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Best Country radio stations...

WSM may not have ratings, but I was listening during PM drive the other day and thought they had a pretty impressive spot load. And a recent report said they were making money, so I wouldn't expect Stubbs, Cody, & co. to go anywhere.
 
Downright amazed to read through this lengthy listing of favorite Country stations and see no mention of Nashville's longtime (more than 30 years) #1 Country station, the Big 98/WSIX(FM). Aside from being the world's Country music capital, Nashville has had at least 4--sometimes 5--fulltime Country signals for the past 10+ years including three 100-kw FMs (WSIX, WSM-FM & WKDF) + the 50-kw AM flamethrower, 650/WSM-AM. And WSIX beats all the rest, and has been winning in Music City since the seventies.

Gerry House & the House Foundation are not just the best morning show in Country radio. They're the best morning show in any format, anywhere. For my money, House is simply the very best personality in radio, period. And his ensemble cast is absolutely perfect.

I'll admit that my favorite period for WSIX was back in the nineties when they also had Carl P. Mayfield doing afternoons and Devon O'Day was part of House's morning troupe. What an incredible lineup!

And, yeah, if you're not familiar with the WSIX music formula it would be worth your time to analyze it. I won't try to describe it here, but I will say that the tunes are chosen very carefully (not counting the weird stuff House tosses in--but that's for comedy's sake). Essentially, every song played on WSIX is a monster hit. No, not terribly adventurous, but real, real smart. Again, they've been winning against the best competition in America for a long, long time. These guys know what they're doing.

So, finally, here's a vote for 97.9... the Big 98/WSIX(FM): America's Best Country Radio Station. Hands down!
 
I don't make it to Nashville much, but when I did I listened mostly to WSM-FM (southbound) and WSM (northbound). I sampled WSIX, but apparently the weekend talent isn't up to the level of the daytime talent. The Jock who I was treated to could have been on the air in a 100+ market.

And, this is Nashville. I'm not expecting to hear Stonewall Jackson randomly show up on the playlist, I remember WSIX as a 90s and today country station.

So, I guess you should add pinch of salt to the above.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
I don't make it to Nashville much, but when I did I listened mostly to WSM-FM (southbound) and WSM (northbound). I sampled WSIX, but apparently the weekend talent isn't up to the level of the daytime talent. The Jock who I was treated to could have been on the air in a 100+ market.

And, this is Nashville. I'm not expecting to hear Stonewall Jackson randomly show up on the playlist, I remember WSIX as a 90s and today country station.

So, I guess you should add pinch of salt to the above.
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God help all of us in radio if we are going to be judged on weekend programming rather than weekday programming. Perhaps you, as a broadcaster, allocate your strongest talent, money & effort to weekends--when there are fewer listeners and fewer ad dollars--but most of us do it the other way around.

BTW, I have nothing against WSM-FM or KDF--both are solid operations. And although I've always believed that WSM-AM was a news-talk monster waiting to happen (hearkening back to their full-service AC days when they had Nashville's top news operation) but it is certainly nice to have them functioning as an "electronic museum" for seldom-played old Country tunes. It's cute.

But, look, here's an idea. Next time you have to go through Nashville, pick a weekday... stay overnight... and get up early to check out Gerry House, the House Foundation (his ensemble cast), and WSIX. No, the music mix won't match your personal taste (that's what iPods are for). But you will hear some great radio.
 
I believe there are too many college grads in the country music industry that even the music can't be natural like it use to be, don't get me wrong I finished college too but that's not the way country music started it's roots are founded in real people and real life, there has been too much so called improvement on what was once a good thing that everyone could relate to songs that had a country beat and told a story about things that happened in real peoples lives. Maybe the real country stations understand that.
 
All time fave is the Late 1050 WHN in New York.and 1170 WWVA .Today is what I stream online because the local plays all new artists all the time no oldies. WSM ,Scottfm internet radio I stream most of the time now..
 
Back in the day, 1170 WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia ruled-as a 50,000-watt blowtorch, it could easily blanket the eastern seaboard and was heard well into Canada. Largely due to them, "Jamboree in the Hills," 'The Super Bowl of Country Music' took off in the 1970s. The Capitol Music Hall was packed with tourists bringing dollars and back bacon, and downtown Wheeling was alive. Picture 'Nashville Northeast.' Alas, times have changed, as did 1170's format...mostly newstalk, with some paid preaching.
 
I too remember when WWVA was one of the great county stations in the nation. I grew up in NE Ohio and we could easily receive 1170 day and night. As wrsg stated think Nashville north.

What happened to WWVA was just another sad story of what has happen to so many other great stations. It was bought and sold by various companies until it feel into the hands of Cheap Channel which pretty much destroyed the place. In fact they even tried to move the 50,000 watt signal up to the Cleveland area. Thankfully that idea was put down by the united front of many.

Now WWVA is just another NT station with the same old syndicated blather all day long. The Jamboree show is long gone also.

The only good thing left is the Jamboree in the Hills. Thankfully that show lives on.
 
While we are talking about the best country stations today, I would have to mention WOGK 93.7 out of Ocala, Fl. Great sounding station, live and local all day and they play a great mixture of currents and older hits from the 90's forward. Great personalities on the air also. Most of their on air people have been with the station for years also.

WOGK has a great 100,000 signal also that covers a good share of north central Florida.
 
wrsg915fm said:
Back in the day, 1170 WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia ruled-as a 50,000-watt blowtorch, it could easily blanket the eastern seaboard and was heard well into Canada. Largely due to them, "Jamboree in the Hills," 'The Super Bowl of Country Music' took off in the 1970s. The Capitol Music Hall was packed with tourists bringing dollars and back bacon, and downtown Wheeling was alive. Picture 'Nashville Northeast.' Alas, times have changed, as did 1170's format...mostly newstalk, with some paid preaching.
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There was another great 50,000-watt country blowtorch on 1170, KVOO in Tulsa, which covered the West overnight with Billy Parker's Big Rigger show. Now it covers the West overnight with George Noory's Ghost to Ghost AM as Talkradio 1170 KFAQ.

KVOO still lives as a Tulsa country station, albeit on FM now.
 
phantom444 said:
wrsg915fm said:
Back in the day, 1170 WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia ruled-as a 50,000-watt blowtorch, it could easily blanket the eastern seaboard and was heard well into Canada. Largely due to them, "Jamboree in the Hills," 'The Super Bowl of Country Music' took off in the 1970s. The Capitol Music Hall was packed with tourists bringing dollars and back bacon, and downtown Wheeling was alive. Picture 'Nashville Northeast.' Alas, times have changed, as did 1170's format...mostly newstalk, with some paid preaching.
Click to expand...

There was another great 50,000-watt country blowtorch on 1170, KVOO in Tulsa, which covered the West overnight with Billy Parker's Big Rigger show. Now it covers the West overnight with George Noory's Ghost to Ghost AM as Talkradio 1170 KFAQ.

KVOO still lives as a Tulsa country station, albeit on FM now.
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I remember I've webchecked KVOO 1170 on minidisc ages ago.Along with 680 KKYX, In San Antonio,TX.
they both. had a nice format with awesome jingles.
I have not checked the FM side of KVOO yet.Ive notice Tulsa has awesome radio stations, the other one I stream on a regular basis is KQLL 106.1 Classic Top 40,Yes 1170 WWVA is trashed today along with the classic 1050 WHN,there was a few other flamethrower AMs that played country music at night when I used to DX in the late 70s early 80's .now my mind want blank but I remember a couple WHAM,WHO,WOWO and one from the deep south.correct me ,or please add what I forgot.
 
swfl said:
I too remember when WWVA was one of the great county stations in the nation. I grew up in NE Ohio and we could easily receive 1170 day and night. As wrsg stated think Nashville north.

What happened to WWVA was just another sad story of what has happen to so many other great stations. It was bought and sold by various companies until it feel into the hands of Cheap Channel which pretty much destroyed the place. In fact they even tried to move the 50,000 watt signal up to the Cleveland area. Thankfully that idea was put down by the united front of many.

Now WWVA is just another NT station with the same old syndicated blather all day long. The Jamboree show is long gone also.

The only good thing left is the Jamboree in the Hills. Thankfully that show lives on.
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I wanted to see what the WWVA article in Wikipedia said. I noticed it said Paul Harvey is still on. Pretty strange considering he died several months ago. Has Mike Huckabee replaced him, as is the case on my Paul Harvey station?
 
swfl said:
I too remember when WWVA was one of the great county stations in the nation. I grew up in NE Ohio and we could easily receive 1170 day and night. As wrsg stated think Nashville north.

What happened to WWVA was just another sad story of what has happen to so many other great stations. It was bought and sold by various companies until it feel into the hands of Cheap Channel which pretty much destroyed the place. In fact they even tried to move the 50,000 watt signal up to the Cleveland area. Thankfully that idea was put down by the united front of many.

Now WWVA is just another NT station with the same old syndicated blather all day long. The Jamboree show is long gone also.

The only good thing left is the Jamboree in the Hills. Thankfully that show lives on.
Click to expand...
"Now WWVA is just another NT station with the same old syndicated blather all day long"
Not only that but Cheap Channel also put the IBOC on which I thought was unnecessary.
 
I got to say for a country station in San Francisco, The new 95.7 The Wolf is amazing. I came across it online and it is awsome. The DJ's are fun to listen to (Ken & Corey in the morning are hilarious), Fantastic imaging, nice sound of fresh country music along with some old tunes as well. Kudos to Scott Mahalick for a great job with the station.
 
I would second the opinion on 95.7 The Wolf in San Francisco. Personally, I like country stations that image themselves like CHR's with lots of fun elements, and Entercom is doing a great job at this with their "Wolf" stations. (I like most of Entercom's stations in all formats. I think they are one of the better companies in radio these days).

Anyway, for my top picks, The ones that come to mind right off the bat are 95.7 The Wolf San Francisco and 101.9 The Twister in Oklahoma City. Both of these stations are fun, upbeat, CHR type, heavily produced stations that are a blast to listen too. Other honorable mentions would go to WKIS Miami and KMPS Seattle.

As far as country stations I don't care for. My local heritage, legendary country powerhouse, here in the Knoxville area (WIVK) isn't a favorite of mine. I've never really seen what the fuss is about with WIVK. It's one of those old school, full service type stations. Granted, it's a part of the community and so forth, but from a pure production and overall sound and feel perspective, it just bores me to tears. (Not nearly slick and polished enough or fun enough for me. Plus if I want full service stuff, I'll flip to a news/talk station). Personally, I prefer crosstown competitor WCYQ "Q93" Knoxville over the legend that is WIVK. Q93 has a younger and far more produced sound than 'IVK. Too bad they'll never touch 'IVK in the ratings though in this area.
 
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