WSEV-FM (105.5 FM, "Mix 105.5") operates as Sevier County's only local FM

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

. While other stations are licensed to Sevierville, their studios are based in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

History

WSEV-FM was originally licensed to

Gatlinburg, Tennessee Gatlinburg is a mountain resort city in Sevier County, Tennessee, United States. It is located southeast of Knoxville and had a population of 3,944 at the 2010 Census and a U.S. Census population of 3,577 in 2020. It is a popular vacation resort ...

, as a sister to WSEV, although the studios for both stations were located in

Sevierville, Tennessee Sevierville ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sevier County, Tennessee, located in eastern Tennessee. The population was 17,889 at the 2020 United States Census. History Native Americans of the Woodland period were among the first human ...

. In 1990 the station was purchased, along with its AM sister station WSEV/930, by the Dollywood Broadcasting Company, a privately owned corporation whose owners included

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

; Orr & Earls Broadcasting, Inc., of

Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County. Branson is in the Ozark Mountains. The community was named after Reuben Branson, postma ...

; and other investors. Orr & Earls Broadcasting, Inc. was selected as the managing partner due to their success in managing Branson-area radio stations KRZK and KOMC. WSEV-FM's call letters were changed to WDLY to reflect the connection with Parton, and the design of the call letters incorporated the

Dollywood Dollywood is a theme park jointly owned by entertainer Dolly Parton and Herschend Family Entertainment. It is located in the Knoxville metropolitan area in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, near the gateway to The Great Smoky Mountains. Hosting nearly 3 ...

theme park's butterfly logo. Its format was changed to

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. The station's slogans was ''"This Is Dolly's Station! 105.5 WDLY"'', ''"The Best Music! Dolly's Station! WDLY"'', and ''"Dolly's 105.5 WDLY"''. However, WDLY had a tough time competing against Knoxville's

WIVK-FM WIVK-FM (107.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Knoxville, Tennessee. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a country music radio format known as "WIVK The Frog Station." The studios and offices are on Old Kingston Pike i ...

and

WOKI WOKI (98.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Oliver Springs, Tennessee, and serving the Knoxville metropolitan area. It is owned by Cumulus Media and it broadcasts a talk radio format. The studios and offices are on Old Kingston ...

during the years they had a country format. After ten years as WDLY, the station was sold to East Tennessee Radio Group and the call sign reverted to WSEV-FM in May 2000. Its studios were moved from Middle Creek Road in Sevierville to Dumplin Valley Road in

Kodak, Tennessee Kodak is an unincorporated community and a neighborhood of Sevierville in Sevier County, Tennessee, United States. It is located along State Highway 139 and State Highway 66, and just south of I-40 and Knoxville, Tennessee. The elevation of Ko ...

External links

* SEV-FM Hot adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1983 Sevier County, Tennessee {{Tennessee-radio-station-stub