THEN

1961

President John F. Kennedy declared the United States would land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Construction began on the Berlin Wall. Roger Maris hit his 61st home run.

And this was the year the FCC awarded a license to Vincent J. Thomas and Hunter B. Andrews, of the Norfolk and Hampton school systems respectively, to operate Virginia's first non-commercial, educational television station. WHRO broadcast as Home Room One as a way to use television to assist with teaching in the classroom.

1968

WHRO TV soon expanded to Newport News, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Suffolk and Nansemond, York and Isle of Wight Counties. These school systems joined Norfolk and Hampton to create The Hampton Roads Educational Telecommunications Association, Inc. (HRETA), a private nonprofit educational corporation.

Since its founding, WHRO Public Media has grown into four television channels and six radio frequencies.

1985

Our educational services continued to expand and receive national attention including the prestigious Japan Prize., an international award for educational media content.

1990

On September 21, 1990, 90.3 signed on as a full-time classical music station, taking the WHRO FM call letters. NPR programming remained on 89.5 under new call letters, WHRV – meaning Eastern Virginia now had two public radio stations.

1996

WHRV debuted HearSay with Cathy Lewis, a daily call-in radio program, which developed and retained a loyal listenership. For 25 years she interviewed political candidates, governors, civic leaders, business owners and even former President Barack Obama. The program ended in May 2021 when she left to pursue other endeavors.

2007

WHRO began a collaboration with Landmark Communications to produce and televise The Virginian-Pilot Spelling Bee, an annual competition that continues to this day.

2009

Another View debuted, a weekly television program hosted by veteran journalist Barbara Hamm Lee, focusing on issues specific to Hampton Roads' African American community. The program transitioned to a radio show in 2011 and continues to enjoy a loyal following.

2021

WHRO renamed its Leadership Circle of donors to become the Hunter B. Andrews Society. This change honors former Virginia Senator and former chairman of the Hampton School Board, Hunter B. Andrews, who founded WHRO TV in partnership with Vince Thomas.

NOW

Today, WHRO is owned by 21 public school systems in Hampton Roads, and education is still at the heart of all we do. By providing trusted news reporting, arts coverage, public affairs content, music and entertainment, and an array of educational services, WHRO Public Media enriches the lives of the people of Eastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina every day.

Education

Educational competitions like the annual Spelling Bee, Young Storytellers Contest, Great Computer Challenge allow students in grades K-12 to develop and demonstrate their skills in literacy and technology.

Outreach programs delivered through our STEM Van, Literacy Van, and new Environmental Van bring hands-on learning (or virtual experiences during a pandemic) to schools, libraries and community centers throughout the region.

Work Like A Girl, the latest campaign under WHRO's American Graduate: Getting to Work national initiative is bringing awareness of the great opportunities for young women in skilled careers. Many of these careers do not require a college degree and offer paid pathways to learning a trade and getting started.

Teachers turn to WHRO Education for professional development, online courses, webinars designed to help them with blended learning, and a vast number of digital resources through eMediaVA to use in their classrooms. In fact, 184,266 educators and students across Virginia accessed tens of thousands of searchable learning assets through eMediaVA in 2020.

WHRO Education was a vital resource for educators and families during the pandemic. Our team of educators acted quickly to develop educational services including:

• VA TV Classroom that featured teachers teaching on TV for grades K-10
• A series of professional development webinars on distance learning for educators
• Nationwide access to 25 online high school courses
• A new weekly Facebook series, Ms. Martha Reads, featuring stories written for children by other children

Journalism

In its first full year of operation, the WHRO newsroom produced award-winning reports to keep our community well informed. The team also created a diversity tracker to use across the newsroom for sources, talk show guests, and experts.

Key reporting focused:

• housing and eviction laws
• inequity and justice
• the pandemic
• military and veterans

Arts

On both television and radio, WHRO continues to provide exceptional arts coverage of both local and national productions. TV viewers enjoy new dramas from Masterpiece, concerts and other performances, while radio listeners enjoy a variety of music genres including jazz, Americana, bluegrass, classical and more.

Last year, our stations partnered with local arts organizations to broadcast concerts recorded prior to the pandemic to ensure the community had continued access to the arts during the stay-at-home order. WHRO also provided several online performances as an avenue for musicians to continue connecting with audience members.

The Emmy-award winning Curate 757recently wrapped up its 5th season. The successful digital-first series explores the thriving art scene in Hampton Roads.

In The Community

Wall of Faces- WHRO proudly spearheaded a statewide initiative to ensure all 1,307 Virginian Vietnam Veterans listed on The Wall has a photo. The project was completed on May 22, 2020 when the photo was found for the last remaining Virginia soldier without a photo, Sergeant Walter Williams Jr.

Continuing the Conversation on Race - Through community conversations on our air as well as moderated virtual conversations with the community, WHRO Public Media continues to explore opportunities to contribute to the national dialogue around race and racism in America. We continue to air relevant programs that share Black history and celebrate Black culture, as we look for ways to heal our nation and address racism head on.

Awards

In 2020, WHRO earned five Regional Emmy Awards, two NETA awards, sixteen Telly awards, four Virginia Association of Broadcasters Awards, one Regional Murrow Award, one Associated Press Broadcasters Award, four NABJ Excel Awards, and three Addy Awards. See our most recent awards at whro.org/awards

OUR JOURNEY BEGINS IN 1955

On May 2, 1955, WFOS signed on the air as a 10-watt operation at the old Oscar Smith High School in South Norfolk, Virginia. WFOS started with the help of the widow of the school's namesake, who made a donation to the school for an antenna bought from a station in Florida along with some other equipment. They wanted the station's call-sign to be WOFS, for Oscar Frommel Smith, but those were taken. They settled for WFOS—“F” for FM and “OS” for Oscar Smith. The idea was that running the station would allow students to learn the ins and outs of broadcasting to see if they were interested in radio as a career.

In 1963, the city of South Norfolk merged with Norfolk County to form the city of Chesapeake, and Chesapeake Public Schools took over as the station licensee. Students took on-air shifts to run hour-long shows or to read news or sports. The station also sent students to cover local elections, even sending a contingent to Richmond to cover state elections. By the late 1990s, the station also featured eight rotating hosts playing their own music throughout the day without advertisements.

The school system operated the station for 65 years and played a mix of blues, beach music, R&B and classical. It is known as the first public school FM station in Virginia and one of the nation’s oldest public school radio stations. The station helped launch the career of several local broadcast personalities including Pete Michaud, sports announcer for the Norfolk Tides, and WHRO FM’s own Raymond Jones who started at the station as a student in 1961.

In 2015, due to advances in technology and diminishing interest from students, Chesapeake Public Schools stopped offering a radio program for students. In 2020, the school system announced they would stop funding the station and they began discussions with WHRO Public Media to take over operations.

AN EXCITING FUTURE

WHRO Public Media took over operations of the station on May 1, 2021 and announced a new name for WFOS - Time Machine Radio Network. The station’s reach was expanded to all of Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. Additionally, the station became available not only at its old frequency, 88.7 FM, but also at a new one 99.3 FM. WHRV host Paul Shugrue, known for his program Out of the Box, was named as music coordinator for the station.

What hasn't changed is that WFOS is still where music lovers come to hear the most diverse offerings in music. Here the music takes center stage. Highlighting an immense array of musical styles, programming and broadcast memorabilia, Time Machine Radio Network is a salute to the golden age of radio. Through nearly five decades of musical content, listeners experience the spirit and excitement which made radio a staple in daily life the world over.

Tune in over the air, or listen online at whro.org/timemachine