WSIX-FM (97.9

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

, "The Big 98") is a

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 radi ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to serve

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station broadcasts a

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, ...

format. WSIX's studios are located in Nashville's

Music Row Music Row is a historic district located southwest of downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Widely considered the heart of Nashville's entertainment industry, Music Row has also become a metonymous nickname for the music industry as a w ...

district and the transmitter site is in

Forest Hills, Tennessee Forest Hills is a city in Davidson County, Tennessee. The population was 5,038 at the 2010 census and 4,866 in a 2018 estimate. History Nashville was settled by Anglo-Europeans in 1780, and over the next two decades settlers staked claims on w ...

History

Countrypolitan

Originally the sister station of a similarly-styled AM station (now

WYFN WYFN (980 AM) is a radio station serving the Nashville, Tennessee area with a conservative religious radio format. It is a Bible Broadcasting Network (BBN) owned-and-operated station. Prior to being acquired by BBN in 1991, this station was WSI ...

which simulcasts the

Bible Broadcasting Network The Bible Broadcasting Network (BBN) is a listener-supported global Conservative Christian radio network staffed and headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was founded in 1971 by Lowell Davey, who was the network's president until his dea ...

's religious programming), WSIX-FM is credited with pioneering the "countrypolitan" "

Nashville sound The Nashville Sound originated during the mid-1950s as a subgenre of American country music, replacing the chart dominance of the rough honky tonk music, which was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s, with "smooth strings and choruses", "sophist ...

" of country music, which developed in the 1960s.

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

s and other stringed instruments (and occasionally horns) were added to the traditionally fiddle- and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

-driven sound of

. 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., as country music formats were typically found on AM stations until well into the early 1980s.

The Big 98 Era

In 1983, then-owners

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

sold the AM and FM stations, along with WNGE-TV (now

WKRN-TV WKRN-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC and owned by Nexstar Media Group. The station's studios are located on Murfreesboro Road (U.S. Routes U.S. R ...

), to other interests. Around that time, the stations were simulcast and the format turned to a more straightforward country sound (i.e.,

honkey tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano (tack piano) ...

and " Outlaw.")

XM simulcast

From May 1, 2006 to August 8, 2008, WSIX-FM was simulcast on

XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio ( SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its se ...

(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 Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

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.

HD Radio

WSIX-FMHD2 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 Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded more than 20 albums and has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs and Country ...

. It was also available nationally on iHeartRadio and sister station

KNIX-FM KNIX-FM (102.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Phoenix, Arizona, owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. The station airs a country music radio format. The studios and offices are located on East Van Buren Street in Phoenix near Sky Harb ...

. In March 2016, it was announced that the channel would move exclusively to

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sa ...

on April 12. On April 1, 2016, the channel was replaced by ''The Bobby Bones Top 30 Countdown''. On September 2, 2016, WSIX-FMHD2 relaunched as the

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

station ''98.3 The Big Legend'', simulcasting on translator station 98.3 W252CM, On September 21, 2018, the subchannel and translator flipped to a simulcast of

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...

WLAC WLAC (1510 AM) – branded ''Talkradio 98.3 & 1510'' – is a commercial talk radio radio station licensed to serve Nashville, Tennessee. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station covers the Nashville metropolitan area. The WLAC studios are located ...

. ''The Big Legend'' is currently heard on the HD3 subchannel.

Emergency Alert System

WSIX is the Local Primary 1 (LP1) station for the

Emergency Alert System The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national warning system in the United States designed to allow authorized officials to broadcast emergency alerts and warning messages to the public via cable, satellite, or broadcast television, and bot ...

in the Nashville, Tennessee operational area.

References

External links

* * * {{IHeartMedia Country radio stations in the United States SIX-FM SIX-FM IHeartMedia radio stations