View source for WTIC (AM)

{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox radio station
| logo                = WTIC NewsTalk 1080 logo.png
| logo_size           = 175px
| name                = WTIC
| city                = [[Hartford, Connecticut]]
| country             = US
| area                = [[Greater Hartford]]
| branding            = WTIC NewsTalk 1080
| founded             = {{start date|1924|12|17}}
| airdate             = {{start date and age|1925|2|10}}
| frequency           = {{frequency|1080|[[kHz]]}}
| format              = [[News/talk]]
| language            = [[American English|English]]
| power               = {{val|50000|u=watts|fmt=commas}}
| class               = A
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| facility_id         = 66464
| coordinates         = {{Coord|41|46|39.36|N|72|48|17.35|W|type:landmark_region:US-CT|display=inline,title}}
| callsign_meaning    = [[Travelers Insurance Company]] (original owner)
| affiliations        = {{ubl|[[CBS News Radio]]|[[CBS Sports Radio]]|[[Premiere Networks]]|[[Radio America (United States)|Radio America]]|[[WFSB]] (weather)|[[Boston Red Sox Radio Network]]|[[New England Patriots Radio Network]]}}
| owner               = [[Audacy, Inc.]]
| licensee            = Audacy License, LLC
| sister_stations     = [[WRCH (FM)|WRCH]], [[WTIC-FM]], [[WZMX]]
| repeater            = {{Radio Relay|96.5|[[WTIC-FM|WTIC-FM HD2]]|Hartford}}
| webcast             = {{Audacy.com|wtic}}
| website             = {{URL|https://www.audacy.com/wtic}}
}}
'''WTIC''' (1080 [[kHz]]; "WTIC NewsTalk 1080") is a [[commercial radio|commercial]] [[AM broadcasting|AM]] radio station in [[Hartford, Connecticut]]. It airs a [[news/talk]] [[radio format|format]] and is owned by [[Audacy, Inc.]] The station's studios and offices are on Executive Drive in [[Farmington, Connecticut|Farmington]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.audacy.com/wtic/general-contest-rules|title=General Contest Rules|date=March 5, 2021|website=audacy.com}}</ref>

WTIC is a [[List of North American broadcast station classes|Class A]] [[clear-channel station]] with a transmitter power output of 50,000 watts, the maximum permitted for U.S. AM stations. Its [[transmitter|transmitter site]] is a two-tower facility off Deercliff Road in [[Avon, Connecticut]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://radio-locator.com/info/WTIC-AM|title=WTIC-AM 1080 kHz - Hartford, CT|website=radio-locator.com}}</ref> WTIC has a single tower, [[omnidirectional antenna|non-directional]] signal in the daytime, providing at least secondary coverage to almost all of Connecticut, as well as large portions of southern Massachusetts and the outer suburbs of New York City. At night, when [[AM band]] signals travel much farther, WTIC uses both towers to create a [[directional antenna|directional pattern]], primarily to protect [[KRLD (AM)|KRLD]] in Dallas, Texas, the other Class A station on [[1080 AM]]. Even with this restriction, WTIC can be heard at night over much of the eastern half of North America.

WTIC is the primary entry point (PEP) for the [[Emergency Alert System]] (EAS) in Connecticut.

==History==
===Early years===
[[File:WTIC advertisement (1944).jpg|thumb|225px|WTIC advertisement promoting U.S. factory work during World War II (1944).<ref>[https://archive.org/details/broadcasting26unse/page/n1102/mode/1up WTIC] (advertisement), ''Broadcasting'', April 17, 1944, page 39.</ref>]]
WTIC is the second oldest radio station in Connecticut, after [[WDRC (AM)|WDRC]], which went on the air in 1922. WTIC was first authorized, by telegram, on December 17, 1924.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112106763060&view=1up&seq=3 "New Stations"], ''Radio Service Bulletin'', January 2, 1925, page 3.</ref> 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,<ref>"Travelers Radio Broadcasts Today", ''Hartford Courant'', December 19, 1924, page 24.</ref><ref>"Travelers Radio Program of Carols", ''Hartford Courant'', December 21, 1924, page 2A.</ref> and began regular programming with a debut broadcast on February 10, 1925.<ref>[https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014519/1925-02-11/ed-1/seq-16/ "Through the Static"], ''New Britain (Connecticut) Daily Herald'', February 11, 1925, page 16.</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/radi19241101219241925radi/page/n898/mode/1up "New Stations and Changes in Power"], ''Radio Digest'', February 21, 1925, page 7.</ref>

The [[Federal Radio Commission]] (FRC) was formed in 1927. Its reauthorization a year later included the [[Davis Amendment]], which specified a nationwide "equality of radio broadcasting service".<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015073347521;view=1up;seq=4 An Act Continuing for one year the powers and authority of the Federal Radio Commission under the Radio Act of 1927], approved March 28, 1928, page 2.</ref> The United States was divided into 5 zones, with 8 "clear channel" frequencies assigned to each zone. Zone 1 was in New England, and WTIC was assigned to one of its clear-channel allocations, 1060&nbsp;kHz. On November 11, 1928, the FRC made a sweeping nationwide reallocation, based on its [[General Order 40]]. WTIC was temporarily assigned to 600&nbsp;kHz, pending construction of a high-powered transmitter needed for broadcasting on its 1060&nbsp;kHz assignment. [[WBAL (AM)|WBAL]], in Baltimore, Maryland, was also assigned to 1060&nbsp;kHz, and this station was close enough to Hartford to require that it and WTIC share time.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c021003683&view=1up&seq=237 "Revised list of broadcasting stations, by frequencies, effective 3 a. m., November 11, 1928, eastern standard time"], ''Second Annual Report of the Federal Radio Commission for the Year Ended June 30, 1928, Together With Supplemental Report for the Period From July 1, 1928, to September 30, 1928'', pages 201, 205.</ref>

===NBC affiliation===
WTIC was among the first [[network affiliate|affiliate]]s 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 [[WFAN (AM)|WEAF]] on 660&nbsp;kHz in New York City caused too much interference. An eventual solution, adopted in 1934, moved WTIC to fulltime operation on 1040&nbsp;kHz, where the nearest other occupant was KRLD in Dallas, Texas, 1500 miles (2400&nbsp;km) away.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/broadcasting11unse/page/n744/mode/1up "Successful Duplication of WTIC and KRLD"] by D. A. Reed, ''Broadcasting'', November 1, 1936, pages 57-58.</ref> In 1941, when the [[North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement]] (NARBA) went into effect, stations on 1040&nbsp;kHz, including WTIC, were moved to 1080&nbsp;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 to mutually protect each other from interference.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32437010939748&view=1up&seq=572 "United States station assignments by frequency"], ''Arrangement between the United States of America, Canada, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Mexico, comprising recommendations of the North American Regional Radio-Engineering Meeting (supplemental to North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement, Habana, 1937). Signed at Washington January 30, 1941; effective March 29, 1941'', page 1428.</ref>

In 1940, WTIC began experimenting with FM radio, putting W1XSO on the air on 43.2&nbsp;MHz. It later became 96.5 [[WTIC-FM]], mostly [[simulcast]]ing the AM station in its early years. In 1957, a television station was added, WTIC-TV on channel 3. As network programming moved from radio to television in the 1950s, WTIC-AM-FM switched to a [[full service radio|full service]], [[middle of the road (music)|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".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1975/C%201%201975%20Radio.pdf|title=Broadcasting Yearbook 1975 page C-32}}</ref>  Also in the 1980s, some more [[talk radio|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 1998, [[CBS Radio]] acquired WTIC-AM-FM.<ref>[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/2000/D-Radio-All-BC-YB-2000-2.pdf Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2000 page D-79]</ref> The acquisition ended WTIC's 70-year affiliation with NBC Radio.  Since then, it has aired [[CBS Radio News]] updates. Its former television sister station, WFSB, 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.<ref>{{cite web |work=Hartford Courant |title=Colin McEnroe, Diane Smith Laid Off By WTIC-AM |first=Steve |last=Grant |url=http://www.courant.com:80/entertainment/tv/hcu-mcenroesmithwtic-1230,0,5035112.story |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081231124138/http://www.courant.com:80/entertainment/tv/hcu-mcenroesmithwtic-1230,0,5035112.story |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 31, 2008 }}</ref>

On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with [[Entercom]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/116299/cbs-radio-to-merge-with-entercom/|title=CBS Radio To Merge With Entercom - RadioInsight}}</ref> The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on November 17.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://entercom.com/press/entercom-receives-fcc-approval-merger-cbs-radio/|title=Entercom Receives FCC Approval for Merger with CBS Radio|work=Entercom|date=November 9, 2017|access-date=November 17, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/121072/entercom-completes-cbs-radio-merger/|title=Entercom Completes CBS Radio Merger|last=Venta|first=Lance|work=Radio Insight|date=November 17, 2017|access-date=November 17, 2017}}</ref>

===Bob Steele===
{{Main|Bob Steele (broadcaster)}}
Longtime WTIC personality [[Bob Steele (broadcaster)|Bob Steele]] spent 66 years on WTIC, most of them as the morning [[drive time]] host.  He joined the station in 1936.  At one point, nearly a third of all radios in the Hartford area were tuned to Steele's wake up show.  He was also regularly seen on Channel 3, WTIC's former sister television station, hosting programs and delivering a nightly sports report.

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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bob Steele Throws Last Punchline |url=https://www.courant.com/1991/10/01/bob-steele-throws-last-punch-line/ |access-date=February 26, 2024 |newspaper=Hartford Courant |date=October 1, 1991}}</ref> Steele continued hosting Saturday mornings until his death in 2002 at age 91. In 2011 a section of Grove Street near the WTIC studios was renamed Bob Steele Street.

==Programming==
On weekdays, WTIC features local shows during the day, with [[radio syndication|syndicated]] programs at night, including [[Erick Erickson]], [[Sean Hannity]] and ''[[Coast to Coast AM]] with [[George Noory]]''.  On weekends, specialty shows are heard on money, health, real estate, travel, pets and the law, some of which are paid [[brokered programming]].  The syndicated shows ''[[Peter Greenberg|CBS Eye on Travel with Peter Greenburg]]'' and ''[[Bill Cunningham (talk show host)|Sunday Nights with Bill Cunningham]]'' air on Sunday evenings.

The station is an [[network affiliate|affiliate]] of the [[Boston Red Sox Radio Network|Boston Red Sox]] and [[New England Patriots Radio Network]]s. The station features local newsbreaks, as well as updates from [[CBS News Radio]]. WTIC's newsroom is staffed 24 hours a day with a team of local newscasters and reporters.  It shares some news and weather forecasts with [[WFSB]], the [[CBS]] TV affiliate in Hartford.

Listeners have been setting their watches to WTIC for many years. The station is known for its historic hourly time tone, the [[Morse code]] letter "V", which has been in use since 1943. This makes it one of the oldest continuous broadcast [[interval signal]]s in the world. The sequence matches the opening sequence of [[Ludwig van Beethoven]]'s [[Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)|Fifth Symphony]], whose "short-short-short-long" rhythm matches that of the Morse code letter "V", and was selected during World War II to stand for "victory".<ref>[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Station-Albums/WTIC-Radio-To-Remember-1985.pdf#page=25 "The Sound of Victory"], ''WTIC: Radio to Remember'', page 25.</ref>  WTIC employs a [[Global Positioning System]] (GPS) master clock system that activates the custom-built time-tone generator shortly before the top of the hour, timed so the final tone occurs precisely on the hour (even though everything else heard on the station is on a 10-second delay).

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Connecticut}}
* {{Official website|https://www.audacy.com/wtic}}
* {{AM station data|66464|WTIC}}
* [https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=67436 FCC History Cards for WTIC] (covering 1924-1980)
* [https://www.goldenage-wtic.org/ Goldenage-WTIC.org] Recordings of the monthly 1960s and 1970s ''The Golden Age of Radio'' and ''A One Night Stand with the Big Bands'' provided by former WTIC personality, Dick Bertel and former WTIC engineer Bob Scherago.
* [https://northeastairchecks.com/ Northeast Airchecks], with an aircheck of their switch to 50,000 watts in 1929
* [https://www.wticalumni.com/ WTIC Alumni website] Site created by Bill Clede and carried on by David Kaplan featuring pictures, audio, information and trivia about the old WTIC AM/FM/TV before its sale by the Travelers in 1974.

{{Hartford Radio}}
{{News/Talk Radio Stations in Connecticut}}
{{Entercom}}
{{Clear-channel AM}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1924 establishments in Connecticut]]
[[Category:Audacy, Inc. radio stations]]
[[Category:Clear-channel radio stations]]
[[Category:News and talk radio stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1924]]
[[Category:Radio stations in Hartford, Connecticut|TIC]]
[[Category:The Travelers Companies]]