Our Story
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On October 5, 1925, WSM radio made its first official broadcast from the fifth floor of the National Life and Accident Insurance Company building located at 7th and Union in Nashville, Tennessee. The call letters, WSM, came from the National Life and Accident Insurance Company’s motto, “We Shield Millions.”
WSM featured a wide variety of live entertainment through the years, including classical music, radio drama, gospel music, and renowned shows like the Waking Crew and Sunday Down South.
Famous entertainers such as Snooky Lanson, Dinah Shore, Ralph Emery and Pat Sajak all got their start at WSM.
In 1950, WSM announcer David Cobb coined the term “Music City USA” and the moniker is now the official nickname for Nashville.
On November 28, 1925, WSM station director George D Hay introduced old-time fiddler, Uncle Jimmy Thompson, to the WSM audience. The response was so great that the Saturday night “Grand Ole Opry” was born. Overflowing crowds forced the Opry show to leave the WSM broadcast studios for a series of larger venues. In June 1943, the show moved to the Ryman Auditorium, where it stayed until 1974, when it moved to the Opryland complex.
The Grand Ole Opry has become synonymous with country music and led Nashville’s emergence as the country music capital of the world. The show in its entirety is still broadcast live over 650 AM WSM every week.
On the radio, WSM can be heard in 38 states and parts of Canada thanks to its 50,000-watt clear channel signal. On the internet, WSM can be heard at WSM online dot com. You can even access WSM on your mobile device by downloading our free mobile app. Follow WSM Radio on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for behind-the-scenes photos, contests, and special studio performances. You can even check out the WSM Channel on YouTube for access to a gallery of our online-only digital series.
WSM continues to enrich its audience daily by playing only the best in Classic Country, Bluegrass, and Americana music, and has gone on to become a broadcasting giant in the radio industry…being a friend to hundreds of thousands of fans. The station has won hundreds of broadcasting awards and was named Country Radio Station of the Century by “Radio & Records” in 2000. WSM’s personalities are nationally recognized figures in country music, and its listeners range from U.S. presidents to Country Music Hall of Famers, to artists climbing the charts toward their first number one hit. You never know when a famous listener might drop in for a visit.
With the ever-changing ways that listeners can consume media, WSM found it imperative to expand a digital footprint and in September of 2017 launched the first in a series of new streaming stations, Route 650.
Route 650 is a 24/7 streaming channel that is a celebration of Americana music. Including, current Americana artist like Jason Isbell, Margo Price and Amanda Shires. Plus, the founders of Americana like Kris Kristofferson and John Prine.
Route 650 is unlike any other Americana station in the country as it is programmed and curated by the talent of WSM AM; featuring exclusive content hosted by WSM personalities Eric Marcum and Charlie Mattos.
In the spirit of WSM’s historic impact in Country Music, the new digital initiatives are proving to be an outlet to bring new audiences into the fold and preserve the rich history for generations to come.
