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| Broadcast area | Nashville metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 97.9MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | The Big 98 WSIX |
| Programming | |
| Format | Country music |
| Subchannels |
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| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
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| History | |
First air date | 1948 (1948) |
Call sign meaning | From 638 Tire Company inSpringfield, original home of WSIX (AM) (638 was the store's address, "Where Service Is Excellent" its slogan)[1] |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 59815 |
| Class | C0 |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 349 meters (1,145 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 36°02′50.00″N86°49′48.00″W / 36.0472222°N 86.8300000°W /36.0472222; -86.8300000 |
| Translator | HD2: 98.3 W252CM (Nashville) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast |
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| Website | |
WSIX-FM (97.9FM, "The Big 98") is acommercialradio station inNashville, Tennessee, broadcasting acountry musicformat. It is owned byiHeartMedia with studios in Nashville'sMusic Row district. WSIX-FM is theflagship forThe Bobby Bones Show, heard on scores of country radio stations in the U.S. and Canada in morningdrive time.
WSIX-FM has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000watts, the maximum for most FM stations. Thetransmittertower is off Old Hickory Boulevard (Tennessee State Route 254) inForest Hills, Tennessee.[2] WSIX-FM broadcasts usingHD Radio technology. Its HD2subchannel rebroadcasts co-owned 1510WLAC'stalk format. Its HD3 subchannel playsclassic country music, which feedsFM translator W252CM at 98.3MHz.
The first WSIX-FMsigned on the air in 1948. It was thesister station to WSIX 980 AM (nowWYFN), on the air since 1927. They were owned by Louis and Jack Draughon and had studios in the Nashville Trust bank building.[3]
The FM station broadcast on 97.5megacycles. They werenetwork affiliates ofABC Radio,simulcasting its dramas, comedies, news and sports. The stations called themselves "The Voice of Tennessee's Capital City." But few people owned FM receivers in those days and management saw little opportunity to make WSIX-FM profitable. So in the early 1950s, the first WSIX-FM was takendark. The owners decided to concentrate on setting up a television station, WSIX-TV, originally on channel 8 (nowWKRN-TV channel 2).
After a few years, management decided to give FM radio another try. In 1959, the current WSIX-FM came on the air, this time on 97.9 MHz.[4] It still mostly simulcast 980 AM. As network programming moved from radio to television, WSIX-AM-FM began playing country and western hits and other styles of music. In the late 1960s, theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) started requiring AM-FM combos in large cities to separate most of their programming. WSIX-FM began offering a different kind of country sound.
WSIX-FM is credited with pioneering the "countrypolitan"Nashville sound, which developed in the 1960s. Violins and other stringed instruments, and occasionally horns, were added to the traditionalfiddle andguitar-driven sound of country music. During those years (beginning in 1967 until the late 1970s) WSIX-FM used the slogan "We'remetropolitan country."
As such, WSIX-FM became one of the first successful country-format stations exclusively on the FM dial in the U.S. Until then, country music formats were typically found on AM stations until well into the early 1980s.[5]
In 1983, WSIX-AM-FM were owned byGeneral Electric. GE decided to sell the AM and FM stations. The television station, WNGE-TV (nowWKRN-TV), was also sold to separate owners.
Around that time, the stations were simulcast and the format turned to a more straightforward country sound (i.e.,honkey tonk and "outlaw country"). They used the moniker "The Big 98." 98 could refer to the FM station's dial position, rounding off 97.9 MHz. It could also refer to the AM station, dropping the zero from 980 kHz. In 2000, WSIX-FM was acquired bySan Antonio-basedClear Channel Communications, a forerunner to today's iHeartMedia.[6]
From May 1, 2006 to August 8, 2008, WSIX-FM was simulcast onXM Satellite Radio (channel 161). The satellite feed included some commercials. A song that was not on the station'splaylist at the moment would be heard on XM while FM listeners in Nashville were hearing local commercials.
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 (nowiHeartMedia) sold off its ownership stake inSirius XM Radio during the second quarter of fiscal year 2013. As a result of the sale, nine of Clear Channel's eleven XM stations, including WSIX-FM, ceased broadcast over XM Satellite Radio on October 18, 2013.[7][8]
WSIX-FM began broadcasting in the HD Radio format. For its HD2 subchannel, it launched with a new country format, branded asWSIXtra and laterThe Nashville Channel. In August 2014, it was replaced byNo Shoes Radio, which featured a freeform format curated and hosted by country musicianKenny Chesney. It was also available nationally on theiHeartRadio app and on sister stationKNIX-FM. In March 2016, Clear Channel announced that No Shoes Radio would move exclusively toSiriusXM on April 12.[9] On April 1, 2016, the channel was replaced byTheBobby Bones Top 30 Countdown.
On September 2, WSIX-FM HD2 relaunched asclassic country station98.3 The Big Legend. It would be simulcast onFM translator station 98.3 W252CM.[10] On September 21, 2018, the subchannel and translator flipped to a simulcast of co-ownedtalk radio stationWLAC 1510 AM.[11]The Big Legend is currently heard on the HD3 subchannel.
WSIX is the Local Primary 1 (LP1) station for theEmergency Alert System in the Nashville, Tennessee operational area.