WTIC-FM (96.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Hartford, Connecticut. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and broadcasts a hot adult contemporary radio format. The station's studios and offices are located on Executive Drive in Farmington. WTIC-FM has an effective radiated power (ERP) 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 WTIC (AM) and former co-owned TV station WFSB. WTIC-FM broadcasts in the HD Radio (hybrid) format. The HD2 subchannel carries the news/talk format of WTIC (AM). History Early years WTIC-FM is the second oldest FM station in Hartford, after 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. It mostly simulcast WTIC in its early years, carrying WTIC's local shows and NBC Radio Network programming, during the 1940s and 1950s. Just like their AM sister station, it carried NBC's dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts during the "Golden Age of Radio". 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, news and sports. During the 1960s, WTIC-FM broke away from its AM counterpart for most of the day, playing classical music. In the early 1970s, it ran beautiful music by day and classical music at night. Hot Hits 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 1080 Corporation". On May 12, 1977, WTIC-FM made a dramatic switch by flipping to a Top 40/CHR format, as "Hot Hits". The station was consulted by Mike Joseph who installed a playlist of all current hits, the 30 to 40 songs on the current charts were repeated frequently, with upbeat DJs and numerous jingles by the legendary TM Studios. Once a Hot Hit fell off the charts, even