WTAR (850 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, and serving the Hampton Roads (Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News) radio market. WTAR is owned and operated by Sinclair Telecable, Inc. It broadcasts a hot adult contemporary format as "96.5 Lucy FM". Until September 1, 2022, the station aired a sports radio format, carrying the Fox Sports Radio Network most of the day, with a local afternoon drive time show. The syndicated Dan Patrick Show was heard in late mornings. WTAR was part of the Washington Commanders Radio Network. WTAR's studios and offices are on Waterside Drive in Norfolk. The transmitter is off Track Lane in Smithfield, Virginia. WTAR runs at 50,000 watts by day, the highest power permitted by the Federal Communications Commission for commercial AM stations. At night, to reduce interference to other stations on AM 850, mainly Class A KOA in Denver, Colorado, WTAR reduces power to 25,000 watts. It uses a directional antenna at all times. WTAR programming is also heard on HD Radio over 106.1 WUSH-HD2 and on FM translator station W243DJ at 96.5 MHz in Norfolk and W243EK at 96.5 MHz in Hampton. History On September 21, 1923, WTAR signed on the air at 780 kilocycles with 15 watts of power. It was the first radio station to go on the air in Virginia. On July 6, 1934, WTAR became an affiliate of the NBC Red Network after dropping the CBS Radio Network. At that time, the station was owned and operated by the parent company of the Norfolk Ledger-Star and The Virginian-Pilot. By the late 1930s, WTAR got a power boost to 5,000 watts by day, 1,000 watts at night. In the 1940s, the nighttime power was increased to match the daytime power, 5,000 watts. WTAR added an FM counterpart in 1947, WTAR-FM (97.3), which mostly simulcast the AM station. However, few people owned FM radios at that time, and WTAR gave up its FM license a couple of years later. The 97.3 frequency returned to the air in the mid-1950s as WGH-FM. In 1950, WTAR signed on a TV station, WTAR-TV (Channel 4, now WTKR on channel 3). Because WTAR was an NBC affiliate, the TV station primarily carried NBC-TV programs. As the first TV station in the Norfolk area, it also ran some shows from CBS, ABC and the DuMont Television Network. Within a year of the TV station's debut, both