WTIC-FM

WTIC-FM
City Hartford, Connecticut
Broadcast area Central Connecticut
Slogan Today's Best Variety
Frequency 96.5 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date February 5, 1940
(43.5 MHz as W1XSO)
December 15, 1941
(45.3 MHz as W53H)
April 17, 1948
(96.5 MHz as WTIC-FM)
Format FM/HD1: Hot AC
HD2: WTIC news/talk simulcast
ERP 20,000 watts
HAAT 247.0 meters (810.4 ft)
Class B
Facility ID 66465
Callsign meaning W Travelers Insurance Company (former owner)
Owner Entercom
(CBS Radio Stations Inc.)
Sister stations WRCH, WTIC, WZMX
Webcast Listen Live
Website 965tic.radio.com

WTIC-FM (96.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Hartford, Connecticut. It is owned by Entercom and broadcasts a Hot Adult Contemporary radio format.

Studios and offices are at 10 Executive Drive in Farmington, Connecticut. WTIC-FM has an effective radiated power of 20,000 watts, with its signal heard throughout most of Connecticut and into Western Massachusetts. Its transmitter is located off Deercliff Road in Avon, the same site as sister station AM 1080 WTIC and former co-owned TV station Channel 3 WFSB.

WTIC-FM broadcasts in the HD Radio (hybrid) format.[1] The HD2 subchannel carries the news/talk format of 1080 WTIC.

History

Early Years

WTIC-FM is the second oldest FM station in Hartford, after 105.9 WHCN. They were the only pre-World War II FM stations in Connecticut, with WTIC-FM signing on the air originally as W1XSO on February 5, 1940, and using a frequency of 43.5 MHz. In December 1941, it became a commercial operation using the call sign W53H. In 1943, the call letters were changed to WTIC-FM, representing its original owner, The Travelers Insurance Company. On April 17, 1948, the station moved to 96.5 MHz where it has remained to this day.[2]

It mostly simulcast 1080 WTIC in its early years, carrying WTIC's local news and NBC Radio programming, during the 1940s and 50s. It switched to a classical music format in the 1960s and 70s. In 1974, Travelers Insurance sold the TV station to Post-Newsweek Stations while the radio stations were sold to a group of their managers, going by the name "The Ten-Eighty Corporation."[3]

Hot AC

From the mid-1980s until the early 1990s, WTIC-FM was locked in a Top 40 battle with 95.7 WKSS. WTIC-FM management decided not to aim as young as WKSS, removing the rap music and other harder edged songs from its playlist, switching to its current Hot AC format on June 15, 1994.[4] After the switch, the station's sound moved a bit softer. But this has changed in recent years, as the Hot AC format as a whole has embraced more upbeat music. Since 1977, the radio station has referred to itself on the air variously as "Your Music Connection, WTIC FM", "96 TICS, WTIC FM", "Hot Hits 96 TICS", "96 TIC-FM", and "The New 96.5 TIC-FM".

In 1998, WTIC-AM-FM were acquired by CBS Radio, which also acquired urban contemporary station 93.7 WZMX and adult contemporary 100.5 WRCH. On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom.[5] The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th.[6][7]


References

  1. ↑ HD Radio Guide for Hartford - New Britain & Middletown, Connecticut
  2. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1951 page 102
  3. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1976 page C-33
  4. ↑ CHR 96 TIC-FM Becomes Hot AC 96.5 TIC-FM
  5. ↑ CBS Radio to Merge with Entercom
  6. ↑ "Entercom Receives FCC Approval for Merger with CBS Radio". Entercom. November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  7. ↑ Venta, Lance (November 17, 2017). "Entercom Completes CBS Radio Merger". Radio Insight. Retrieved November 17, 2017.

Coordinates: 41°46′26″N 72°48′18″W / 41.774°N 72.805°W / 41.774; -72.805

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