WHHS
Encyclopedia
High school radio
High school radio within the United States is almost as old as radio broadcasting itself. Simply defined as a radio station, with its studios located at a high school and usually operated by its students with faculty supervision, stations fitting this description existed in the mid-1920s...
station of Haverford Senior High School
Haverford Senior High School
Haverford Senior High School is the public high school of Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, United States, operated by the School District of Haverford Township...
, in Havertown, Pennsylvania
Havertown, Pennsylvania
Havertown is a residential suburban unincorporated community in Haverford Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, approximately 9 miles west of the center of Philadelphia. Havertown's ZIP Code is 19083. Havertown is notable for being the birthplace of Swell Bubble Gum, which closed...
(a suburb of Philadelphia). WHHS is the oldest high school radio station in the country. The station itself is located within the High School, and the transmitter is located nearby, covering a 5 to 10 mile radius around the High School. WHHS originally occupied 89.3 FM until 1992, when the FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
forced them to change frequencies, and then 107.9 FM, until a new, major radio station based in Philadelphia (WRNB
WRNB
WRNB is an Urban Adult Contemporary station broadcasting at 100.3 FM. Licensed to Media, Pennsylvania, it serves the Philadelphia market and is owned by Radio One. The station originally operated as WSNJ-FM in Bridgeton, New Jersey, first broadcasting on 98.9 in the 1950s before moving to 107.7...
) forced WHHS to change frequencies again. WHHS currently occupies 99.9 FM under a special exemption from the FCC while the station undergoes the formal process of applying for a station license.
Typical show formats include rock
Mainstream rock
Mainstream rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.-Format background:...
, classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
, rap/hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, sports talk
Sports radio
Sports radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A popular format with an almost exclusively male demographic in most areas, sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and extensive debate and analysis by both hosts and...
, political talk
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
, and sometimes more eclectic genres like classical or jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
. Occasionally, shows feature live performances from local or school-based bands.
Students of the High School apply for a radio show (usually 90 minutes long), and a typical show has 2-4 hosts. On the basis of interviews and previous experience with the station, students are chosen to fill several positions, including Station Director, Director of Music, Director of News, etc. The radio station provides an introduction into the radio or communication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
s industries for students interested in careers in these fields.
In 2006, the station began broadcasting live sporting events such as football and hockey, even broadcasting live from the Wachovia Spectrum
Wachovia Spectrum
The Spectrum, formerly known as the CoreStates Spectrum , First Union Spectrum , and Wachovia Spectrum was an indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
; the former home of the Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
and 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...
. The station is continuing to branch out into the community with the effort spearheaded by producing a product that township residents can understand and enjoy while teaching students necessary skills and encouraging creativity. This has been accomplished in many ways; one of which included a 12 hour election day special along with interviews before the elections with such politicians and Congressman Curt Weldon
Curt Weldon
Wayne Curtis "Curt" Weldon is an American politician. He served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 2007, representing the 7th district of Pennsylvania. He was defeated in November 2006 for reelection by Joe Sestak. Weldon was vice-chair of the Armed...
and Congressman elect Joe Sestak.