verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message wsmv tv nashville tennessee united states branding wsmv channel 4 general channel 4 news newscasts heartland on dt2 cozi tv 4.3 on dt3 slogan working 4 you the heart of country on dt2 the easiest decision you ll make all day on dt3 channels digital 10 vhf virtual 4 psip subchannels 4.1 nbc 4.2 heartland 4.3 cozi tv affiliations nbc heartland dt2 ; since 2013 cozi tv dt3 ; since 2015 owner meredith corporation first air date september 30 1950 ; 66 years ago 1950 09 30 call letters meaning we shield millions v for vision added to differentiate from wsm radio former callsigns wsm tv 1950 1981 former channel number s analog 4 vhf 1950 2009 former affiliations all secondary abc 1950 1954 cbs 1950 1953 dumont 1950 1956 1 telemundo dt2 ; 2006 2010 tnn dt2 ; 2012 2013 transmitter power 60 kw height 413 metres 1 355 ft facility id 41232 transmitter coordinates coordinates 36 08 28 n 86 51 44 w 36.1412 n 86.8623 w 36.1412 ; 86.8623 36 08 28 n 86 51 57 w 36.1410 n 86.8657 w 36.1410 ; 86.8657 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.wsmv.com 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 . contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.2 growth into the 1960s and 1970s 1.3 ownership changes 1.4 meredith corporation ownership 1.5 past staff and programs 2 current programming 3 digital television 3.1 digital channels 3.1.1 wsmv dt2 3.1.2 wsmv dt3 3.2 mobile dtv channel 3.3 analog to digital conversion 4 news operation 4.1 notable current on air staff 4.2 notable former on air staff 5 out of market coverage 5.1 south central kentucky 5.2 western kentucky 5.3 western tennessee 5.4 wsmv in the huntsville market 6 references 7 external links history edit early years edit 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 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 . growth into the 1960s and 1970s edit wsm tv s studios were originally located at 15th avenue south and compton avenue in south nashville near the present belmont university . 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 noncommercial station wdcn tv channel 2 now wnpt on channel 8 beginning in 1962 . in 1963 national life and accident insurance built new studios for wsm am fm tv adjacent to the transmission tower on knob road . this left wdcn tv 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 . ownership changes edit beginning in 1980 houston based insurer american general began purchasing blocks of nlt stock eventually becoming nlt s largest shareholder and setting the stage for an outright takeover . however american general was not interested in nlt s non insurance businesses and opted to sell off the wsm division which included the broadcasting interests the grand ole opry the then decrepit ryman auditorium and opryland usa . gillett broadcasting operated by george n. gillett jr. bought wsm tv on november 3 1981 and changed the station s callsign to wsmv officially modified to wsmv tv on july 15 1982 1 in order to trade on the well known wsm identity while at the same time separating it from its former radio sisters later the television and radio stations would engage in news department cross promotions . gaylord entertainment company purchased the remainder of wsm inc. nearly two years later in 1983 . soon afterward the radio stations moved out of the knob road facility into new studios on the opryland hotel campus . wsmv tv was later sold on june 8 1989 to cook inlet television partners an alaska based company which was a subsidiary of cook inlet region inc. an alaska native regional corporation . 2 meredith corporation ownership edit cook inlet sold wsmv on january 5 1995 to the meredith corporation . 3 wsmv was not part of the affiliation deal between several meredith stations and cbs however two other meredith stations then independent kpho tv in phoenix and then nbc affiliate wnem tv in bay city 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 . in early 2006 wsmv attracted some attention by becoming the largest nbc affiliate in terms of market size to refuse to carry the controversial nbc show the book of daniel on its 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 meredith owned sister station wgcl tv in atlanta . the new hub operation launched in summer 2009 . on september 8 2015 media general announced that it would acquire meredith for 2.4 billion with the combined group to be renamed meredith media general . because media general owns wkrn tv and the two stations rank among the four highest rated stations in the nashville market in total day viewership the companies would have been required to sell either wsmv tv or wkrn to comply with fcc ownership rules as well as recent changes to those rules regarding same market television stations that restrict sharing agreements . 4 5 6 on january 27 2016 nexstar broadcasting group announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire media general . this resulted in the termination of the acquisition of meredith by media general . 7 past staff and programs edit the station s former staff include pat sajak announcer and weekend weatherman from 1974 to 1977 robin roberts sports anchor and reporter from 1986 to 1988 john tesh news anchor from 1975 to 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 radio for many years hosted morning and at times afternoon shows on channel 4 from the mid 1960s until 1993 ; for much of that time the ralph emery show was the highest rated locally produced early morning shows on american television . although the show included regular news briefs its main focus was on general entertainment including a heavy emphasis on live country music performed in studio . it featured acts by prominent country stars like tex ritter and current star lorrie morgan ; also the studio band consisted of top notch music row session musicians . emery would achieve widespread fame by hosting a national version of the show entitled nashville now weeknights on the nashville network from 1983 to 1993 . upon emery s retirement wsmv briefly produced a local version of nbc s today to serve as a lead in to the national show . as nashville today failed to live up to expectations wsmv finally programmed full scale newscasts in early mornings becoming the last of the three major nashville stations to do so . larry munson wsm tv s sports director from 1956 to 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 . munson died in 2011 . dan miller was co anchor of the main evening newscasts for nearly 40 years except from august 1986 to 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 wsm tv 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 to 1993 . miller returned to anchoring duties for the evening newscasts in march 1995 continuing until dying unexpectedly of a heart attack on april 8 2009 while visiting the masters golf tournament in his hometown of augusta georgia . 8 in 1974 bill hall joined the staff as a weather reporter . he briefly worked as a weekend news anchor in 1976 before moving into his role leading the weather team in 1977 . his unique style and