Television, cable programming, radio, newspapers, magazines, hit songs, Bibles, books, music videos—when it comes to media, Nashville has it all. Nashville is a major publishing center, and printing/publishing is one of our biggest industries. Numerous cable television programs originate here and are seen by millions of viewers. Country Music Television (CMT) takes country music into the living rooms of viewers worldwide. Many of the videos you see on CMT are shot right here in Music City. As for radio, well, Nashville owes much of its heritage to that medium. In our “Radio” section, later in this chapter, we explain how radio played a role in the city's becoming known as Music City.
Nashville's history as a publishing center dates from the late 18th century. The city's first newspaper, Henkle's Tennessee Gazette & Mero Advertiser, was printed in 1799, 20 years after the first settlers arrived and 7 years before the city was incorporated. In 1800 the Tennessee Gazette began publishing. The first book was published in 1810, and 14 years later the hymnbook Western Harmony was published, marking the beginnings of music publishing in Nashville.
Nashville became a center for religious publishing in the 1800s. As Tennesseans flocked to religious revivals, Protestant denominations began publishing their books, Bibles, periodicals, and other church materials in Nashville. Nashville's publishing industry isn't limited to religious materials, however. Today there are nearly 500 firms here involved in publishing and printing. Nashville is also a center of music publishing, the backbone of the country music industry.
Daily Newspapers
Nashville
THE CITY PAPER, 210 12th Ave. S., Suite 100, Nashville, TN 37203; (615) 244-7989; nashvillecitypaper.com. The City Paper came on the scene in November 2000; it has a circulation of 48,000. Published Mon through Fri, the free, tabloid-size newspaper focuses on in-depth local news, with sections devoted to news, business, lifestyle, and sports, as well as occasional special inserts on topics such as gardening, sports, or social events. You can pick up a copy at newsstands around town.
THE TENNESSEAN, 1100 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203; (615) 2598300, (615) 254-5661 (subscriptions); tennessean.com. The Tennessean is Nashville's largest daily newspaper, with a weekday circulation of about 192,000. It dates from 1907, but the paper evolved from the Nashville Whig, which began publication in 1812. A newspaper with a liberal slant, The Tennessean is owned by Gannett Co. Inc., the country's largest newspaper publisher. Gannett bought the paper in 1979 from the family of Silliman Evans, who purchased it in the late 1930s at auction and turned the financially ailing operation into a success. (Gannett had owned the Nashville Banner, which folded in 1998, but opted to sell it in order to be able to purchase the Tennessean.)
Surrounding Counties
THE DAILY JOURNAL, 224 N. Walnut St., Murfreesboro, TN 37130; (615) 893-5860; dnj.com. This afternoon newspaper is published 7 days a week. Founded in 1849 and now owned by Gannett, it has a circulation of about 9,000.
General Interest
NASHVILLE LIFESTYLES, 1100 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203; (615) 259-3636; nashvillelifestyles.com. Nashville Lifestyles is a glossy magazine featuring all that's fashionable in Nashville. The magazine contains articles on local homes, the art scene, decorating, food, and celebrities, with a positive slant.
NASHVILLE SCENE, 210 12th Ave. S., Suite 100, Nashville, TN 37203; (615) 244-7989; nashvillescene. com. Nashville Scene is Music City's leading alternative newspaper. About 55,000 of the free weekly papers are distributed at grocery stores, convenience stores, bookstores, restaurants, record stores, and other places around town. Founded in 1983, the Scene covers politics, business, music, and arts in an in-depth fashion and does investigative stories. The Scene has a comprehensive listing of local entertainment events.
THE TENNESSEE MAGAZINE, 2964 Sidco Dr., Nashville, TN 37204; (615) 367-9284; tnmagazine.org. This monthly magazine is published by the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association. The glossy magazine does human-interest stories and has regular features on food, events, people, places, and businesses in the rural electric co-op.
Business
NASHVILLE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 1800 Church St., Nashville, TN 37203; (615) 248-2222; bizjournals.com/nashville. Nashville Business Journal, published since 1985, is a weekly business newspaper covering such issues as employee benefits, education, commercial real estate, travel, and home business.
NASHVILLE POST, 210 12th St. S., Suite 100, Nashville, TN 37203; (615) 244-7989; nashvillepost.com. Delivers breaking business, political, and sports news online and twice daily through E-News alerts. A quarterly magazine provides local business news.
What's on TV? In Nashville, just about anything: all the major networks, local independent stations, and a community-tccess station. Cable and satellite viewers can choose from dozens more stations. There are also some cable networks in the area, such as CMT: Country Music Television and Trinity Music City USA. Here's the rundown on the TV scene.
Major Local Stations
CATV Channel 19 (community-access television)
WHTN Channel 39 (Christian), ctntv.org
WKRN Channel 2 (ABC), wkrn.com
WNAB Channel 58 (WB), wnab.com
WNPT Channel 8 (PBS), wnpt.net
WNPX Channel 28 (PAX)
WSMV Channel 4 (NBC), wsmv.com
WTVF Channel 5 (CBS), newschannel5.com
WUXP Channel 30 (UPN), wuxp.com
WZTV Channel 17 (FOX), fox17.com
W42CR Channel 42 (Telefutura: Spanish language programming), solonashville.com.
Radio played a key role in Nashville's history. In the 1920s, as Americans became enamored with the new technology of radio, Nashville became an important broadcasting center. Local merchants and insurance companies established their own stations. Cain-Sloan's John E. Cain Jr., for example, founded WEBX in 1924, and in following years, stations were established by several other merchants. National Life and Accident Insurance Company's WSM, which signed on the air in October 1925, and Life and Casualty's WLAC, which arrived on the dial a year later, were the city's major stations. Both are still on the air today, but it was WSM that put the spotlight on Nashville. WSM began broadcasting the Grand Ole Opry, originally known as the WSM Barn Dance, less than 2 months after the station went on the air (see our History chapter for more details). The station took country music into homes and businesses around the country.
Today WSM 650 AM continues to broadcast the Grand Ole Opry every Fri and Sat night. WSM is one of the nation's few clear-channel stations, meaning that no other station in a 750-mile radius has the same frequency for nighttime broadcasts. This and the station's 50,000-watt transmitter ensure that the Opry can be heard across a large portion of the United States and parts of Canada.
In 1941 WSM launched WSM-FM, the nation's first commercially operated FM station.