WCAN (AM)

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]

• List of initial AM-band station grants in the United States