WSMV-TV
Encyclopedia
WSMV-TV, virtual channel
4, is the NBC
-affiliated television station serving the Nashville, Tennessee
area. It broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 10. Owned by Meredith Corporation
, its transmitter and tower are located adjacent to its studios on Knob Road in west Nashville, south of Charlotte Pike. Current syndicated programming on WSMV includes The Dr. Oz Show
, The Twilight Zone
and Access Hollywood
.
WSMV previously aired programming from the NBC-owned Spanish-language network, Telemundo
, on its DT2 subcarrier, since the Nashville DMA lacks a Telemundo affiliate of its own. The subchannel began airing in the summer of 2006, and was discontinued on December 31, 2010. WSMV management has indicated that programming on WSMV-DT2 will not be replaced, and that the subcarrier's spectrum will be used for non-OTA broadcast purposes. This move left the Nashville area with TeleFutura
affiliate WLLC-LP
channel 42 as its only Spanish-language outlet.
, digital television receivers display WSMV-TV's virtual channel
as 4.
, also an NBC affiliate) in Memphis
. It was owned by the locally-based National Life and Accident Insurance Company
along with WSM radio (650 AM
& 95.5 FM
); the AM station is renowned for broadcasts of the country music
show "The Grand Ole Opry
," which has been heard since 1925. The stations took its callsign from their parent's slogan, "We Shield Millions."
The television station has been an NBC affiliate from the very first day, though it also carried some programming from CBS
, DuMont
, and ABC
. Affiliation with CBS ended in 1953 when WSIX-TV channel 8 (now WKRN-TV
channel 2) signed on as a CBS primary affiliate. WSM shared ABC programming with WSIX-TV for a year until WLAC-TV channel 5 (now WTVF-TV) signed on as the CBS primary affiliate, leaving WSIX-TV as the ABC affiliate. Before the advent of satellite delivery, network programming was delivered to WSM-TV by microwave transmission from WAVE
in Louisville, Kentucky
.
. In 1957, the station attempted to a build a larger tower in west Nashville near Charlotte Avenue. During the construction process, the new tower's supporting wires failed. This caused the tower to collapse, which took the lives of several people. Afterward WSM-TV purchased its present property on Knob Road (farther west of the previous site) and built a tower there in a forested section away from potential damage to life and property.
WSM-TV shared its broadcast facilities with new public station WDCN-TV channel 2 (now WNPT-TV channel 8) beginning in 1962. In 1963, NL&AI built new studios for WSM-AM-FM-TV adjacent to the transmission tower on Knob Road. This left WDCN as the sole occupant of the south Nashville building, where that station remained until 1976. In 1974, NL&AI reorganized itself as a holding company, NLT Corporation, with the WSM stations as a major subsidiary.
The WSM stations' close ties to Nashville's country music
business has meant that the Knob Road facility and/or its personnel was, from time to time, used for the recording of network and syndicated
programs featuring Nashville-based performers. This was especially the case during the 1960s and 1970s. Most if not all of these shows were packaged by Show Biz, Inc., headquartered in Nashville and a subsidiary of Holiday Inn
. Show Biz, Inc. produced The Porter Wagoner
Show, That Nashville Music
, The Bill Anderson Show, and several other programs seen throughout the U.S., especially on stations in the Southern and rural Midwestern U.S. The company dissolved in the late 1970s when its president, Jane Grams, became vice president and general manager of WTVC-TV in Chattanooga, Tennessee
. However, the Show Biz programs were seen on some stations well into the early 1980s.
, a Houston-based insurer, in 1980. The new owners were not interested in NLT's non-insurance businesses, and opted to sell off WSM-AM-FM-TV, the Opry and Opryland USA
. Gaylord Entertainment Company
bought the Opry, Opryland USA and WSM-AM-FM. Gaylord would have bought WSM-TV as well, but was already at the Federal Communications Commission
's television ownership limit at the time; the FCC has since practically abandoned such restrictions. Instead, Gillett Broadcasting (property of George N. Gillett Jr.
) bought WSM-TV on November 3, 1981 and changed the callsign to WSMV, in order to trade on the well-known WSM identity while at the same time separating it from its former radio sisters (later, the TV and radio stations would engage in news department cross promotions). Soon afterward, the radio stations moved out of the Knob Road facility into new studios at the Opryland Hotel. WSMV was later sold on June 8, 1989, to Cook Inlet Television Partners, an Alaska
-based company which was a subsidiary of an Alaska Native Regional Corporation; Cook Inlet, in turn, sold it on January 5, 1995 to Meredith Corporation
, its present licensee.
WSMV was not part of the affiliation deal between Meredith and CBS (however, two other Meredith stations, then-independent KPHO-TV
in Phoenix, Arizona
and then-NBC affiliate WNEM-TV
in Saginaw, Michigan
, were) because the purchase was announced more than one month after the affiliation deal had been finalized. As a result, WSMV became the only NBC affiliate in Meredith's present-day station group.
(announcer and weekend weatherman from 1974 to 1977), Robin Roberts (sports anchor and reporter from 1986 to 1988), John Tesh
(news anchor
in 1975-1976), John Seigenthaler, Jr. (weekend anchor in the late 1980s) and Huell Howser
(features reporter in the 1970s).
Ralph Emery
, the longtime country music
disc jockey
on WSM-AM for many years, hosted morning (and at times, afternoon) shows on WSM(V) from the mid-1960s until the early 1990s; for much of that time, they were the highest-rated locally-produced early morning shows on American television. They featured performances by prominent country stars like Tex Ritter
and current star Lorrie Morgan
; also, the studio band consisted of top-notch Music Row
session musicians.
Larry Munson
, WSM-TV's sports director from 1956 until 1967 and later known as the play-by-play announcer for radio broadcasts of Georgia Bulldogs football
, created and hosted a long-running hunting
and fishing
show called The Rod & Gun Club. Paul Eells
replaced Munson as sports director in 1967. Like his predecessor, Eells served as the voice of the Vanderbilt Commodores
football team during his time at WSM. Eells left to become the sports director at KATV
in Little Rock, Arkansas
in 1978. There, he also served as radio play-by-play announcer for the Arkansas Razorbacks
for 28 years until his death in 2006.
Dan Miller
was co-anchor of the main evening newscasts for nearly 40 years, except from August 1986 until March 1995. During this period, Miller spent time in Los Angeles
as a news anchor at KCBS-TV
, and as sidekick to friend and former WSMV colleague Pat Sajak on his short-lived late-night talk show The Pat Sajak Show
. Miller returned to WSMV in 1992 to host 5 O'Clock with Dan Miller , which ran from 1992-93. Miller returned to anchoring duties for the evening newscasts in March 1995, continuing until his death in 2009. Miller died unexpectedly of a heart attack on April 8, 2009, while visiting The Masters golf tournament in his hometown of Augusta, Georgia
.
In 1974, Bill Hall, an African-American, joined the staff as a weather reporter. He briefly worked as a week-end news anchor in 1976 before moving into his role leading the weather team in 1977. His unique style and personality made him one of Middle Tennessee's most well known local television personalities. He punctuated his weather discussions with comments about gardening, cooking, and hunting and fishing. During his WSM-WSMV career, Hall also hosted Land and Lakes, an outdoors show focusing on local hunting and fishing adventures. He retired in 2005.
In early March 2009, it was announced that WSMV's master control operations would be hubbed at WGCL-TV
in Atlanta, another Meredith station. The new hub operation is expected to launch in summer 2009.
s among them) for in-depth and investigative reporting. Mike Kettenring was the news director for much of that period.
In recent times, WSMV has alternated with WTVF for first place in the Nashville ratings. Generally speaking, the station takes a softer approach to news than WTVF. The reverse was true in the 1980s, as WSMV earned awards for hard-hitting investigative stories, while WTVF took a more cautious approach. While WTVF usually leads the way in the city of Nashville itself, WSMV generally leads in Nashville's more conservative suburbs, as well as outlying rural parts of the market, many of whose residents recall readily the station's past association with WSM-AM.
In September 1973, WSM/WSMV decided to fill the 6:30-7 p.m. time slot opened up by the Prime Time Access Rule
in 1971 by expanding its 6 p.m. newscast. This has proven so successful that to this day WSMV programs a newscast from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. (although it is now broken up into two 30-minute segments). Upon the success of the WSM/WSMV expanded 6 p.m. newscast (and after years of low-rated syndicated offerings in the 6:30 slot), WTVF followed suit in 1989 by expanding its 6 p.m. newscast to one hour length. WSMV and WTVF are among the very few stations in the Central Time Zone
to run news at 6:30 presently (stations elsewhere have attempted it since the 1970s with varying degrees of success). WKRN is the only traditional network affiliate in the Nashville market to run only a half hour of news at 6 p.m., with Wheel of Fortune
(hosted by former WSM personality Pat Sajak
) airing at 6:30.
During the May sweeps period that began on April 26, 2007, WSMV debuted its own live news helicopter known as Air 4, becoming the second station in Nashville to do so (WTVF
's news helicopter Sky 5 debuted a year earlier, in 2006). On September 15, 2008, beginning with the 5:00 p.m. newscast, WSMV became the second Nashville station (behind WTVF
) to broadcast local news in High Definition.
On May 26, 2011, WSMV debuted an hour-long 4 p.m. newscast, serving as a replacement for The Oprah Winfrey Show
, which ended its 25-year run the day before; as a result of this addition, along with other non-news local programming such as More at Midday and Better Nashville, WSMV no longer has enough hours of syndicated daytime programming to back up its strong news programming outside of NBC network programming.
On March 5, 1973, the Vanderbilt Television News Archive
recorded off the air of WSM-TV a special broadcast of The Today Show
aimed toward veterans of the Vietnam War
returning home to the U.S. Two months later, on May 1, another broadcast of Today was recorded concerning the Watergate scandal
. On both of these broadcasts, Pat Sajak, who had recently joined the WSM radio and TV staff, anchored the five-minute cut-in local newscasts. As it was not the general policy of the Archive to record special programs such as these or local Nashville programming, these probably represent the only known broadcasts of WSM-TV news available for public viewing, prior to the widespread popularity of video cassette recorders in the late 1970s. Because of the equipment at the time, though, the broadcasts were recorded in black and white.
The Archive, prior to the advent of satellite technology in the 1980s, taped all NBC News broadcasts from the airwaves of WSM/WSMV.
Channel 4 Pinpoint Weather Team
Sports team
Reporters
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
4, is the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
-affiliated television station serving the Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
area. It broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 10. Owned by Meredith Corporation
Meredith Corporation
The Meredith Corporation is a media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The company has two divisions, National Media and Local Media.-History:...
, its transmitter and tower are located adjacent to its studios on Knob Road in west Nashville, south of Charlotte Pike. Current syndicated programming on WSMV includes The Dr. Oz Show
The Dr. Oz Show
The Dr. Oz Show is an American syndicated television talk show, hosted by Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and teaching professor at Columbia University who became famous for his appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show from 2004 until 2009....
, The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
and Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood is a weekday television entertainment news program covering events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created by former Entertainment Tonight executive producer Jim Van Messel, and is currently directed by Robert Silverstein. In previous years, Doug Dougherty and...
.
Digital programming
| Channel | Video Display resolution The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube , flat panel or projection... |
Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 | 1080i 1080i 1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
WSMV-DT | Main WSMV-TV programming / NBC |
| 4.2 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | WSMV-DT2 | Currently on-air with no programming |
WSMV previously aired programming from the NBC-owned Spanish-language network, Telemundo
Telemundo
Telemundo is an American television network that broadcasts in Spanish. The network is the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world, and the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, behind Univision....
, on its DT2 subcarrier, since the Nashville DMA lacks a Telemundo affiliate of its own. The subchannel began airing in the summer of 2006, and was discontinued on December 31, 2010. WSMV management has indicated that programming on WSMV-DT2 will not be replaced, and that the subcarrier's spectrum will be used for non-OTA broadcast purposes. This move left the Nashville area with TeleFutura
TeleFutura
TeleFutura is a U.S. Spanish-language broadcast television network owned by Univision with headquarters in Miami, Florida.-Overview:TeleFutura Is America’s #2 Spanish-Language Network in prime time...
affiliate WLLC-LP
WLLC-LP
WLLC-LP is a low power television station in Nashville, Tennessee, broadcast locally on analog channel 42. The station is affiliated with the Telefutura television network....
channel 42 as its only Spanish-language outlet.
Analog-to-digital conversion
In 2009, WSMV-TV turned off its analog transmitter and remained on its pre-transition channel 10. However, through the use of PSIPProgram and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
, digital television receivers display WSMV-TV's virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
as 4.
Early years
WSMV began broadcasting as WSM-TV on September 30, 1950 at 1:10 p.m. It was Nashville's first television station and the second in Tennessee, behind WMCT (now WMC-TVWMC-TV
WMC-TV is the NBC affiliate television station for the Memphis, Tennessee metropolitan area. The station serves roughly the western third of Tennessee, northwestern Mississippi, northeastern Arkansas and the southeastern corner of Missouri over the air on satellite and on various cable systems. Its...
, also an NBC affiliate) in Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. It was owned by the locally-based National Life and Accident Insurance Company
National Life and Accident Insurance Company
The National Life and Accident Insurance Company is a former life insurance company which was based in Nashville, Tennessee.National Life and Accident began in 1900 as the National Sick and Accident Association, a mutual company...
along with WSM radio (650 AM
WSM (AM)
WSM is the callsign of a 50,000 watt AM radio station located in Nashville, Tennessee. Operating at 650 kHz, its clear channel signal can reach much of North America and various countries, especially late at night...
& 95.5 FM
WSM-FM
WSM-FM is an FM radio station in Nashville, Tennessee. The station broadcasts at 95.5 MHz and broadcasts a country music radio format, with an emphasis upon recordings released since the 1990s....
); the AM station is renowned for broadcasts of the country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
show "The Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
," which has been heard since 1925. The stations took its callsign from their parent's slogan, "We Shield Millions."
The television station has been an NBC affiliate from the very first day, though it also carried some programming from CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, DuMont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
, and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. Affiliation with CBS ended in 1953 when WSIX-TV channel 8 (now WKRN-TV
WKRN-TV
WKRN-TV, virtual channel 2.1 , is the ABC-affiliated television station in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Young Broadcasting under the operation of Gray Television. Its transmitter is located in Brentwood, Tennessee....
channel 2) signed on as a CBS primary affiliate. WSM shared ABC programming with WSIX-TV for a year until WLAC-TV channel 5 (now WTVF-TV) signed on as the CBS primary affiliate, leaving WSIX-TV as the ABC affiliate. Before the advent of satellite delivery, network programming was delivered to WSM-TV by microwave transmission from WAVE
WAVE (TV)
WAVE aka "WAVE 3" is the NBC television station in Louisville, Kentucky. Owned by Raycom Media, the station broadcasts from its main studio in downtown Louisville...
in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
.
Growth, 1960s and 1970s
WSM-TV originally was headquartered in south Nashville at 15th Avenue South and Compton Avenue, near the present Belmont UniversityBelmont University
Belmont University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It is the largest Christian university in Tennessee and the second largest private university in the state, behind nearby Vanderbilt University.-Belmont Mansion:Belmont Mansion...
. In 1957, the station attempted to a build a larger tower in west Nashville near Charlotte Avenue. During the construction process, the new tower's supporting wires failed. This caused the tower to collapse, which took the lives of several people. Afterward WSM-TV purchased its present property on Knob Road (farther west of the previous site) and built a tower there in a forested section away from potential damage to life and property.
WSM-TV shared its broadcast facilities with new public station WDCN-TV channel 2 (now WNPT-TV channel 8) beginning in 1962. In 1963, NL&AI built new studios for WSM-AM-FM-TV adjacent to the transmission tower on Knob Road. This left WDCN as the sole occupant of the south Nashville building, where that station remained until 1976. In 1974, NL&AI reorganized itself as a holding company, NLT Corporation, with the WSM stations as a major subsidiary.
The WSM stations' close ties to Nashville's country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
business has meant that the Knob Road facility and/or its personnel was, from time to time, used for the recording of network and syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programs featuring Nashville-based performers. This was especially the case during the 1960s and 1970s. Most if not all of these shows were packaged by Show Biz, Inc., headquartered in Nashville and a subsidiary of Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn is a brand of hotels, formally a economy motel chain, forming part of the British InterContinental Hotels Group . It is one of the world's largest hotel chains with 238,440 bedrooms and 1,301 hotels globally. There are currently 5 hotels in the pipeline...
. Show Biz, Inc. produced The Porter Wagoner
Porter Wagoner
Porter Wayne Wagoner was a popular American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. He introduced the young Dolly Parton near the beginning of her career on his long-running television show, and they were a well-known duet throughout the late 1960s and...
Show, That Nashville Music
That Nashville Music
That Nashville Music was an American television program featuring country music performers singing their biggest hits. The series aired in syndication from 1970 through 1985....
, The Bill Anderson Show, and several other programs seen throughout the U.S., especially on stations in the Southern and rural Midwestern U.S. The company dissolved in the late 1970s when its president, Jane Grams, became vice president and general manager of WTVC-TV in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...
. However, the Show Biz programs were seen on some stations well into the early 1980s.
Ownership changes since 1981
NLT was taken over by American GeneralAmerican International Group
American International Group, Inc. or AIG is an American multinational insurance corporation. Its corporate headquarters is located in the American International Building in New York City. The British headquarters office is on Fenchurch Street in London, continental Europe operations are based in...
, a Houston-based insurer, in 1980. The new owners were not interested in NLT's non-insurance businesses, and opted to sell off WSM-AM-FM-TV, the Opry and Opryland USA
Opryland USA
Opryland USA was an amusement park located in suburban Nashville, Tennessee. It operated seasonally from 1972 until 1997...
. Gaylord Entertainment Company
Gaylord Entertainment Company
The Gaylord Entertainment Company operates a number of hotel, resort, and media companies that were built by Edward Gaylord. It was previously a subsidiary of the Oklahoma City-based Oklahoma Publishing Company, which is owned by the Gaylord family and publishes the Daily Oklahoman newspaper...
bought the Opry, Opryland USA and WSM-AM-FM. Gaylord would have bought WSM-TV as well, but was already at the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
's television ownership limit at the time; the FCC has since practically abandoned such restrictions. Instead, Gillett Broadcasting (property of George N. Gillett Jr.
George N. Gillett Jr.
-Biography:George Gillett graduated from Lake Forest Academy in 1956. He attended Amherst College and is a graduate of Dominican College in Racine, Wisconsin....
) bought WSM-TV on November 3, 1981 and changed the callsign to WSMV, in order to trade on the well-known WSM identity while at the same time separating it from its former radio sisters (later, the TV and radio stations would engage in news department cross promotions). Soon afterward, the radio stations moved out of the Knob Road facility into new studios at the Opryland Hotel. WSMV was later sold on June 8, 1989, to Cook Inlet Television Partners, an Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
-based company which was a subsidiary of an Alaska Native Regional Corporation; Cook Inlet, in turn, sold it on January 5, 1995 to Meredith Corporation
Meredith Corporation
The Meredith Corporation is a media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The company has two divisions, National Media and Local Media.-History:...
, its present licensee.
WSMV was not part of the affiliation deal between Meredith and CBS (however, two other Meredith stations, then-independent KPHO-TV
KPHO-TV
KPHO-TV, channel 5, is a CBS-affiliate television station located in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. KPHO-TV is owned by the Meredith Corporation, and has its studios located on Black Canyon Highway in the Alhambra Village section of Phoenix, with its transmitter located on South Mountain in Phoenix...
in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
and then-NBC affiliate WNEM-TV
WNEM-TV
WNEM-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Flint/Tri-Cities market in Michigan. It is licensed to Bay City, and broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 22 . Owned by the Meredith Corporation, the station has studios on North Franklin Street in downtown Saginaw, as...
in Saginaw, Michigan
Saginaw, Michigan
Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan...
, were) because the purchase was announced more than one month after the affiliation deal had been finalized. As a result, WSMV became the only NBC affiliate in Meredith's present-day station group.
Past staff and programs
The station's former staff include Pat SajakPat Sajak
Pat Sajak is a television personality, former weatherman, actor and talk show host, best known as the host of the American television game show Wheel of Fortune.-Early life:...
(announcer and weekend weatherman from 1974 to 1977), Robin Roberts (sports anchor and reporter from 1986 to 1988), John Tesh
John Tesh
John Frank Tesh is an American pianist and composer of pop music, as well as a radio host and television presenter. His 10-year-old 'Intelligence for Your Life Radio Show' reaches 14.2 Million listeners/week, and is syndicated by Teshmedia on 400 stations in US, Canada, and the UK...
(news anchor
News presenter
A news presenter is a person who presents news during a news program in the format of a television show, on the radio or the Internet.News presenters can work in a radio studio, television studio and from remote broadcasts in the field especially weather...
in 1975-1976), John Seigenthaler, Jr. (weekend anchor in the late 1980s) and Huell Howser
Huell Howser
Huell Burnley Howser is an American television personality best known for California's Gold, his travel show for the Los Angeles based KCET.-Early career:...
(features reporter in the 1970s).
Ralph Emery
Ralph Emery
Walter Ralph Emery is a country music disc jockey and television host from Nashville, Tennessee. He gained national fame hosting the syndicated television music series, Pop! Goes the Country, from 1974 to 1980 and the nightly Nashville Network television program, Nashville Now, from 1983 to 1993...
, the longtime country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
on WSM-AM for many years, hosted morning (and at times, afternoon) shows on WSM(V) from the mid-1960s until the early 1990s; for much of that time, they were the highest-rated locally-produced early morning shows on American television. They featured performances by prominent country stars like Tex Ritter
Tex Ritter
Woodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...
and current star Lorrie Morgan
Lorrie Morgan
In 1996 Morgan married Jon Randall, a singer/songwriter now credited with writing the 2004 Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss hit "Whiskey Lullaby"; they divorced three years later in 1999....
; also, the studio band consisted of top-notch Music Row
Music Row
Music Row is an area just to the southwest of Downtown Nashville, Tennessee that is home to hundreds of businesses related to the country music, gospel music, and Contemporary Christian music industries...
session musicians.
Larry Munson
Larry Munson
Lawrence Harry "Larry" Munson was a sports announcer and talk-show host based out of the U.S. city of Atlanta. He was best known for handling radio play-by-play of University of Georgia Bulldogs football games from 1966 to 2008...
, WSM-TV's sports director from 1956 until 1967 and later known as the play-by-play announcer for radio broadcasts of Georgia Bulldogs football
Georgia Bulldogs football
The Georgia Bulldogs football team represents the University of Georgia in football. The Bulldogs are a member of the Southeastern Conference and are frequently a top-25 team. The University of Georgia has had a football team since 1892 and has an all-time record of 738–398–54...
, created and hosted a long-running hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
and fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
show called The Rod & Gun Club. Paul Eells
Paul Eells
Paul Eells was an American sportscaster.He was the "Voice of the Razorbacks", broadcasting University of Arkansas basketball games on television and football games on radio. Eells was also sports director at KATV in Little Rock, Arkansas.Eells grew up in Mechanicsville, Iowa and graduated from...
replaced Munson as sports director in 1967. Like his predecessor, Eells served as the voice of the Vanderbilt Commodores
Vanderbilt Commodores
The Vanderbilt Commodores are the NCAA athletic teams of Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. The university fields 16 varsity teams , 14 of which compete in the Southeastern Conference...
football team during his time at WSM. Eells left to become the sports director at KATV
KATV
KATV, channel 7, is an ABC affiliated television station serving the Little Rock television market and central Arkansas. The station is owned by Allbritton Communications Company....
in Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
in 1978. There, he also served as radio play-by-play announcer for the Arkansas Razorbacks
Arkansas Razorbacks
The Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the names of college sports teams at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The term Arkansas Razorbacks properly applies to any of the sports teams at the university. The Razorbacks take their name from the feral pig of the same name...
for 28 years until his death in 2006.
Dan Miller
Dan Miller (television journalist/personality)
Zachariah Daniel Miller III , commonly known as Dan Miller, was an American television personality who grew up in Augusta, Georgia....
was co-anchor of the main evening newscasts for nearly 40 years, except from August 1986 until March 1995. During this period, Miller spent time in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
as a news anchor at KCBS-TV
KCBS-TV
KCBS-TV, channel 2, is an owned-and-operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Los Angeles, California. KCBS-TV shares its offices and studio facilities with sister station KCAL-TV inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter...
, and as sidekick to friend and former WSMV colleague Pat Sajak on his short-lived late-night talk show The Pat Sajak Show
The Pat Sajak Show
The Pat Sajak Show is an American late-night television talk show which aired on CBS from January 9, 1989 to April 13, 1990.-Cast:The show was hosted by Pat Sajak, best known as host of the game show Wheel of Fortune...
. Miller returned to WSMV in 1992 to host 5 O'Clock with Dan Miller , which ran from 1992-93. Miller returned to anchoring duties for the evening newscasts in March 1995, continuing until his death in 2009. Miller died unexpectedly of a heart attack on April 8, 2009, while visiting The Masters golf tournament in his hometown of Augusta, Georgia
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...
.
In 1974, Bill Hall, an African-American, joined the staff as a weather reporter. He briefly worked as a week-end news anchor in 1976 before moving into his role leading the weather team in 1977. His unique style and personality made him one of Middle Tennessee's most well known local television personalities. He punctuated his weather discussions with comments about gardening, cooking, and hunting and fishing. During his WSM-WSMV career, Hall also hosted Land and Lakes, an outdoors show focusing on local hunting and fishing adventures. He retired in 2005.
Recent events
Early in 2006, WSMV attracted some attention by becoming the largest-market NBC affiliate to refuse to carry the controversial NBC show The Book of Daniel on its programming schedule, after the premiere episode. This action, along with that of several smaller affiliates in the Midwest and South, prompted NBC to cancel the series after only three episodes.In early March 2009, it was announced that WSMV's master control operations would be hubbed at WGCL-TV
WGCL-TV
WGCL-TV, virtual channel 46.1 is the CBS-affiliated television station serving the Atlanta, Georgia area. Its city of license is Atlanta, and the station is owned by Meredith Corporation, making it the largest-market CBS station not owned by the network...
in Atlanta, another Meredith station. The new hub operation is expected to launch in summer 2009.
News operation
Beginning in the mid-1970s, WSM-TV developed a strong news division that, in the 1980s, won numerous regional and national awards (Peabody AwardPeabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
s among them) for in-depth and investigative reporting. Mike Kettenring was the news director for much of that period.
In recent times, WSMV has alternated with WTVF for first place in the Nashville ratings. Generally speaking, the station takes a softer approach to news than WTVF. The reverse was true in the 1980s, as WSMV earned awards for hard-hitting investigative stories, while WTVF took a more cautious approach. While WTVF usually leads the way in the city of Nashville itself, WSMV generally leads in Nashville's more conservative suburbs, as well as outlying rural parts of the market, many of whose residents recall readily the station's past association with WSM-AM.
In September 1973, WSM/WSMV decided to fill the 6:30-7 p.m. time slot opened up by the Prime Time Access Rule
Prime Time Access Rule
The Prime Time Access Rule was instituted by the Federal Communications Commission in 1970 to restrict the amount of network broadcast programming that a local television station, Owned-and-operated station by or affiliated with a television network may air during "prime time"...
in 1971 by expanding its 6 p.m. newscast. This has proven so successful that to this day WSMV programs a newscast from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. (although it is now broken up into two 30-minute segments). Upon the success of the WSM/WSMV expanded 6 p.m. newscast (and after years of low-rated syndicated offerings in the 6:30 slot), WTVF followed suit in 1989 by expanding its 6 p.m. newscast to one hour length. WSMV and WTVF are among the very few stations in the Central Time Zone
Central Time zone
In North America, the Central Time Zone refers to national time zones which observe standard time by subtracting six hours from UTC , and daylight saving, or summer time by subtracting five hours...
to run news at 6:30 presently (stations elsewhere have attempted it since the 1970s with varying degrees of success). WKRN is the only traditional network affiliate in the Nashville market to run only a half hour of news at 6 p.m., with Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
(hosted by former WSM personality Pat Sajak
Pat Sajak
Pat Sajak is a television personality, former weatherman, actor and talk show host, best known as the host of the American television game show Wheel of Fortune.-Early life:...
) airing at 6:30.
During the May sweeps period that began on April 26, 2007, WSMV debuted its own live news helicopter known as Air 4, becoming the second station in Nashville to do so (WTVF
WTVF
WTVF is the CBS-affiliated television station for Middle Tennessee that is licensed to Nashville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 5 from a transmitter north of downtown along I-24. Owned by Landmark Media Enterprises, the station has studios on James Robertson Parkway...
's news helicopter Sky 5 debuted a year earlier, in 2006). On September 15, 2008, beginning with the 5:00 p.m. newscast, WSMV became the second Nashville station (behind WTVF
WTVF
WTVF is the CBS-affiliated television station for Middle Tennessee that is licensed to Nashville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 5 from a transmitter north of downtown along I-24. Owned by Landmark Media Enterprises, the station has studios on James Robertson Parkway...
) to broadcast local news in High Definition.
On May 26, 2011, WSMV debuted an hour-long 4 p.m. newscast, serving as a replacement for The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, which ended its 25-year run the day before; as a result of this addition, along with other non-news local programming such as More at Midday and Better Nashville, WSMV no longer has enough hours of syndicated daytime programming to back up its strong news programming outside of NBC network programming.
On March 5, 1973, the Vanderbilt Television News Archive
Vanderbilt Television News Archive
The Vanderbilt Television News Archive, founded in August 1968, maintains a library of televised network news programs. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, the Vanderbilt Television News Archive is a unit of the Vanderbilt University Libraries.-Collection:...
recorded off the air of WSM-TV a special broadcast of The Today Show
The Today Show
Today is an iconic American morning news and talk show airing every morning on NBC. Debuting on January 14, 1952, it was the first of its genre on American television and in the world. The show is also the fourth-longest running American television series...
aimed toward veterans of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
returning home to the U.S. Two months later, on May 1, another broadcast of Today was recorded concerning the Watergate scandal
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
. On both of these broadcasts, Pat Sajak, who had recently joined the WSM radio and TV staff, anchored the five-minute cut-in local newscasts. As it was not the general policy of the Archive to record special programs such as these or local Nashville programming, these probably represent the only known broadcasts of WSM-TV news available for public viewing, prior to the widespread popularity of video cassette recorders in the late 1970s. Because of the equipment at the time, though, the broadcasts were recorded in black and white.
The Archive, prior to the advent of satellite technology in the 1980s, taped all NBC News broadcasts from the airwaves of WSM/WSMV.
Newscast titles
- Views of The News (1950s)
- Dateline Nashville (late 1950s)
- Dateline Today (6 p.m. newscast)/The Ten O'Clock News (10 p.m. newscast; 1960s–1970)
- Channel 4 News (1970–present)
- The Scene at 6 (6 p.m. newscast)/The Scene at 10 (10 p.m. newscast; 1970–2001)
- The Channel 4 News (1993–2001)
Station slogans
- King 4 (1960–1961)
- It's The Time of Your Life on WSM-TV (1965)
- Color 4 (1966–1968)
- Have a Ball This Fall on Color 4 (Fall 1966)
- Today's News is History Tomorrow (1969–1970)
- Nashville's Total News is on Channel 4 (1970–1971)
- Channel 4 News is On the Scene (1971–1972)
- The #1 News Team in Nashville (1972–1973)
- Hour Team/No. 1 NeWSMen (1973–1975)
- First Team for Hour News (1977–1978)
- 4 Country (1978–1980)
- We're 4 (1980–1981; used during period station used "We're 4" by Klein &)
- Hello Nashville, Channel 4 Loves You (1981–1989; used during period station used Frank Gari's "Hello News")
- Hello, Nashville! Be There! (1983–1984; localized version of NBC's "Be There" campaign)
- 4 The Family (1985–1993)
- Say Hello (1991–1992; used during period station used Frank Gari's "Hello News")
- THE Channel 4 News (1993–1997)
- Working 4 You (1996–2002 and 2005–2009)
- Coverage You Can Count On (2002–2005)
- Working For You in High Definition (2009–present)
Current on-air staff (as of October 8, 2011)
Anchors- Alan Frio - Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5 and weekends at 10 p.m.
- Jennifer Johnson - weekdays at 4 and 4:30 p.m., and weeknights at 6:30 p.m.
- Demetria KalodimosDemetria KalodimosDemetria Kalodimos is an Emmy Award-winning anchorperson for WSMV-TV, an NBC affiliate based in Nashville in the U.S. state of Tennessee. She anchors the weeknight broadcasts at 5, 6 and 10 PM, and is the longest continuously-serving evening news anchor ever at WSMV.-Life and education:Kalodimos...
- weekdays at 4, and weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. - Jonathan Martin - weekend mornings Channel 4 News Today
- Tom Randles - weeknights at 5, 6, 6:30 and 10 p.m.
- Ian Reitz - weekday mornings Channel 4 News Today (4-7 a.m.)
- Holly Thompson - weekday mornings Channel 4 News Today (4-7 a.m.) and weekdays at noon
Channel 4 Pinpoint Weather Team
- Lisa Spencer (AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
Certified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
and NWANational Weather AssociationThe National Weather Association is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities...
Seals of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weekdays at noon, and weeknights at 5 and 6 p.m. - Paul Heggen (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings Channel 4 News Today (4-7 a.m.)
- Dan Thomas (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weeknights at 4, 6:30 and 10 p.m.
- Nancy Van Camp (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend mornings, Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5 and weekends at 10 p.m.
Sports team
- Rudy Kalis - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
- Chris Harris - sports anchor; Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5 and weekends at 10 p.m., also sports reporter
Reporters
- Nancy Amons - general assignment, investigative ("I-Team") and technology reporter
- Terry Bulger - Breakfast with Bulger and Bulger's Beat
- Kimberly Curth - general assignment reporter
- Josh DeVine - general assignment reporter
- Dennis Ferrier - general assignment reporter
- Jeremy Finley - investigative reporter ("I-Team")
- Larry Flowers - Rutherford County reporter; also photographer
- Carley Gordon - Clarksville reporter; also photographer
- Jennifer Herron - weekday morning and afternoon traffic reporter
- Cara Kumari - State Capitol reporter
- Deanna Lambert - general assignment reporter
- Caroline Moses - investigative reporter ("I-Team")
- Regina Raccuglia - general assignment reporter
- Forrest Sanders - Clarksville reporter; also photographer
- Cynthia Williams - general assignment reporter
Notable former on-air staff
- Charlie Chase (1970s; currently host for the Crook and Chase TV show and countdown)
- Carol MarinCarol MarinCarol Marin is a television and print journalist based in Chicago, Illinois.She began her career in 1972 at WBIR-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee working as a reporter, anchor, and assistant news director....
- investigative reporter/anchor (1976–1978; now at WMAQ-TVWMAQ-TVWMAQ-TV, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, located in Chicago, Illinois. WMAQ-TV's main studios and offices are located within the NBC Tower in the Streeterville neighborhood, with an auxiliary street-level studio on the Magnificent Mile at 401...
in Chicago as the station's political editor) - Katie McCallKatie McCallKatherine A. "Katy" McCall , known professionally as Katy McCall, is an American television journalist.- Early life and education :McCall grew up in Glenview, Illinois and graduated from Glenbrook South High School...
- reporter (1998 to 2000; now returned to Houston for KTRK-TVKTRK-TVKTRK-TV, channel 13, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Houston, Texas...
) - Dan Miller - anchor (died at age 67 on April 8, 2009)
- Pat SajakPat SajakPat Sajak is a television personality, former weatherman, actor and talk show host, best known as the host of the American television game show Wheel of Fortune.-Early life:...
- meteorologist (1970s; currently host of the syndicated game show Wheel of FortuneWheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
) - John TeshJohn TeshJohn Frank Tesh is an American pianist and composer of pop music, as well as a radio host and television presenter. His 10-year-old 'Intelligence for Your Life Radio Show' reaches 14.2 Million listeners/week, and is syndicated by Teshmedia on 400 stations in US, Canada, and the UK...
- musician; former anchor of Entertainment TonightEntertainment TonightEntertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...