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AM 980
- Thread starter jjschim
- Start date
WSIX-AM was a partial simulcast as late as 1990. It was sold to Bible Broadcasting Network
(again late 90 or early 91...I can't recall)...and they changed the calls to WYFN. Virtually all BBN
stations are WYF_ or KYF_...and they have a ton of stations and translators:
check http://www.bbnradio.org/ for their website.
The station was originally licensed to Springfield...back in the late 20's...and was built primarily to
advertise the service station it was located in: the calls WSIX stood for "where service is excellent".
I remember a morning (during a morning drive simulcast) when the FM went off the air: the air monitor was
the FM...and Gerry said something to the effect of "well...let 'em say we talk too much now!"...
not remembering the AM was still on the air! Extremely tame, but I thought it was hilarious.
(again late 90 or early 91...I can't recall)...and they changed the calls to WYFN. Virtually all BBN
stations are WYF_ or KYF_...and they have a ton of stations and translators:
check http://www.bbnradio.org/ for their website.
The station was originally licensed to Springfield...back in the late 20's...and was built primarily to
advertise the service station it was located in: the calls WSIX stood for "where service is excellent".
I remember a morning (during a morning drive simulcast) when the FM went off the air: the air monitor was
the FM...and Gerry said something to the effect of "well...let 'em say we talk too much now!"...
not remembering the AM was still on the air! Extremely tame, but I thought it was hilarious.
S
scottwmro
Guest
romer979fm said:
Chris,
I think in the 20's, WSIX might have been on the same frequency that alot of stations during that time started on, 833 Kc. Later on, I was told WSIX moved to 1240 about the time it moved from Springfield to Nashville (pre KDA days. WKDA went on in 48 or 49, when 1240 was reclassified as a Class IV Channel). It was about the time of the big overnight frequency shift of 1941, WSIX moved down to 980, about the time WLAC moved from 1470 to 1510.
I maybe wrong, or missing some pieces, Watt will have to chime in. I did get ahold of some info that we had a station, WTNT, on 1490, licensed to the Tennessean Newspaper (I think) in the early 30's. I had thier letter head stored somewhere on my laptop I gave my wife. I'll have to find it.
Kind of funny, the building that the old WSIX-AM transmitter site on Mcgavock Pike still stands today for WSM-AM's studios and offices. Beautiful inside
romer979fm said:
I came to Nashville in December 1990 and it was still mostly simulcasting WSIX-FM at the time. Seems like they'd occasionally carry a sporting event on the AM station separate from FM but it was already apparent the AM service was on its last legs. The transfer must have happened in spring 1991.
It also arguably stood for "6", as in "638 Tire & Vulcanizing Co.", 638 being their address. If you go to the square in Springfield today there's a sign on the side of that building announcing it as the original home of WSIX Radio.
scottwmro said:
The earliest reference I can find to WSIX is in 1927 when it was on 1410 with 150 watts. Broadcasting Yearbook says it signed on Jan. 7, 1927. It moved to 1200 the next year, then to 1210 in 1930. They stayed there through 1940, though at some point between 1934 and 1940 they moved to Nashville and increased power to 250 watts. By 1942 they were on 980 - that might have happened with the Big Shift in early 1941, though a 1210=>980 move would have been "out of pattern". (most 1210 stations moved to 1240)
WKDA did not yet exist in 1946. It did in 1950. Yearbook says it signed on in 1947, doesn't say what date. 1240 had already been classified a Class IV channel since the Big Shift of 1941. I might wild-guess that when WSIX moved from 1210 to 980 that there were multiple applications filed for new stations on 1210=>1240 and the war stalled any action.
At the time the only other radio stations in Middle Tennessee were WLAC and WSM. As Scott says, WLAC moved from 1470 to 1510 as part of the Big Shift. WSM didn't move - stations below 690 weren't affected. (part of the point of the Shift was to open up 690 as a clear channel for Canada)
OK, shamelessly lifted from Jeff Miller's site on http://jeff560.tripod.com/broadcasting.html, an early history of Nashville radio:
1922: WDAA, Ward-Belmont School. (frequency not given, probably 360 meters = 830kHz)
1923: none! Presumably WDAA expired.
1924: WCBQ-1270/100 watts, First Baptist Church
1926: WSM-1060/1,000 watts, National Life & Accident Insurance Co.
WBAW-1270/100 watts, Braid Electric & Waldrum Drug Co.
WDAD-1330/150 watts, Dad's Auto Accessories & Life & Casualty Insurance Co.
1927: WSM-880/5,000 watts
WBAW-1210/100 watts (Braid Electric dropped their share of ownership)
WDAD-1330/1,000 watts (Dad's Auto Accessories)
WLAC-1330/1,000 watts (L&C Insurance)
(presumably the two stations shared time on 1330)
1928: WSM-890
WBAW-1250
WDAD/WLAC-1330
1930: WSM-650
WLAC-1470
WTNT-1470 (Tennessee Publishing Co.)
1931: WTNT disappeared, presumably L&C Insurance bought out their share of 1470 to allow WLAC to operate unlimited time.
1934: WSM-650/50,000 watts
WLAC-1470/5,000 watts
Many stations are listed as having started on 833kHz. One should keep in mind that frequency tolerance was a LOT worse back then. One engineer said at the time that if all the stations that were supposed to be on 833 actually were on that frequency, the interference would have ruined the broadcasting service! Jeff's list for 1924 shows no stations between 800 and 870 except for the dozens on 833. Presumably the government figured the "833kHz" stations would be spread out across this entire range and anyone else trying to operate in this area was going to get clobbered with interference.
It should also be noted that the frequency assignment was not officially 833kHz, but 360 meters. That's why the frequency isn't an exact multiple of 10kHz.
S
scottwmro
Guest
w9wi said:
Thanks Doug!
Over the years, I’ve been told different things on the topic “Who went on first in Nashville Radio”, and my sources were all “pre internet” days. Besides, what info you find on other sites tends to be in accurate anyway!
Hoyt Carter over at WNAH was the one who told me WSIX was on 1240 at one time Maybe he was really thinking 1200 or 1210. Remember, Hoyt is only 63, so he’s way too young to know anyway. Now Hoyt can tell you all about the history of WNAH, due to Mr. Irwin is still living.
Doug, I still have a wondering mind with questions you may be able to answer:
1. I didn’t know about WDAA, which went in 1922. Was this the first station on in Nashville? Being it was licensed to a school; I assume it was a NCE station. I was not aware of WCBQ either. I guess it was non-commercial. So this means WSM was not the actual FIRST station on in Nashville, but just the first “Commercial” station on in Nashville. Am I right about this fact?
I even noticed during the WLAC/WDAD share time days, they were on 1330. Was that their original frequency?
2. What became of WBAW? Was this an experimental station, or an actual commercial station that competed with WSM?
3. Did WLAC buy out WDAD in order to merged the two stations & do way with the “share time, if so what year?
4. It appears that WSM did some frequency hopping. Did it start on 1060, then 880, then to 890, before the moved to 650? Why did they hop around the dial so much? Was WSM’s first antenna system two towers with a wire strung across the two over on 15th Ave.?
Once again, thanks Doug, I need to meet up with you sometime to document some of this from the early teens and 20’s!
Scott at MRO
I had read somewhere, either on this board or reading an old trade, that in the eighties WSIX-AM had tried a pop music format. It was a Gerry House experiment.
Re: Nashville early radio history
Yeah, one has to use a "plausibility factor" when reading websites... Jeff's site is based on official government documents and wherever I have access to the same info somewhere else, his data checks out.
From a technical standpoint, WNAH doesn't have much history, does it?
Hasn't it always been a 1kw daytimer on 1360?
I could certainly buy the possibility WSIX was briefly on 1240. Almost all the other 1210 stations ended up there. I don't have any data between 1940 (when it was still on 1210) and 1942. (when it appears listed on 980) It could have switched from 1210 to 1240 in early 1941 in the Big Shift, then moved again a year later. Even if they already had the permit for 980, if it wasn't ready to go on the air they would have had to move to 1240 on Big Shift Night. (or they would have caused significant interference to clear channel WCAU Philadelphia)
Maybe more likely, the 1942 listing was a construction permit and they actually stayed on 1240 until the end of the war. Judging from what I've read in QST Magazine, radio equipment for civilian use was nearly non-existant during the war. It seems unlikely equipment (including towers) would have been released for a frequency change for a station that was already operating and would not provide service to anyone who wasn't already served.
The concept of a NCE station didn't exist until FM came along. There were quite a few school-, college/university-, and municipally-owned AM stations in the 1920s which one might presume were operated non-commercially but could have been sold to commercial operators. (or even sold advertising while still under their school ownership)
I don't know that I've ever seen WSM claim to be the first station in Nashville. It's claimed to be the oldest station in Nashville, and I'm pretty sure that's correct.
Probably. However, facilities changed quickly in the 1920s (as you can tell from those listings!) and if one report is missing from that list, I might have missed a change.
No, WBAW was a commercial station. Experimental stations get calls with digits in them, calls that look like ham radio calls. They did back then too.
Probably. I have no way of knowing for sure, nor of knowing when. Time sharing was very common in the 1920s and 1930s, and it was also very common for the more successful stations in such a group to buy out the smaller operations.
In 1926, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had not given the Commerce Department the power to regulate the powers or frequencies of radio stations. The government was required to give a license to any qualified applicant, and couldn't forcibly assign them a frequency. An awful lot of new stations took out licenses & crammed themselves into the dial before Congress got around to fixing the problem by creating the Federal Radio Commission in 1927.
The FRC was determined to clean up the interference - but they tried their best to avoid deleting any stations. That pretty much left forcing stations into time-sharing arrangements as their only option.
Most stations did some frequency hopping in the 1920s. The band got refarmed a few times.
I don't know what WSM's first antenna system was, but a horizontal wire strung between two towers was a very common antenna system into the 1930s. I don't think the value of a well-grounded vertical tower was really understood until the 1930s. (heck, the concept of 100% modulation wasn't really understood until the 1930s...)
scottwmro said:
Yeah, one has to use a "plausibility factor" when reading websites... Jeff's site is based on official government documents and wherever I have access to the same info somewhere else, his data checks out.
From a technical standpoint, WNAH doesn't have much history, does it?
Hasn't it always been a 1kw daytimer on 1360?I could certainly buy the possibility WSIX was briefly on 1240. Almost all the other 1210 stations ended up there. I don't have any data between 1940 (when it was still on 1210) and 1942. (when it appears listed on 980) It could have switched from 1210 to 1240 in early 1941 in the Big Shift, then moved again a year later. Even if they already had the permit for 980, if it wasn't ready to go on the air they would have had to move to 1240 on Big Shift Night. (or they would have caused significant interference to clear channel WCAU Philadelphia)
Maybe more likely, the 1942 listing was a construction permit and they actually stayed on 1240 until the end of the war. Judging from what I've read in QST Magazine, radio equipment for civilian use was nearly non-existant during the war. It seems unlikely equipment (including towers) would have been released for a frequency change for a station that was already operating and would not provide service to anyone who wasn't already served.
The concept of a NCE station didn't exist until FM came along. There were quite a few school-, college/university-, and municipally-owned AM stations in the 1920s which one might presume were operated non-commercially but could have been sold to commercial operators. (or even sold advertising while still under their school ownership)
I don't know that I've ever seen WSM claim to be the first station in Nashville. It's claimed to be the oldest station in Nashville, and I'm pretty sure that's correct.
Probably. However, facilities changed quickly in the 1920s (as you can tell from those listings!) and if one report is missing from that list, I might have missed a change.
No, WBAW was a commercial station. Experimental stations get calls with digits in them, calls that look like ham radio calls. They did back then too.
Probably. I have no way of knowing for sure, nor of knowing when. Time sharing was very common in the 1920s and 1930s, and it was also very common for the more successful stations in such a group to buy out the smaller operations.
In 1926, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had not given the Commerce Department the power to regulate the powers or frequencies of radio stations. The government was required to give a license to any qualified applicant, and couldn't forcibly assign them a frequency. An awful lot of new stations took out licenses & crammed themselves into the dial before Congress got around to fixing the problem by creating the Federal Radio Commission in 1927.
The FRC was determined to clean up the interference - but they tried their best to avoid deleting any stations. That pretty much left forcing stations into time-sharing arrangements as their only option.
Most stations did some frequency hopping in the 1920s. The band got refarmed a few times.
I don't know what WSM's first antenna system was, but a horizontal wire strung between two towers was a very common antenna system into the 1930s. I don't think the value of a well-grounded vertical tower was really understood until the 1930s. (heck, the concept of 100% modulation wasn't really understood until the 1930s...)
radiorob2.0 said:
as far as I know...WSIX-AM had a contemporary format for nearly all its existence...including the old
"rocket 98" CHR run in the early 60's. other than than that, it was a personality MOR...only playing
country after the simulcasts with the FM began. GH did mornings on the AM until he was moved to FM
(when the FM dumped 'metropolitan country')...and paired up with Al Voecks and Duncan Stewart...also
from the AM...and Paul Randall as co-host. Paul had the best laugh in history...and (I may be wrong here)
came from the dark side...sales!
S
scottwmro
Guest
Re: Nashville early radio history
Doug,
That clears up some of the history for me that happened before you and I were born. Of course, WNAH doesn't have much history. I can tell you, Mr. Irwin told me and Hoyt this, after WW11 ended, he came home from the Navy and worked for the Tennessean Newspaper. He learned from someone that the FCC was going to allow a window to open for more stations to be built.
When Mr. Irwin first applied for WNAH, he applied for 1350 at 250 watts. A lady from the media section of the FCC called him and told him he should apply for 1360, and have more power at 1,000 watts. I don't know if this was done, due to WKRM in Cartridge had already applied for 1350, but Mr. Irwin told us the application was sent back and he reapplied for the 1000 watts at 1360 and got it. He signed it on 12/24/49 at 6 AM. He applied for 5 KW in the 50's, but the station in Cartridge filed against him, due to Mr. Iwrin was 1st adjacent with them.
WNAH still uses a Gates BC-1T tube transmitter, with an Inovonics 250 and 222 NRSC filtering. WNAH was MOR from 49-70. Hoyt changed WNAH to Gospel in 1970. These days, Mr. Irwin still comes to work, but he's getting close to 90 years old now, and just comes in a few hours each day or just a few day a week, to get out of the house. His wife, Jo Ann, brings him in and picks him up. Hoyt Carter basicly has taken over as General Manager of WNAH.
Hoyt told me that back in the 50's & 60's, if WSIX-AM couldn't carry a ballgame due to a conflict with another game they were to carry, WSIX would buy the time from WNAH to carry the other ballgame, if it was a daytime game.
Oh, on another subject, somebody told me that at one time Hume-Fogg High School has a radio station. If you look closely, at the corner of 8th Ave N and Broadway, going south, towards the red light, the is a long wire that streaches across 8th Ave to the building across the street. I've haven't taken a close look, but it appears the wire has insulators on each end. If this fact is true, do you have any info on that Doug?
Thanks,
Scott
w9wi said:scottwmro said:
Yeah, one has to use a "plausibility factor" when reading websites... Jeff's site is based on official government documents and wherever I have access to the same info somewhere else, his data checks out.
From a technical standpoint, WNAH doesn't have much history, does it?
I could certainly buy the possibility WSIX was briefly on 1240. Almost all the other 1210 stations ended up there. I don't have any data between 1940 (when it was still on 1210) and 1942. (when it appears listed on 980) It could have switched from 1210 to 1240 in early 1941 in the Big Shift, then moved again a year later. Even if they already had the permit for 980, if it wasn't ready to go on the air they would have had to move to 1240 on Big Shift Night. (or they would have caused significant interference to clear channel WCAU Philadelphia)
Maybe more likely, the 1942 listing was a construction permit and they actually stayed on 1240 until the end of the war. Judging from what I've read in QST Magazine, radio equipment for civilian use was nearly non-existant during the war. It seems unlikely equipment (including towers) would have been released for a frequency change for a station that was already operating and would not provide service to anyone who wasn't already served.
The concept of a NCE station didn't exist until FM came along. There were quite a few school-, college/university-, and municipally-owned AM stations in the 1920s which one might presume were operated non-commercially but could have been sold to commercial operators. (or even sold advertising while still under their school ownership)
I don't know that I've ever seen WSM claim to be the first station in Nashville. It's claimed to be the oldest station in Nashville, and I'm pretty sure that's correct.
Probably. However, facilities changed quickly in the 1920s (as you can tell from those listings!) and if one report is missing from that list, I might have missed a change.
No, WBAW was a commercial station. Experimental stations get calls with digits in them, calls that look like ham radio calls. They did back then too.
Probably. I have no way of knowing for sure, nor of knowing when. Time sharing was very common in the 1920s and 1930s, and it was also very common for the more successful stations in such a group to buy out the smaller operations.
In 1926, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had not given the Commerce Department the power to regulate the powers or frequencies of radio stations. The government was required to give a license to any qualified applicant, and couldn't forcibly assign them a frequency. An awful lot of new stations took out licenses & crammed themselves into the dial before Congress got around to fixing the problem by creating the Federal Radio Commission in 1927.
The FRC was determined to clean up the interference - but they tried their best to avoid deleting any stations. That pretty much left forcing stations into time-sharing arrangements as their only option.
Most stations did some frequency hopping in the 1920s. The band got refarmed a few times.
I don't know what WSM's first antenna system was, but a horizontal wire strung between two towers was a very common antenna system into the 1930s. I don't think the value of a well-grounded vertical tower was really understood until the 1930s. (heck, the concept of 100% modulation wasn't really understood until the 1930s...)
Doug,
That clears up some of the history for me that happened before you and I were born. Of course, WNAH doesn't have much history. I can tell you, Mr. Irwin told me and Hoyt this, after WW11 ended, he came home from the Navy and worked for the Tennessean Newspaper. He learned from someone that the FCC was going to allow a window to open for more stations to be built.
When Mr. Irwin first applied for WNAH, he applied for 1350 at 250 watts. A lady from the media section of the FCC called him and told him he should apply for 1360, and have more power at 1,000 watts. I don't know if this was done, due to WKRM in Cartridge had already applied for 1350, but Mr. Irwin told us the application was sent back and he reapplied for the 1000 watts at 1360 and got it. He signed it on 12/24/49 at 6 AM. He applied for 5 KW in the 50's, but the station in Cartridge filed against him, due to Mr. Iwrin was 1st adjacent with them.
WNAH still uses a Gates BC-1T tube transmitter, with an Inovonics 250 and 222 NRSC filtering. WNAH was MOR from 49-70. Hoyt changed WNAH to Gospel in 1970. These days, Mr. Irwin still comes to work, but he's getting close to 90 years old now, and just comes in a few hours each day or just a few day a week, to get out of the house. His wife, Jo Ann, brings him in and picks him up. Hoyt Carter basicly has taken over as General Manager of WNAH.
Hoyt told me that back in the 50's & 60's, if WSIX-AM couldn't carry a ballgame due to a conflict with another game they were to carry, WSIX would buy the time from WNAH to carry the other ballgame, if it was a daytime game.
Oh, on another subject, somebody told me that at one time Hume-Fogg High School has a radio station. If you look closely, at the corner of 8th Ave N and Broadway, going south, towards the red light, the is a long wire that streaches across 8th Ave to the building across the street. I've haven't taken a close look, but it appears the wire has insulators on each end. If this fact is true, do you have any info on that Doug?
Thanks,
Scott
Re: Nashville early radio history
I wouldn't have thought he could have got 250 watts on 1350. That was a Class III frequency, for which the minimum limit was 500 watts. (there was a 250-watt station on 1350 in Oklahoma but it's Class IV, apparently moved from some other frequency somehow? There's a story there... likewise with the 250-watt Class IV station on 570 in Wisconsin...)
I suspect the FCC did do that kind of thing back then, when they were better staffed & the applicants didn't have computers to automatically find the best frequency. Also, it would have cleared up the conflict with Carthage & saved the FCC a hearing at a time when they were really busy trying to get TV off the ground.
I've never seen any sign that Hume-Fogg ever had a broadcasting station. Could be there was a ham club at one time.
scottwmro said:
I wouldn't have thought he could have got 250 watts on 1350. That was a Class III frequency, for which the minimum limit was 500 watts. (there was a 250-watt station on 1350 in Oklahoma but it's Class IV, apparently moved from some other frequency somehow? There's a story there... likewise with the 250-watt Class IV station on 570 in Wisconsin...)
I suspect the FCC did do that kind of thing back then, when they were better staffed & the applicants didn't have computers to automatically find the best frequency. Also, it would have cleared up the conflict with Carthage & saved the FCC a hearing at a time when they were really busy trying to get TV off the ground.
I've never seen any sign that Hume-Fogg ever had a broadcasting station. Could be there was a ham club at one time.
S
scottwmro
Guest
Re: Nashville early radio history
At one time, somebody told me Hume Fogg had an "experimental" station there at the school, used as a learning tool for students. I think it was not an FCC licensed station, but just a Part 15 operation.
TSU has a Part 15 Operation that is on and off the air on 1600. I swear, you can hear them from the campus to just past the Trinity Lane exits going north on I-65. Originally, and I don't know when it started, but they had a carrier current operation on 580. Signal was awful, even in the studios! I know that Whit Adamson at the TAB was getting phone calls from everyone in this business several years back on why they were allowed to get out so far without an FCC license on 1600. When they first went on 1600, you could just about hear them at Rivergate!
I've been told they have applied for an NCE FM Channel in the past, but they kept leaving out important info the commission wanted from them, therefore, thier applications were dismissed.
w9wi said:
At one time, somebody told me Hume Fogg had an "experimental" station there at the school, used as a learning tool for students. I think it was not an FCC licensed station, but just a Part 15 operation.
TSU has a Part 15 Operation that is on and off the air on 1600. I swear, you can hear them from the campus to just past the Trinity Lane exits going north on I-65. Originally, and I don't know when it started, but they had a carrier current operation on 580. Signal was awful, even in the studios! I know that Whit Adamson at the TAB was getting phone calls from everyone in this business several years back on why they were allowed to get out so far without an FCC license on 1600. When they first went on 1600, you could just about hear them at Rivergate!
I've been told they have applied for an NCE FM Channel in the past, but they kept leaving out important info the commission wanted from them, therefore, thier applications were dismissed.
N
NashRadio
Guest
A couple discrepancies
From some source(s), I gathered the following: (1) WDAD on 1330 was owned exclusively by Dad's Auto Acc. when it appreared in 1925, but only for a few months; (2) WSM moved to 650 in either '29 or '30; (3) WLAC moved to 1490, sharing that frequency with WTNT (which disappeared 12/15/30) , from 11/11/28 - 2/18/30 before both moseyed over to 1470;and (4) WSIX was indeed on 1240 in 1941. I'm sure that's not all.
(I wish I had noted the source(s).)
I don't know that we'll ever know the exact dates for sure.
Wasn't there an idea a few years back to shrink the distance between fms to .09 or .08 instead of .1? Whatever happened to that?
From some source(s), I gathered the following: (1) WDAD on 1330 was owned exclusively by Dad's Auto Acc. when it appreared in 1925, but only for a few months; (2) WSM moved to 650 in either '29 or '30; (3) WLAC moved to 1490, sharing that frequency with WTNT (which disappeared 12/15/30) , from 11/11/28 - 2/18/30 before both moseyed over to 1470;and (4) WSIX was indeed on 1240 in 1941. I'm sure that's not all.
(I wish I had noted the source(s).)
I don't know that we'll ever know the exact dates for sure.
Wasn't there an idea a few years back to shrink the distance between fms to .09 or .08 instead of .1? Whatever happened to that?
S
scottwmro
Guest
Re: A couple discrepancies
Hey D,
Do you have info on WBAW which was on around 1928. Braid Electric here in town that still exsist today had ownership in it. The station was on 1280. What do you think happen to it. Maybe the FRC pulled the license due to it may have not met up to standards?
Scott
D Dean said:
Hey D,
Do you have info on WBAW which was on around 1928. Braid Electric here in town that still exsist today had ownership in it. The station was on 1280. What do you think happen to it. Maybe the FRC pulled the license due to it may have not met up to standards?
Scott
Scott...
just ask Buddy when you see him: he was the original morning man on WBAW
just ask Buddy when you see him: he was the original morning man on WBAW
S
scottwmro
Guest
romer979fm said:
Buddy wasn't even a thought when WBAW was around! WBAW was gone before his arrival on earth. Only Braid Electric was. Heck I still shop there.
scottwmro said:
c'mon Scott...that was rock solid comedy...
N
NashRadio
Guest
Reply to Scott re: WBAW
Just what the other Doug (I'm Doug, also) had, and I likely got this from him: 1926 on 1270; moved to 1210 10/'27; on 1250 in '28. I believe those FCC lists (Jeff's source?) just give the frequencies as of 1/1/each year, maybe, so the exact date is difficult/impossible to determine.
Long answer to say: sorry, I'm no help.
Just what the other Doug (I'm Doug, also) had, and I likely got this from him: 1926 on 1270; moved to 1210 10/'27; on 1250 in '28. I believe those FCC lists (Jeff's source?) just give the frequencies as of 1/1/each year, maybe, so the exact date is difficult/impossible to determine.
Long answer to say: sorry, I'm no help.
Looking at it on the surface it seems there is a parallel situation in Charlotte where WSOC battled WBT much as WSIX had to do battle with WSM. Both WSIX and WSOC were 5KW trying to compete wth an established 50KW blowtorch. Both had FM's that played Country music and came to dominate their former competition. WSOC was on 930 and it became WYFQ, yes another BBN station. Nobody ever talks about 930 AM anymore, it's a forgotten AM station.
Re: A couple discrepancies
Interesting. My sources indicate WLAC came along on Nov. 24, 1926 and the two stations shared both time and ownership until 1930. They suggest the Tennessee Publishing Company (Tennessean?) bought WDAD in 1928 and changed the call letters to WTNT. Alternatively... I see some evidence that WDAD was deleted altogether in 1928 - and the Tennessean bought WBAW, changed the call letters to WTNT, and moved the station to 1470 to share time with WLAC.
I have information that they were on 650 on Nov. 9, 1929. (they may have moved there at an earlier date)
That would certainly jibe with (and amplify on) my sources.
Probably not. Stations are really bad about recording their technical history.
I have a vague recollection of that but it doesn't seem to have gone anywhere. They probably could have done it until 1980 or so. Today, the genie is out of the bottle - too many digitally-tuned radios with 200kHz steps.
_________________________________________________
Most of my sources are goverment reports which were released on June 30th of each year. So yes, when I said WBAW was on 1270 in 1926, that means they were there on 6/30/26. (or however far before that date was necessary to make the printed report...)
I am now seeing some evidence that WTNT and WBAW were the same station. If true, WBAW lasted for about another two years before being essentially absorbed by WLAC.
D Dean said:
Interesting. My sources indicate WLAC came along on Nov. 24, 1926 and the two stations shared both time and ownership until 1930. They suggest the Tennessee Publishing Company (Tennessean?) bought WDAD in 1928 and changed the call letters to WTNT. Alternatively... I see some evidence that WDAD was deleted altogether in 1928 - and the Tennessean bought WBAW, changed the call letters to WTNT, and moved the station to 1470 to share time with WLAC.
I have information that they were on 650 on Nov. 9, 1929. (they may have moved there at an earlier date)
That would certainly jibe with (and amplify on) my sources.
Probably not. Stations are really bad about recording their technical history.
I have a vague recollection of that but it doesn't seem to have gone anywhere. They probably could have done it until 1980 or so. Today, the genie is out of the bottle - too many digitally-tuned radios with 200kHz steps.
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Most of my sources are goverment reports which were released on June 30th of each year. So yes, when I said WBAW was on 1270 in 1926, that means they were there on 6/30/26. (or however far before that date was necessary to make the printed report...)
I am now seeing some evidence that WTNT and WBAW were the same station. If true, WBAW lasted for about another two years before being essentially absorbed by WLAC.
Re: Nashville early radio history
That I could believe. I don't think a wire extending across the street would be Part 15 compliant though. Which I think leaves two possibilities:
- The station was indeed not Part 15 compliant.
- The wire was for hanging signs/banners.
Ah, that's what happened to that one... I used to hear it on 580 all the time - quite listenable at the White Bridge Rd. exit off I-40. Somewhere I heard they were using the transmitter from the old TIS (Traveler's Information Station) at Opryland. Nice sounding station. Will have to give them a try on the new frequency.
Like a technically-acceptable frequency?
I don't think there's anyplace they could go. These days you can only file for new NCE FMs during filing windows. I think once WFSK came along, it was all over for any more new NCEs in Nashville. (WFSK having signed on in 1973 and probably held a CP at least a year before that)
During the recent filing window, the closest anyone filed to Nashville were two apps for 88.1 in Lebanon. I'm not even entirely sure those apps were technically acceptable. (there were some pretty bizarre filings in that window!)
scottwmro said:
That I could believe. I don't think a wire extending across the street would be Part 15 compliant though. Which I think leaves two possibilities:
- The station was indeed not Part 15 compliant.
- The wire was for hanging signs/banners.
Ah, that's what happened to that one... I used to hear it on 580 all the time - quite listenable at the White Bridge Rd. exit off I-40. Somewhere I heard they were using the transmitter from the old TIS (Traveler's Information Station) at Opryland. Nice sounding station. Will have to give them a try on the new frequency.
Like a technically-acceptable frequency?
I don't think there's anyplace they could go. These days you can only file for new NCE FMs during filing windows. I think once WFSK came along, it was all over for any more new NCEs in Nashville. (WFSK having signed on in 1973 and probably held a CP at least a year before that)
During the recent filing window, the closest anyone filed to Nashville were two apps for 88.1 in Lebanon. I'm not even entirely sure those apps were technically acceptable. (there were some pretty bizarre filings in that window!)
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