NASHVILLE,, Tenn., Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Gaylord Entertainment Co. said Monday it would retain the country music format of radio station WSM-AM, home to the Grand Ole Opry for more than 75 years.
Gaylord had said it was considering changing WSM's format to sports-talk and putting the Opry, the world's longest running live radio show, on other radio stations. It owns the radio station and the Opry.
Chief executive Collin Reed said he received phone calls and messages from around the world urging Gaylord not to change the format of WSM-AM, whose nighttime signal on 650 kilohertz can be heard in 38 states.
"The more we looked at WSM-AM, the more we listened to the public and to the artists, the more we saw that we have another gem," Reed said. "And like the Opry, it just needs polishing."
Gaylord had said it was considering changing the format because the radio station lost $1.5 million last year, even though it was profitable in previous years.
Most of the nation's clear-channel AM stations, so called because they have powerful signals and few other stations on the same frequency in other cities, shifted to news or talk formats in the 1970s and 1980s as FM radio became more popular.
"We are committed to WSM and to the Opry, but in the weeks and months coming we will be looking at ways to build energy and build something good for the Opry, the city and for Gaylord Entertainment," Reed said.
Many of Nashville's country music stars stepped in to remind Gaylord of the cultural importance of WSM. Country singer George Jones participated in a protest in front of Gaylord's headquarters last week.
After it purchased Opryland U.S.A., Gaylord closed the popular amusement park and replaced it with a shopping mall. It also sold The Nashville Network cable television channel, which has since changed its name, eliminated all country music programming and stopped offering WSM's radio signal to home satellite dish owners.
"Ninety percent of this city's visitors come to see the Grand Ole Opry, Nashville, and WSM Radio, and to live for a week in the place they hear but have never seen," Shannon Leigh Snow, the granddaughter of Hank Snow, said last week.
WSM also broadcasts The Ernest Tubb Record Shop's Midnight Jamboree, which is the second-largest running radio show in history.
Reed said Gaylord planned to "expand the number of shows per week" at the Opry, which currently has one show on Friday nights and two shows on Saturday nights. He said the company was still considering syndicating the Opry broadcast to other radio stations.
"It's hard to get an artist who can get $150,000 or $200,000 a night playing Las Vegas to play the Opry for minimum wage," Reed said.
He made the announcement at the historic Ryman Auditorium, which is known as the "Mother Church of Country Music" because it was the home of the Opry from 1943 to 1974.
The Opry moved to a new Grand Ole Opry House more than 25 years ago, but has returned to the Ryman for winter performances in recent years.
Sales of country music albums rose 1.2 percent last year, according to sales figures compiled by SoundScan.
