WSIX-FM

WSIX-FM
City Nashville, Tennessee
Broadcast area Nashville, Tennessee
Branding The Big 98 WSIX
Slogan Nashville's New Country
Frequency 97.9 MHz (also on HD Radio)
Translator(s) 98.3 W252CM (Nashville, relays HD2)
First air date 1948
Format FM/HD1: Country
HD2: Talk (WLAC simulcast)
HD3: "The Big Legend" (Classic country)
ERP 100,000 watts
HAAT 349 meters
Class C0
Facility ID 59815
Transmitter coordinates 36°02′50.00″N 86°49′48.00″W / 36.0472222°N 86.8300000°W / 36.0472222; -86.8300000
Callsign meaning From 638 Tire Company in Springfield, original home of WSIX-AM (638 was the store's address, "Where Service Is EXcellent" its slogan)[1]
Owner iHeartMedia
(Capstar TX LLC)
Sister stations WLAC, WNRQ, WRVW, WUBT
Webcast Listen Live
Website thebig98.iheart.com

WSIX-FM (97.9 FM, "The Big 98") is a radio station licensed to Nashville, Tennessee. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station broadcasts a country music format. WSIX's studios are located in Nashville's Music Row district and the transmitter site is in Brentwood, Tennessee.

History

Countrypolitan

Originally the sister station of a similarly-styled AM station (now WYFN which simulcasts the Bible Broadcasting Network's religious programming), WSIX-FM is credited with pioneering the "countrypolitan" "Nashville sound" of country music, which developed in the 1960s. Violins and other stringed instruments (and occasionally horns) were added to the traditionally fiddle- and guitar-driven sound of country music. During those years (beginning in 1967 until the late 1970s) WSIX-FM used the slogan "We're metropolitan country." As such, WSIX-FM became one of the first successful country-formatted stations on the FM dial in the U.S.; country stations were overwhelmingly found on AM until well into the early 1980s.[2]

Legendary Big 98 logo used from the 1980s-August 2011

The Big 98 Era

In 1983, then-owners General Electric sold the AM and FM stations, along with WNGE-TV (now WKRN-TV), to other interests. Around that time, the stations were simulcast and the format turned to a more straightforward country sound (i.e., honkey tonk and "Outlaw.")

XM simulcast

From May 1, 2006 to August 8, 2008, WSIX-FM was simulcast on XM Satellite Radio (channel 161). The satellite feed included commercials. A song that was not on the station's playlist at the moment would play during commercial breaks as well.

After a leave of absence, on June 8, 2011, WSIX-FM returned to the XM platform, replacing "Nashville" on XM 57. Station owner Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia) sold off its ownership stake in Sirius XM Radio during the second quarter of fiscal year 2013. As a result of the sale, nine of Clear Channel's eleven XM stations, including the simulcast of WSIX-FM, ceased broadcast over XM Satellite Radio on October 18, 2013.[3][4]

HD Radio

WSIX-HD2 launched with a new country format, branded as WSIXtra and later The Nashville Channel. In August 2014, it was replaced by No Shoes Radio, which featured a freeform format curated and hosted by country musician Kenny Chesney. It was also available nationally on iHeartRadio and sister station KNIX-FM. In March 2016, it was announced that the channel would move exclusively to SiriusXM on April 12.[5] On April 1, 2016, the channel was replaced by The Bobby Bones Top 30 Countdown.

On September 2, 2016, WSIX-HD2 relaunched as the classic country station 98.3 The Big Legend, simulcasting on translator station 98.3 W252CM,[6] On September 21, 2018, the subchannel and translator flipped to a simulcast of talk radio WLAC.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Robertson County Amateur Radio Club newsletter, 6/2013
  2. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=2ycEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=wsix-fm+aircheck&source=bl&ots=2pbLLHV_N-&sig=2Z6bYMzSrxllJ_NCLNfycgNAcD0&hl=en&ei=MaaHTJO-Eo3c9ATgvPHfDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CB4Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false
  3. ↑ "Clear Channel Sells SiriusXM Stake; Stations To Leave Service". RadioInsight. 2013-08-02. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
  4. ↑ "SiriusXM Adjusting Lineup: Z100/KIIS-FM Come To Sirius". RadioInsight. 2013-10-15. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
  5. ↑ "Kenny Chesney's 'No Shoes' Radio Moves from the Internet to the Satellite". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  6. ↑ "iHeart Debuts The Big Legend 98.3 Nashville". RadioInsight. 2016-09-02. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  7. ↑ "The Big Legend Gives Way To WLAC Simulcast In Nashville". RadioInsight. 2018-09-21. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
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