All very interesting and valid comments, above. Sadly, this institution has to be one of those "wake up call" reality checks for radio, in general and the music and entertainment industry, as a whole. WSM-AM was dominant and vibrant, much like Opryland. Time has not aged WSM-AM well. Indeed, there are few listeners under probably "about" 45 that will go out of their way to even try to listen and if they do listen, stay around listening for long. So, in a sense this is a historical style station in memory and in honor of the heyday of the GOO and the old Nashville sound and guard, that has all but been erased and forgotten. A living dinosaur. Whether or not that is a bad thing is not important. The music, industry and listeners have changed and it's all about hip, young and new energy. Which is what it was all about fifty plus years ago. When WSM-AM was playing the "old country" music we talk about today, the songs were often current hits and the stars were right there on stage to adoring fans. WSM-AM was one-stop listening. The energy of Opryland was erased and destroyed. The GOO became know to be for the old people, as fewer and fewer current stars played there.
Today, WSM-AM does actually have some reasonable advertising success and while it does not make money, it's not bleeding anyone dry and as mentioned, the marketing makes up for the losses on income statement. I cannot imagine that will be the case in five years, much less a decade. The advertisers that are there now are fading away, selling or closing. The listeners, well, we know that fate.
What is interesting is the recent decision of a Grand Ole Opry-based cable show "starring" Bobby Bones. The face of Nashville has changed dramatically. Gaylord sees the success of a downtown that they attempted to hold back and literally monopolized for many years. Now they have to join the vibe or become a total relic. I guess the Bobby Bones Grand Ole Opry show short of replaces the nights of WSM-AM (and eventual days) where listeners could not get enough. How Gaylord and Bones pull this trick off is anyone's guess. It may well work like the TV show Nashville. My guess is not important, nor can I really make an educated one. I think we really see a birth of a new generation of the new GOO and a death of anything remotely nostalgic or historically important. I guess after all, it's all just a business and not a library of unopened books collecting dust. Mostly I feel mighty old and a bit lost in my own city. Out of the important demographic.
