LOOK, UP IN THE SKY -- IT'S A PIECE OF HISTORY

BY DAN MILLER
(originally posted March 1, 2005)

You don't often hear about it, but Nashville holds a unique spot in broadcasting history.

And if you look up at the very top of that giant WSM-AM tower near I-65 in Brentwood, you'll see a silent remnant of that history.

The vertical antenna at the tip of that tower once belonged to a station with the unusual call sign W47NV.
It was the very first FM station in the United States to be granted a commercial license.

That license was granted on this date, March 1, 1941.
W47NV broadcast with 20,000 watts on a frequency of 44.7. That frequency is no longer even used for FM stations.

Sometime after World War Two, the station was moved up the dial to 100.1, and that's when the antenna that's still there today was put in place.

But there's no signal on it now..... it sits in silence..... because in 1952, the owner -- National Life -- just shut down W47NV.
FM didn't appear to be a good investment. AM was simply too dominant.

There were many reasons. Primarily, the giant broadcast stations and manufacturers, with untold millions invested in AM radio, felt threatened by the superior signal of the upstart FM.

But, in the 1970's, everything changed.
Nowadays, somewhere around 80% of radio listeners are tuned in to FM, with AM usually limited to talk and oldies music.

The historic old WSM tower is now used solely for their AM signal.
The present day WSM-FM was started in the 1960's, and its antenna is on our big Channel 4 tower.

You'll always hear a lot about the early days of WSM and WLAC, two 50,000 watt AM powerhouses that helped put Nashville, and country music, on the map.

But don't forget about little W47NV, which made history in its own way.... and it happened right here in Nashville.

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