WSEV (930 AM) operates as

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 ...

's first and only local AM

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 is the heritage station in Sevierville. It has aired the talents of future country singers, including

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 ...

. In 1990 the station was purchased, along with its FM sister station WSEV-FM 105.5, by the Dollywood Broadcasting Company, a privately owned corporation whose shareholders included Parton; managing partner 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. The AM station's call letters remained WSEV, but the FM's call letters were changed to WDLY 105.5 to reflect the connection with Parton. In 1992 a remote broadcast booth was built on 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, similar to the

WSM (AM) WSM (650 kHz) is a 50,000-watt clear channel AM radio station located in Nashville, Tennessee. It broadcasts a full-time country music format (with classic country and Americana leanings, the latter of which is branded as "Route 650") at 650&n ...

broadcast booth located at the

Opryland USA Opryland USA (later called Opryland Themepark and colloquially "Opryland") was a theme park in suburban Nashville, Tennessee. It operated seasonally (generally March to October) from 1972 to 1997, and for a special Christmas-themed engagement eve ...

theme park in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. WSEV's format fluctuated during the 1990s. Its programming mostly consisted of classic country during the day, with mornings featuring "Swap and Shop," a locally produced call-in show for buyers and sellers of household items, local news throughout the day, and a simulcast of the WDLY-FM modern country signal at night. Locally produced sports-talk programming continued to be added to the schedule. In 2000, the East Tennessee Radio Group purchased WSEV-AM and sister WDLY-FM from the Dollywood Broadcasting Company and later moved the studios from their old location on Middle Creek Road in Sevierville, Tennessee, to their current location on 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 ...

. Prior to adopting the current sports-talk format, WSEV simulcasted WSEV-FM's "Mix 105.5"

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

format. East Tennessee Radio Group sold WSEV (AM) to Grand Crowne Resorts with application filed on April 21, 2008. Some snippets of the station’s former country format are heard in Dollywood’s Lightning Rod attraction.

Recent history (circa 2010)

WSEV is a "barker" station: It broadcasts continuous advertisements for the Pigeon Forge area attractions, interspersed with Tennessee Trivia and comedy routines by "Milton Crabapple, Sheriff of Crabapple County". Billboards on approaching highways tout the station to incoming travelers. Milton Crabapple explains life in Crabapple County, telling the exploits of himself and the other citizens, all of whom seem to have "Crabapple" as either their surnames or parts of their names (such as a "cousin in show business", P.T. Crabapple). In 2012, WSEV changed its imaging from Pigeon Forge Radio to Smoky Mountain Radio. On August 19, 2015, owner Grand Crowne Resorts took WSEV silent for financial reasons and applied to the FCC for authority to remain silent for 180 days. On November 9, 2015, AllAccess.com reported that Grand Crowne was selling WSEV to Bristol Broadcasting Co. for $25,000. Bristol owns stations in the Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia area, and the Paducah KY and Charleston WV broadcast markets. The sale was consummated on January 14, 2016.

References

External links

* * {{coord, 35, 52, 42, N, 83, 33, 18, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title SEV (AM) Radio stations established in 1990