VOCM (AM)

VOCM (AM)

VOCM (Voice of the Common Man) is an AM radio station in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, broadcasting at 590 kHz. Owned by Newcap Radio, VOCM first went on the air in 1936. October 19, 2011 marks 75 years of broadcasting for VOCM. Through the "VOCM/CFCB All-Newfoundland and Labrador Radio Network" of stations owned by Newcap, VOCM programming is carried throughout the province.

VOCM and its sister station VOCM-FM are among just four radio stations in Canada having call signs beginning with the prefix "VO," the ITU prefix issued to the Dominion of Newfoundland before its confederation into Canada in 1949. The other two, VOAR and VOWR, also broadcast in St. John's; all but VOCM-FM predate the confederation. VOCM-FM adopted the callsign in 1982 because of its corporate association with VOCM; all three of the others signed on before 1949, while Newfoundland was still a dominion, and were allowed to keep the VO call signs despite the end of Newfoundland's sovereignty. During the time when the United States had bases in Newfoundland and Labrador, the American Forces Radio and Television Service operated radio station with the VO—call signs including the last - VOUS in Argentia, which closed in the late 1960s. The rest of Canada's radio stations use call signs in the ranges of CF and CH through CK, with the exception of the CBC, which (in violation of ITU policy) uses the prefix CB.

Newcap also owns a number of other AM stations in Newfoundland and Labrador that use VOCM as their main or secondary brand. These stations all have "C" callsigns.