WSMV-TV
WSMV-TV, channel 4, is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The station is owned by the Meredith Corporation. WSMV's studios and transmitter are located on Knob Road in west Nashville.
History
Early years
WSMV first signed on the air 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-TV, also an NBC affiliate) in Memphis. It was owned by the WSM, Inc. division of the locally based National Life and Accident Insurance Company, along with WSM radio (650 AM and 95.5 FM); the AM station is renowned for broadcasts of the country music show The Grand Ole Opry, which has been heard on the station since 1925. The station took its callsign from its parent's slogan, "We Shield Millions."
The television station has been an NBC affiliate from its sign-on, although it also carried some programming from CBS, DuMont, and ABC. Its secondary affiliation with CBS ended in 1953, when WSIX-TV (channel 8, now WKRN-TV on channel 2) signed on as a primary CBS affiliate. WSM-TV shared ABC programming with WSIX-TV for a year until WLAC-TV (channel 5, now WTVF-TV) signed on as the market's new primary CBS affiliate, leaving WSIX-TV with ABC. During the first few years of operation, AT&T would not run telephone lines for WSM-TV to receive network programming until there was another TV station in town. This problem was solved by running microwave relay transmissions from fellow NBC affiliate WAVE-TV in Louisville, Kentucky.