented a short-term revival of a previously licensed station. However, in most cases the stations expired immediately after their intended purpose was fulfilled.
Information about these stations is somewhat limited. The monthly issues of the Radio Service Bulletin, and the annual station lists issued by the U.S. government, regularly reported the status of stations operating under standard licenses. However, in general these publications did not include information about temporary stations, although basic information about these grants was included in station card files maintained by the government.

## Radio stations

Temporary radio stations :
| Call | Initial temporary authorization | Location | Owner | Notation | Additional information |
| WJY | 7/2/1921 | Hoboken, New Jersey | Radio Corporation of America | "let NY 6/24/21", "temp station, one day operation", "radiophone to broadcast Dempsey-Carpentier fight". | 1600 meters (187 kHz). Longwave station set up to broadcast ringside reports of the Dempsey-Carpentier heavyweight boxing match. |
| WPU | 1/22/1922 | Buffalo, New York | Buffalo Courier + Enquirer | "1/20/22 TG from C. C. Cliswold" | 360 meters (833 kHz). The Buffalo Courier reported that "even those totally ignorant of the wireless are to be given an opportunity to hear a concert over the radio" as the newspaper arranged for a broadcast on January 22, 1922, from the Elmwood Music Hall provided by the Irving Berlin Music Publishing company of New York. |
| KDP | 2/5/1922 | Seattle, Washington | Saint James Cathedral | "Fr Radio Inspector Seattle 2/2/22" | Paulist Fathers Donegan and Quinan broadcast a series of sermons beginning on February 5, 1922. (They returned a year later over another temporary station, KFFD in Tacoma.) |
| WHO | 2/23/1922 | Kansas City, Missouri | Kansas City Post | "TG from Dick Smith, Mgr Ed, 2/22/22", "temp 2/23-24/22" | Contemporary articles in the Kansas City Post list this station's call letters as "WRW". |
| WWS | 3/--/1922 | Pella, Iowa | Fowler Telephone Company | "temp bdcst pend lic" | The station, located at W. H. Fowler's home, was described as "the only one for a town the size of Pella in the state". No regular license was ever issued. |
| WBI | 3/10/1922 | Marquette, Michigan | Northern State Normal School | "temp 3/10-11/22" | Used "for special purposes". |
| WTB | 3/16/1922 | Evansville, Indiana | Sieffert Electric Co. | "Let from Cong. Luhring 3/6/22", "temp 3/16/22" | Planned concert broadcast by visiting New York Metropolitan Opera prima donna Rosa Ponselle was unable to take place due to an inability to procure vacuum-tubes needed to operate the transmitter. |
| WSH | 3/--/1922 | New York, New York | Experimenter Information Service | "761 fm NY 3/10/22", "temp 4 days" | |
| WMX | 3/--/1922 | Port Huron, Michigan | Port Huron Times Herald | TG 3/20/22 for 3/23/22, and 3/23/23 for 3/27/23. | Station was primarily used to broadcast performances by participants in the Times-Herald "Music Memory" contests. |
| WTA | 3/27/1922 | Uhrichsville, Ohio | Board of Trade | "let fm Brd of Trade 3/9/22", "only for one day, March 27, 1922" | The Board of Trade held its annual meeting on this date, but a local newspaper report has no reference to any radio broadcasts. |
| WDS | 3/--/1922 | Richmond, Virginia | Mann S. Valentine | "TG 3/27/22", "temp" | Station was reported to be preparing to broadcast a Good Friday service by the All Saints' Episcopal church. |
| KDU | 4/--/1922 (?) | Yakima, Washington | Hillman Brothers | | Limited information: the KDU call sign was reassigned to a non-broadcast station in May 1922, so this KDU came earlier. |
| WAAT | 4/16/1922 | Jersey City, New Jersey | Jersey Review | "TG 4/15/22", "temp 4/16 + 19/22 pend appli." | 360 meters (833 kHz). Station provided an extensive variety of programming and actually was active until October 1922. On 8/19/1926 a new, regular, station in Jersey City, WKBD, was set up by Jersey Review associate Frank V. Bremer, and a short time later WKBD changed its call sign to WAAT (now WNYM). |
| WAAU | 4/16/1922 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | H. C. Kuser | "TG 4/15/22", "temp 4/16/22" | |
| WBAC | 4/28/1922 | Des Moines, Iowa | Kiwanis Club | "TG 4/18/22", "temp 4/28-29/22" [Also 4/28-29/23 on 1050 kHz] | 360 meters (833 kHz). Intention was to broadcast the results of the Drake Relays track and field contests. |
| WCAI | 5/13/1922 | Topeka, Kansas | Frank E. Samuel | "TG 5/5/22", "temp 5/13/22", "Amer. Legion Dept. HQ, State" | 360 meters (833 kHz). Station was used to broadcast speeches given at "the state-wide meeting of the [American] Legion and Legion auxiliary officials". |
| WDAZ | 6/5/1922 | Scranton, Pennsylvania | American Radio Relay League (Roy C. Ehrhardt, trf Asst), | "5/23/22", "temp June 5, 6, 7, 1922" | Station operated in conjunction with the Scranton Republican's three-day Town Hall Radio Show. |
| KDZT | 6/5/1922 | Seattle, Washington | Seattle Radio Association | "761 6/2/22", "temp 6/5-10/22" | Later received a regular broadcasting license, with the same call and owner, August 1, 1922 to December 7, 1923. |
| WEAL | 6/--/1922 | Des Moines, Iowa (special train) | Mystic Shrine | "TG 5/31/22", "temp to coast and back" | "Two transmitting sets, one of 10 watts power and the other of 100 watts, have been installed in the special car of Illustrious Potentate C. T. Gadd", on a train carrying Des Moines' Za-Ga-Zig temple Shriners to a San Francisco conclave. |
| WGAG | 6/--/1922 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Wisconsin Radio Show | "TG 6/2/22 fr Spearman Lewis, Mgr Dr, Plankington Hotel", "temp". | Advertisement for the Wisconsin Radio Show stated that the exposition, running from June 21 to June 25, 1922, would feature a "broadcasting station in continuous operation". |
| WGAX | 6/--/1922 | Washington Court House, Ohio | Radio Electric Company | "6/22/22 fm owner", "temp auth" | Later received a regular broadcasting license, with the same call and owner, September 1922 to July 20, 1923. |
| WIAM | 7/26/1922 | Dunmore, Pennsylvania | F. M. Tarbox | "letter 7/14/22", "temp 7/26-27/22", "335 S. Blakley St." | The Scranton Republican reported plans to apply for a permanent license, that apparently never took place. |
| WJAW | 8/--/1922 | Audubon, Iowa | Reinemund Hardware Company | "TG 8/9/22", "temp" | |
| WJAY | 8/--/1922 | Des Moines, Iowa | Iowa State Fair | "let State Dept Agri-Iowa 8/10/22", "temp" | WJAY was "the official Iowa state fair broadcasting station of the Thomas Electric company". |
| KYG | 10/--/1922 | Portland, Oregon | Radio Service Bureau | | Short-term continuation of the original KYG in Portland, licensed to Willard P. Hawley, Jr. from March 28, 1922—October 13, 1922. A Radio Service Bureau advertisement in the October 22, 1922 Oregonian stated "We are now operating KYG the famous Hawley station". Its equipment was donated to the Benson Polytechnic School, which requested reassignment of the KYG call letters for its station, however the high school station was instead randomly assigned KFIF from an alphabetical roster of available call signs. |
| WNAZ | 11/10/1922 | Bethlehem, Pennsylvania | Lehigh Radio Co. | "let Radio Inspector Baltimore 11/2/22", "temp 11/10/22" | Appears to be an earlier incarnation of WOAM, which was authorized a few days later. |
| WOAM | 11/19/1922 | Bethlehem, Pennsylvania | Arthur F. Breisch | "from Radio Inspector Baltimore 11/15/22", "temp 11/19/22" | 360 meters (833 kHz). Breisch was proprietor of the Lehigh Valley Radio company. The featured concert was the Allentown band's first of the season, and the station helped provide everything "necessary for the broadcasting and receiving of the concert in order that Bandmaster [Martin] Klinger, confined to Sacred Heart hospital, may be able to enjoy the program". |
| KFFD | 1/14/1923 | Tacoma, Washington | Saint Patrick's Church | "TG fm Wm. A. Mullens Co. 1/11/23", "temp 1/14-21/23" | Return of Paulist Fathers Donegan and Quinan, who had appeared over temporary station KDP in Seattle the previous year. |
| WQAG | 1/19/1923 | Redfield, South Dakota | Frederick L. Legler | "TG 1/18/23 from Charles M. C. Woodland", "1/19/23 only" | |
| WSAM | 3/20/1923 | Milton, Wisconsin | Milton College (A. G. Sayre) | "TG from owner 3/19/23", "temp 3/20-21/23" | Attempt to broadcast a high school basketball tournament held at the college was reportedly "a complete failure". |
| WRAQ | 5/7/1923 | Haddonfield, New Jersey | Bancroft School (Dr. E. A. Farrington) | "5/5/23" for "5/7-10/23" plus "4/28/24" for "5/11-17/24" | Reportedly used to broadcast events during the school's commencements. Contemporary reports state that the authorizations were used for daily broadcasts conducted by John L. Barnes, as part of the town's annual Child Welfare Week activities. |
| WTAV | 10/--/1923 | Richmond, Virginia | Sydnor Pump & Well Co. | "temp see case 2190NR 10-1-23" | 1070 kHz. |
| KFLC | 10/--/1923 | Dallas, Texas | State Fair of Texas | "TG fm R. A. Hall, 2913 Live Oak St., Dallas, Texas, 10/13/23", "2 weeks" | |
| KFMB | 11/--/1923 | Little Rock, Arkansas | Christian Churches of Little Rock | "TG H. L. Remmell 11/3/23", "temp pend lic" | 1180 kHz. Later received a regular broadcast license, with the same call and owner, November 1923 to June 1, 1925. |
| WCBP | 4/8/1924 | Dixon, Illinois | Dixon Evening Telegraph (George B. Shaw) | "let 3/20/24", "temp 4/8/24" | 1150 kHz. A primary election was held on April 8, but the newspaper's issues during this period make no mention of operating a radio station. |
| WCBS | 4/8/1924 | Macomb, Illinois | Macomb Journal | "TG 4/7/24", "temp 4/8/24, 11/4/24" | 1330 kHz. |
| KFPZ | 4/24/1924 | Bay City, Michigan | Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks | "TG fm Elks Bay City 4/23/24", "temp 4/24/24 one day" | |
| KFPJ | 4/25/1924 | Huron, South Dakota | Merle Buck | "4/20/24", "temp 4/25/24" | 1220 kHz. An ultimately "rather embarrassing" unsuccessful attempt to implement "an entirely new method of gathering election returns and broadcasting them over the entire state". |
| WDBM | 5/10/1924 | Fort Wayne, Indiana | Robert Dreisbach | "TG 5/6/24", "temp 5/10/24 3:00 to 6:00 PM" | 860 kHz. |
| WDBG | 5/30/1924 | Gettysburg, Pennsylvania | Gettysburg College | "SR Baltimore, 4/28/24", "temp 5/30/24, 11/11/24" | Used to broadcast ceremonies related to Memorial Day and Armistice Day. |
| WEBB | 6/--/1924 | Portland, Maine | RCA Exhibit | "fr G. H. Clark 6/20/24", "temp one week" | 278 meters (1080 kHz). RCA's George H. Clark, whose June 25 address was "Radio in the Time of King Tut", was manager of the Portland Summer Radio Show. |
| WEBF | 7/12/1924 | Dayton, Ohio | East Dayton Electric Company | "let from Cong. Fitzgerald 7/2/24", "temp 7/12/24" | 1170 kHz. |
| WEBM | 8/27/1924 | Detroit, Michigan | Detroit Yacht Club | "let 8/19/24", "temp 8/27/24 to 9/1/24" | |
| WEBN | 9/6/1924 | Estes Park, Colorado | Boy Scouts of America | "fm Jas E. West 8/28/24", "temp week 9/6/24", "Sys-Western Elec Co, 50 watts" | 1300 kHz. "The first broadcasting station in the heights of the Rockies is the large broadcasting outfit installed by Boy Scout executives, which will be known as WEBN". The 50-watt station, located at the Young Women's Christian Association, was designed to broadcast the proceeding of the first biannual conference of the Boy Scout executives. |
| KFRK | 10/15/1924 | Des Moines, Iowa | Iowa Federation of Labor | "TG fm J. C. Lewis, Iowa Fed Labor, 10/14/24", "temp 10/15/24" | |
| WBAH | 11/1/1924 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | The Dayton Company | "temp 11/1/24". | 720 kHz. This was a revival of a standard broadcasting station, with the same call and owner, that had been licensed from April 21, 1922 to September 5, 1924. |
| WFBP | 11/18/1924 | Chatham, Ohio | H. J. Kohji | "TG 11/18/24", "temp 11/18/24" | |
| WNOR | 12/10/1924 | New Orleans, Louisiana | New Orleans Radio Assoc. | "let fm SR New Orleans 11/18/24", "temp one week beg 12/10/24" | 1260 kHz. Provided daily broadcasts from the New Orleans Radio Show, including the broadcasting of a radio wedding. |
| WGBP | 1/15/1925 | Tampa, Florida | M. L. Price Music Company | "761 fm SR Atlanta", "temp 1/15-20/25, 10/6/25", "339 Plant Ave., 50 watts" | 1200 kHz. |
| WGBV | 2/6/1925 | Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania | Monroe County Newspapers (Colley S. Baker, editor) | "TG 2/3/25", "temp 2/6-7/25" | |
| WADC | 2/19/1925 | Akron, Ohio | Automobile Dealers Company | "TG from Frank O'Neill 2/16/25", "temp 2/19-28/25, 2/28-3/3/25", "auth ext TG to G. J. Harter on request of cong Davy" | 1210 kHz. Station was used in conjunction with local auto show. In March 1925 this station received a regular license, still as WADC, assigned to the Allen Theater, which is now WARF. |
| WHBZ | 4/2/1925 | Anderson, South Carolina | J. A. Mitchell | "TG 4/1/25", "temp 4/2/25" | 1090 kHz. |
| WIBB | 3/5/1925 | Freeport, Illinois | Ridgeway Electric Company | "TG Ridgeway 3/3/25", "temp 3/5-6-7/25" | 1360 kHz. Remote broadcast, by 50-watt transmitter linked to an announcer located at a basketball tournament site. |
| KFVP | 5/10/1925 | Omaha, Nebraska (portable) | Chamber of Commerce (Omaha) | "TG from Chamber of Commerce 5/5/25", "5/10/25-5/24/25" | 1090 kHz. The twenty-seventh annual trade tour of the Omaha Chamber of Commerce operated "America's only broadcasting station on a passenger train" at stops along the way as they traveled by rail though Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. |
| KFVP | 5/24/1925 | Sioux Falls, South Dakota (portable) | Chamber of Commerce (Sioux Falls) | "TG from Chamber of Commerce, Sioux Falls 5/19/25", "5/24/25-5/29/25" | 1090 kHz. Assorted reports detailed the travels by rail of the "Sunshiners five-day booster trip", that started in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and continued through the Black Hills of that state. The same radio equipment used earlier in the month by the Omaha Chamber of Commerce was now employed to "broadcast news talks and snappy musical numbers every evening during the trip". |
| WGHS | 6/23/1925 | Gardenville, New York | Gardenville High Sch. (Lester Eggleston) | "6/17/25", "temp one day 6/23/25" | Used to broadcast school commencement exercises. |
| KFWL | 8/--/1925 | Paia Maui, Hawaii | C. L. Ludin | "fm San Francisco 6/22/25", "Wedn evening, Aug. and Sept. 1925" | Station conducted weekly Wednesday evening broadcasts, including ones in conjunction with the eighth Maui county fair. |
| KUPR | 8/12/1925 | Omaha, Nebraska | Union Pacific Railroad (portable, moving train) | "res 7/23/25, deleted 9/11/25", "45 days from 8/12/25", "1416 Dodge St." | 1110 kHz. Reports about the Calf Club Special train (which used some of the same equipment previously used by KFVP), reviewed the itinerary of its "tour to every vital point of agricultural Nebraska" while employing the "latest innovation in mobile broadcast stations". |
| KRCA | 9/5/1925 | Los Angeles, California | Radio Corporation of America | First assignment was "temp one week 9/5/25-9/9/25". Three more assignments followed, all listed as 100 watts on 983 kHz: San Francisco, 8/21/26-8/28/26; Los Angeles, 9/5/26-9/11/26; and Riverside, 9/--/26. | KRCA employed a portable transmitter that was transported to the individual locations. Numerous articles reviewed its activities at four different fairs and expositions. |
| WJBJ | 9/14/1925 | Butler, Pennsylvania | Walter Morris | "9/9/25", "temp one day 9/14/25" | |
| WJBH | 10/--/1925 | Rocky Mount, North Carolina | Evening Telegram | "SR Atlanta 9/29/25", "temp 15 days in October", "10 watts". | 1220 kHz. It does not appear this station ever operated, as the October 1925 issues of the Evening Telegram make no mention of it. |
| WDAL | 10/--/1925 | Jacksonville, Florida | Florida Times-Union | "fr owner 10/2/25", "temp auth during World Series" | This was a revival of a standard broadcasting station, with the same call and owner, that had been licensed from May 19, 1922 to December 22, 1923. |
| WJBM | 10/19/1925 | Battle Creek, Michigan | Michigan Enquirer News | "10/1/25","temp 10/19-21/25", "10 watts, range 1 mile". | 1220 kHz. Station operated in conjunction with a newspaper-sponsored radio equipment show. Eleven months later, on September 18, 1926, the Enquirer and News was issued a regular radio station license with the call letters WKBP (now WBFN). |
| WLFQ | 1/4/1926 | Chelsea, Massachusetts | Lawrence F. Quigley (Mayor of Chelsea) | "req 12/31/25", "temp 1/4/26 night only" | 1320 kHz. Used to broadcast ceremonies for the start of Mayor Quigley's fifth term as mayor of Chelsea. |
| WJBS | 5/3/1926 | Auburn, New York | George I. Stevens | "4/23/26", "temp one day 5/3/26", "50 watts" | 1260 kHz. |
| WLBD | 11/15/1926 | Erie, Pennsylvania | Dispatch-Herald | "let 11/4/26", "auth 11/15-20/26, auth 11/23/26 cont oper", "canc call let 5/13/27-no reply to letters" | In a January 12, 1927 advertisement, Kitchen's Tire Service promoted the "Firestone Tire Hour" on the "Dispatch-Herald Station WLBD", starting at 8 P.M. the next night. |
| WNBV | 5/28/1927 | Baraboo, Wisconsin | Young Men's Christian Association | "operate one night 5/28/27" | 1500 kHz. |
| KGGU | 5/27/1928 | San Francisco, California | San Francisco Post Enquirer | "temp one day 5/27/28" | 9 hour long broadcast, by Chet Boone, of the Alameda marathon swim. |
| KGHQ | 7/4/1928 | Oakland, California | U S Army, Col. C. P. Mader, Chairman Parade Committee | "call assigned upon TG request", "temp 7/4/28 only" | 590 kHz. An Oakland Tribune review of the upcoming Independence Day parade noted that participants were planning to "carry its own broadcasting equipment to transmit to thousands of radios the music of numerous army, navy, marine corps and veteran's bands participating in the procession". |
| WTBF | 8/10/1928 | Skowhegan, Maine | Blin Page | "temp ten days from 8/10/28" | 1460 kHz. Operated from the First National bank booth at the Skowhegan fair grounds. |
| KGIE | 10/2/1928 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Wisconsin Radio Trade Association | "temp 10/2/28 to 10/7/28" | 1500 kHz. The Milwaukee Journal reported that "Another feature will be a 'Quiet Mystery Dance', in which the dancers will wear headphones to hear the dance music. The dance floor itself will be devoid of music. For this purpose a special permit to operate a 7½ watt transmitter was granted by the federal radio commission to the W. R. T. A. It will operate under the call letters KGIE and will utilize the 200-meter wave length." |