WDRC (AM)

WDRC was the first commercially licensed station in the state of Connecticut, originally operating from New Haven, Connecticut.[3] It signed on the air on September 10, 1922, as WPAJ.

By the 1930s, the station's call sign was WDRC, standing for the Doolittle Radio Company, owned by Franklin M. Doolittle. The station had moved to Hartford, with studios at 11 Asylum Street. WDRC broadcast on 1330 kilocycles, powered at 2,500 watts by day and 1,000 watts at night.[4] It was a CBS Network affiliate, carrying its dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts during the "Golden Age of Radio."

With the enactment of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA) in 1942, WDRC moved to its current dial position at 1360 kHz, and got a boost to its current power of 5,000 watts.[5] The studios relocated to 750 Main Street.

Just as WDRC was the first AM radio station in Connecticut, it launched Connecticut's first FM station and one of the first in the nation. During its experimental era, beginning in 1936, the station's call sign was W1XPW, broadcasting at 1,000 watts on 43.4 MHz and mostly simulcasting its AM counterpart.[6] That station eventually became WDRC-FM at 105.9 MHz. It was sold to the Concert Network in 1956 to become part of a chain of classical music stations and changed its call letters to WHCN.

In 1959, Buckley Broadcasting acquired WDRC.[7] Buckley decided to give FM radio another try, putting a station on the air on 102.9. It again took the WDRC-FM call letters, and is still co-owned to this day. The FM station simulcast the AM station for its first decade.

Under Buckley ownership, WDRC-AM-FM became a Top 40 outlet. Around the same time, 1410 WPOP also switched to contemporary hits. This set up a rivalry between AM 1360 and AM 1410 for much of the 1960s and early 70s. While 1080 WTIC was usually #1 in Hartford with its news, sports and popular music, WDRC and WPOP competed for Hartford's younger listeners.

In 1975, the Top 40 battle ended. WPOP flipped to all-news radio and younger listeners started switching to the FM band for their music. By 1980, WDRC had moved to adult contemporary music, later adding oldies. In the 1990s, WDRC switched to middle of the road music, with the oldies format taken over by WDRC-FM.[8] 1360 WDRC started adding talk shows as the new century came in, making the switch to an all talk format in the early 2000s.

On March 5, 2014, Buckley Broadcasting announced that it would sell its Connecticut radio stations, including WDRC-AM-FM to Connoisseur Media. Buckley had owned an interest in the station since 1957, assuming full control in 1959.[9] The sale was consummated on July 7, 2014, at a price of $7,922,035. Connoisseur only kept the stations for four years.

Connoisseur sold 1240 WWCO to separate owners. The remaining stations: WDRC-AM-FM, along with 610 WSNG Torrington, 1470 WMMW Meriden and W272DO in New Haven, went to Red Wolf Broadcasting for $8 million in January 2018.[10] The sale was completed on March 29, 2018.[11]

On May 10, 2019, WDRC began simulcasting on FM translator 103.3 W277DT. They rebranded as "Trump 103.3".[12] Management told the New Haven Register that the new branding would be used for the first few weeks of the translator's operation, after which the "Talk of Connecticut" slogan would be reinstated.[13]