Early years

WTIC advertisement promoting U.S. factory work during World War II (1944).^[4]

WTIC is the second oldest radio station in Connecticut, after WDRC, which went on the air in 1922. WTIC was first authorized, by telegram, on December 17, 1924.^[5] The station was founded by the Travelers Insurance Company and its call sign reflected the initials of that corporation. The original studios were in the Travelers Insurance Building at 26 Grove Street in Hartford. WTIC began a series of test transmissions in late December 1924,^[6][7] and began regular programming with a debut broadcast on February 10, 1925.^[8][9]

The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was formed in 1927, and its reauthorization a year later included the Davis Amendment, which specified an nationwide "equality of radio broadcasting service".^[10] The United States was divided into 5 zones, with 8 "clear channel" frequencies assigned to each zone. Zone 1 was located in New England, and WTIC was assigned to one of its clear channel allocations, 1060 kHz. On November 11, 1928, the FRC made a sweeping nationwide reallocation, based on its General Order 40. WTIC was temporarily assigned to 600 kHz, pending construction of a high-powered transmitter needed for broadcasting on its 1060 kHz assignment. WBAL in Baltimore, Maryland was also assigned to 1060 kHz, and this station was close enough to Hartford to require that it and WTIC sharetime.^[11]

WTIC was among the first affiliates of the NBC Red Network, carrying its schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts during the "Golden Age of Radio". However, its limitation as a half-time station made its operation uneconomical, and a test of synchronous operation with WEAF on 660 kHz in New York City caused too much interference. An eventual solution, adopted in 1934, moved WTIC to fulltime operation on 1040 kHz, where the nearest other occupant was KRLD in Dallas, Texas, 1500 miles (2400 km) away.^[12] In 1941, when the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA) went into effect, stations on 1040 kHz, including WTIC, were moved to 1080 kHz, WTIC's current frequency. WTIC and KRLD were both designated as "Class I-B" clear channel stations, required to use directional antennas at night in order to mutually protect each other from interference.^[13]

In 1940, WTIC began experimenting with FM radio, putting W1XSO on the air on 43.2 MHz. It later became 96.5 WTIC-FM, mostly simulcasting the AM station in its early years. In 1957, a television station was added, WTIC-TV on channel 3 (now WFSB). As network programming moved from radio to television in the 1950s, WTIC-AM-FM switched to a full service, middle of the road format of popular music, talk, news and sports. In the 1960s, WTIC-FM started playing blocks of classical music in the afternoon and evening, eventually ending its simulcast of 1080 WTIC. By the early 1970s, WTIC became more of an adult contemporary full service format, with talk shows in the evening.

In the late 1960s, with declining night time listenership, WTIC management decided that there was a market for long-form shows that could be packaged and sold to sponsors. Two of those shows were The Golden Age of Radio and A One Night Stand with the Big Bands. They were broadcast monthly through the mid 1970s.

Ownership changes

In 1973, Travelers Insurance announced it would divest its broadcasting properties. WTIC-TV channel 3 was sold to Post-Newsweek Stations (now the Graham Media Group) in 1974, switching its call sign to WFSB. WTIC-AM-FM were sold to a group of its managers, doing business as the "Ten-Eighty Corporation".^[14] Also in the 1980s, some more talk shows were added to WTIC's line up. In the 1990s, as fewer listeners tuned to AM radio for music, WTIC added more talk programming, eventually eliminating the music shows.

In 1991, Bob Steele retired from hosting weekday mornings. Tom McCarthy had already begun doing the early part of the morning shift and took over the entire 5:30 to 10 a.m. time slot.^[15] In 1998, CBS Radio acquired WTIC-AM-FM.^[16] The acquisition ended WTIC's 70-year affiliation with NBC Radio; since then it has aired CBS Radio News updates. Its former television sister had been Connecticut's CBS affiliate since 1958.

Schedule shake-up

In December 2008, the station made several programming changes. Former WTNH-TV anchor Diane Smith was dropped from the morning show she hosted with Ray Dunaway. Smith later joined the University of New Haven journalism department. "Sound Off Connecticut" hosted by conservative Jim Vicevich had an hour added to his show. The station continued to carry Rush Limbaugh at noon, but the afternoon drive personality, vocal liberal Colin McEnroe, was dismissed and his time slot replaced with a three-hour local and national news roundup.^[17]

On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom.^[18] The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the February 17.^[19][20]