WLAC first signed on the air on November 24, 1926. After a few years on several frequencies, WLAC was heard on 1470 kilocycles, powered at 5,000 watts. The call letters were chosen to contain an acronym for the first owner of the station, the Life and Casualty Insurance Company of Tennessee. Studios were located on the fifth floor of the Life and Casualty building in downtown Nashville. In 1928, it became Nashville's CBS Radio Network affiliate. Its main competitor, WSM, was affiliated with the NBC Red Network.