WSM-AM

[davideduardo]

Use the nationwide signal for something. Don't keep wasting it. As one man used to say, stop crapping in your mess kit.

What "nationwide signal?" Daytime, when most radio listening occurs, WSM barely covers the MSA of Nashville with a usable signal... and even in an MSA that includes many semi-rural areas as this one does, usability of a signal below 5 mV/m is doubtful (and the distribution of listeners confirms this) which meanst in the daytime the coverage is limited to about 14 or 15 counties and slices and slivers of a few others... the 5 mV/m covers just 1.53 million people... of whom less than 50,000 even bother to listen even once a week.

Night, when only a small percentage of radio listening hours are contributed, is difficult to make any money on, even if the signal does fairly consistently cover a number of states. We have to keep in mind that, when there were no alternatives, folks put up with fading and static and noise. Today, they don't. Not many even put up with AM in general, let alone at night.

Like the classic TV pundit, I can describe what is wrong, but I have no idea on what to do with this or most other AM's. Making the jocks in the fishbowl smile more at the guests at the hotel is not going to do it.

 

[Nock]

When they started charging the locals to park for hotel is when it all went to hell.

Nock

 

[ShadowB]

Gaylord was only going to charge to park during Christmas ...that was back around 1995 or so.

 

[TheBigA]

I do wonder if anyone in the family after Ed even really cared or knew just what they had and lost?

No. That's my point. For about ten years, things were status quo. Then it ended. The family just wanted the money. And they got it. End of story. The company now with Ed's name is not the company he started. Don't expect them to act like the old man's still around.

 

[radiorob2.0]

Here's what should of happened.....

Twenty years ago somebody should have known better and simulcast the AM product on FM. The heritage would have continued on a better delivery system. Then when the decision was made to spin off the AM it wouldn't have been a big deal. (93.1 WIBC, 103.5 WTOP, and many others)

The reality is WSM-AM has nowhere to go. You have talk on FM and, oh yeah, AM; sports is covered on FM and, oh yeah, AM and a real news format is beyond budget.

 

[olebud]

twenty years ago somebody should have known better and simulcast the AM product on FM. The heritage would have continued on a better delivery system. Then when the decision was made to spin off the AM it wouldn't have been a big deal. (93.1 WIBC, 103.5 WTOP, and many others)

I may be wrong...but don't think you could do that 20 years ago. We were doing it in Houston 30+ years ago and were forced to seperate them. Last I heard the AM is now a business news station and the FM is all jazz. The rules may have changed since then. Oh...we were #-1 while simulcasting and only one staff to pay.

 

[sweet sour Jerry]

Here's what should of happened.....

Twenty years ago somebody should have known better and simulcast the AM product on FM. The heritage would have continued on a better delivery system. Then when the decision was made to spin off the AM it wouldn't have been a big deal. (93.1 WIBC, 103.5 WTOP, and many others)

The reality is WSM-AM has nowhere to go. You have talk on FM and, oh yeah, AM; sports is covered on FM and, oh yeah, AM and a real news format is beyond budget.

This entire town along with anyone who ever made a dime in Country Music has been a bi-product this AM station,never mind popular music in general. Terrestrial or via internet there is WSM-AM on top followed by the rest due to Heritage and Content, period. Yes management has screwed up the programing in recent history. Sure the AM signal is inferior to FM, but WSM is once again about content not sound quality. Ask someone not from Nashville to name the call letters or dial position of an FM in town, bet they cannot. WSM is like your first car, girlfriend, boyfriend or your favorite old T-shirt. You can improve the quality or speed or newness but not the heritage. WSM is Country Music. Everyone else has to get in line.

 

[davideduardo]

This entire town along with anyone who ever made a dime in Country Music has been a bi-product this AM station,

While that may be a tad exaggerated, nobody can deny the profound and long influence of WSM on country music and on radio as well.

But that is is history. Today, the station has nearly no audience and nearly no revenue. For you to deny the present is just as bad as anyone else denying the past.

Terrestrial or via internet there is WSM-AM on top followed by the rest due to Heritage and Content, period.

Plain and simple: WSM is not on top now. Heritage in radio is of no value to current operations if the current operations are not succeeding or if the people who know about the heritage are no longer around.

Sure the AM signal is inferior to FM, but WSM is once again about content not sound quality.

Nearly nobody is listening. Content nobody is listening to brings up the sound in the forest that nobody hears analogy.

Ask someone not from Nashville to name the call letters or dial position of an FM in town, bet they cannot.

You are confusing history with reality.

WSM is like your first car, girlfriend, boyfriend or your favorite old T-shirt. You can improve the quality or speed or newness but not the heritage. WSM is Country Music. Everyone else has to get in line.

The interesting thing is that in the "sneak preview" that was posted here of the 25-54 ratings, none of the country stations in Nashville looks particularly good, and WSM looks even worse than in the diary data. That brings up a whole discussion topic.

 

[davideduardo]

I may be wrong...but don't think you could do that 20 years ago.

20, yes...

We were doing it in Houston 30+ years ago and were forced to seperate them.

That was 1967 when simulcasts had to end... 43 years ago.

Last I heard the AM is now a business news station and the FM is all jazz. The rules may have changed since then. Oh...we were #-1 while simulcasting and only one staff to pay.

It's come full circle. Simulcasting was prohibited to help FM when independent FMs barely showed in the ratings. Now, AMs can simulcast with an FM to keep them alive.

 

[radiorob2.0]

twenty years ago somebody should have known better and simulcast the AM product on FM. The heritage would have continued on a better delivery system. Then when the decision was made to spin off the AM it wouldn't have been a big deal. (93.1 WIBC, 103.5 WTOP, and many others)

I may be wrong...but don't think you could do that 20 years ago. We were doing it in Houston 30+ years ago and were forced to seperate them. Last I heard the AM is now a business news station and the FM is all jazz. The rules may have changed since then. Oh...we were #-1 while simulcasting and only one staff to pay.

The simulcast rules slowly relaxed after FM found its own. Many signals were simulcasting twenty years ago, just off the top of my head...

WRBQ St Pete/Tampa
KKLQ San Diego
KKBQ Houston
among others

 

[olebud]

The simulcast rules slowly relaxed after FM found its own.[/quote
Thanks Rob...I wasn't aware. There would probably have been a bigger fight if they tried to get some of the 'classis' country played on FM. Announcers on both stations were friendly. At other stations, the AM & FM jocs have looked down on their opposites. but that's another subject and story....
Buddy

 

[sweet sour Jerry]

This entire town along with anyone who ever made a dime in Country Music has been a bi-product this AM station,

While that may be a tad exaggerated, nobody can deny the profound and long influence of WSM on country music and on radio as well.

But that is is history. Today, the station has nearly no audience and nearly no revenue. For you to deny the present is just as bad as anyone else denying the past.

Terrestrial or via internet there is WSM-AM on top followed by the rest due to Heritage and Content, period.

Plain and simple: WSM is not on top now. Heritage in radio is of no value to current operations if the current operations are not succeeding or if the people who know about the heritage are no longer around.

Sure the AM signal is inferior to FM, but WSM is once again about content not sound quality.

Nearly nobody is listening. Content nobody is listening to brings up the sound in the forest that nobody hears analogy.

Ask someone not from Nashville to name the call letters or dial position of an FM in town, bet they cannot.

You are confusing history with reality.

WSM is like your first car, girlfriend, boyfriend or your favorite old T-shirt. You can improve the quality or speed or newness but not the heritage. WSM is Country Music. Everyone else has to get in line.

The interesting thing is that in the "sneak preview" that was posted here of the 25-54 ratings, none of the country stations in Nashville looks particularly good, and WSM looks even worse than in the diary data. That brings up a whole discussion topic.

DE- very valid points- yes you speak the truth....but....I think we can agree that the current programming of most (not all) FM's is poor from an artistic and musical standpoint, therefore the drop in overall listenership. Actually a ton of listeners have gone away because promotionally driven stations no longer have cash to give away. Caller #9 has no reason to listen! I digress.Yes it is wishful thinking on my part that the unwashed masses would ever "get" the programming of an SM.Only people in the business (writers, performers,broadcasters) understand it (or laugh )and yes that is a problem. WSM could make comeback even on AM if it were programmed in a fashion to appeal to both the masses and music business types. Yes it can be done. It's just Radio!

 

[Kyle Cantrell]

I read these discussions and find this interesting: Even though everyone correctly says times have changed, AM radio stations in general and WSM in particular are challenged, and that perhaps the day of the entire AM medium (including WSM) may be past us, the fact remains that we're still talking about it. Hardly anyone of my generation and before, who worked anywhere in the "shadow" of that tower in Brentwood, didn't dream of working for WSM or, if not that, wasn't keenly interested in and influenced by the station and its talent.

Buddy's right--for me, it was a destination. All I ever wanted for my career was to work there, and was blessed to get to do that for 21 years. But I was slowly disillusioned as I watched the parent company--especially in the '80s and '90s--lose its vision for just what "WSM" meant. It was no one's fault, really--it was business, and the reality of a vastly changing broadcasting landscape. I was involved in a last-ditch attempt in the late '90s and early '00s to rekindle the vision, but forces beyond everyone's control--including that of my superiors, who couldn't allow us continue in the direction we were going--caused our efforts to be too little, too late. There are plenty "if onlys..." we could talk about, stretching back into the 1970s, which might have produced a different outcome for the station, but that's all moot now.

Now, the WSM of my parents' and my childhood is a pleasant memory. It's also a sad memory for me when I stop to think about "the things which might have been." I still love the station and want to see it succeed, and am encouraged by some of the initiatives I'm seeing them undertake. But so far, I've not heard any suggestion for the complete return of WSM to its former glory that sounds feasible to me. Perhaps it can be done, but I wouldn't know where to begin at this point. For now, like all AM stations in this day and time, WSM's best hope is in its reinvention. What that means is open to conjecture.

 

[Tibbs4]

Kyle, you were WSM-AM! Even though the station is just basically metal parts, it, like most stations had a heart and a brain ~ the combination of the dynamic teams in many stations. Now
it's all about life support. Thank you for what you and many others provided Nashville in heart
and soul for as long as you could.

The radio industry has lost focus on virtually everything. It's funny how much more research, knowledge and corporate where-with-all have lead to so many bad decisions and products. I still can't believe that for all the issues of single-owner operators, I'd be able to say the overall stations sounded better and had more energy than what we hear on 2010.

Again, Vision of over Logic. Always wins. And the self professed "logic experts" pretty much ruin em every time.

 

[jason99]

So I wonder how a Classic Country radio station would do on the FM in NAshville. I don't remember there being a real Classic Country station here except for WSM AM. So bring that to the FM and see how that works. I don't mean a Classic Country station for the 50's and 60's. How bout mid 70's to the 90's. Wonder how Nashville would react to that. Sure would be different.

 

[romer979fm]

I don't remember there being a real Classic Country station here

in most situations (not all...most)...classic country stations male an impressive debut due to the "oh wow"
factor...but begin fading quickly. after the 14th spin of Willie's "Blue Eyes Cryin' In The Rain"...even the
staunchest supporter is going elsewhere. looks good on paper...not so much in real life.
there have been exceptions...but look at KDF's original concept of mixing the old and new: the old quickly went away.
in Nashville...having three killer signal 100kw country stations makes it tough, too

 

[TheBigA]

The radio industry has lost focus on virtually everything.

I don't know if you meant it that way, but I wouldn't use WSM-AM as an example of the radio industry. It really has no connection to the industry as a whole, except that it uses the public airwaves. Otherwise, the station is a series of exceptions, as one that plays music on AM (which is rare), one that broadcasts live concerts four out of 7 nights a week (rare), and as a station that plays Americana music as part of its mix (rare in the commercial world).

My view is that the industry, in terms of a few major owners, is changing focus from totally terrestrial to a combination of terrestrial and online. It's fairly competitive in the online world, even though no company is offering a fully personalized service yet. Once that happens, I think things could get interesting.

But as I've said, the days of terrestrial radio as a destination have been mostly over for 20 years. Too many options, too much media, too much audience diversity. What radio can do is take audiences and durect them to other things. For WSM, that other thing is the Opry and the Opryland Hotel.

So I wonder how a Classic Country radio station would do on the FM in NAshville.

It seems to be doing well in Houston and several other markets. But WSM-AM is not a traditional classic country AM. They mix in bluegrass, Americana, and other wild cards with the Opry.

 

[Tibbs4]

Big A - I meant my comment based up radio and general and 100% not WSM-AM. I also agree, it would interesting to have a classic country FM station. I'm not sure how it would fare. Then again, people probably can get their fill of the good ole classics at Cracker Barrel.

 

[TheBigA]

Big A - I meant my comment based up radio and general and 100% not WSM-AM.

Then I don't think you can make a generalization that "the radio industry has lost focus on virtually everything."

The focus has changed because the rules have changed, and the entire game has changed. You can complain about the rules changes, or you can complain about the changes in the media marketplace. There's not much anyone can do about either. But anyone working in the industry now has to adapt to those changes, and play the cards they've been dealt.

 

[firepoint525]

During the almost-format change of WSM back in 2002, it was suggested that a coalition of country music entertainers should pool their resources and just buy the station outright. That didn't happen, for a number of reasons:

1) Those entertainers probably thought that "someone else should do it." That is, someone else should buy the station and "keep it country," but not us. :

2) Maybe they realized that they actually knew nothing about managing a station.

3) Maybe some of them were, and maybe still are, too busy with their own careers, to oversee the day-to-day operations of a station.

4) If any of them actually were interested in buying the station, maybe they weren't able to rally enough of their friends in the industry to join them in the cause. (If a living legend like maybe George Jones had gotten behind the cause, maybe it would have been different.)

5) Probably the most important reason of all, the suggestion that country music entertainers buy WSM was not made by the entertainers themselves, but rather by fans, who of course, had no money to pull off something like this.


I still remember how all those out-of-town fans absolutely flooded channel 4's then-still-existing "Speaker's Corner" board with messages about WSM. Evidently, they didn't know that WSM and WSMV are no longer jointly owned, but I can't hold that against them, because there are "Nashvillains" who still don't realize that! : At any rate, I was glad when all the fuss was over, because it meant that WE (meaning Nashvillians) got our message board back. It was selfish of all those out-of-towners to basically hijack it from us!