October 4, 5 In Radio History

On the 5th in 1925...WSM-AM in Nashville, Tennessee began transmitting.

WSM is primarily associated with the popularization of country music through its weekly Saturday night program, the Grand Ole Opry, the longest-running radio program in history.

The Opry began as the WSM Barn Dance in 1925, but after only about a year on the air, the program's host, "Judge" Hay, referred to the programming as being "Grand Ole Opry" in contrast to the preceding grand opera program on NBC.

In 1932, WSM boosted its power to 50,000 watts, becoming Tennessee's first clear-channel station.

In addition to its vast nighttime coverage area, the station boasts one of the largest daytime coverage areas in the country. It provides at least grade B coverage as far east as Chattanooga, as far north as Evansville, Indiana, as far west as Jackson, Tennessee and as far south as Huntsville, Alabama. Under the right conditions, it can be heard in nearly all of Tennessee and much of Kentucky, and can be picked up as far away as the fringes of the St. Louis area.

The station traditionally played country music in the nighttime hours, when listeners from around the United States would tune in. Before the advent of television, the station broadcast long-form radio (both local and NBC network) programs in addition to music. After television became popular (thus largely eliminating the audience for full-length radio programs), WSM adopted a "MOR" (middle of the road) music format during the daytime hours, and continued to play country music at night. It was not until about 1979 that WSM adopted the 24-hour country music format of today.

WSM is credited with shaping Nashville into a recording industry capital. Because of WSM's incredible reach, musical acts from all across the eastern United States would come to Nashville in the early decades of the station's existence, in hopes of getting to perform on WSM. Over time, as more acts and recording companies came to Nashville, the city became known as the center of the country music industry. Disc jockey David Cobb is credited with first referring to Nashville as "Music City USA", a designation that has since been adopted as the city's official nickname by the local tourism board.

WSM's unusual diamond-shaped antenna is visible from I65 just south of Nashville (in Brentwood). When the 878-foot tower was built in 1932, it was the tallest antenna in North America. Its height was reduced to 808 feet (246 m) in 1939 when it was discovered that the taller tower was causing self-cancellation in the "fringe" areas of reception of the station (it is now known that 195 electrical degrees, about 810 feet, is the optimum height for a Class A station on that frequency).


On the 5th in 1945..."Meet the Press" premiered on NBC radio.


On the 5th In 1947…The first taped radio show, featuring a performance by singer/actor Bing Crosby, was broadcast on ABC. It served to demonstrate the capabilities of the new Ampex 200 tape recorder.





On the 5th in 1950…Following three successful years on radio, the quiz show "You Bet Your Life," with host Groucho Marx, began its 11-year television run on NBC.


On the 5th in 1952…After 11½ years on the air, the creaking door of "Inner Sanctum Mysteries" was heard for the last time as the series ended its run on ABC Radio.