WKHR
Encyclopedia
WKHR is a non-commercial
Non-commercial
Non-commercial refers to an activity or entity that does not in some sense involve commerce, at least relative to similar activities that do have a commercial objective or emphasis...

 FM high school radio
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 located in Bainbridge Township, Ohio
Bainbridge Township, Geauga County, Ohio
Bainbridge Township is one of the sixteen townships of Geauga County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 10,916 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the southwestern corner of the county, it borders the following townships and cities:...

 serving the eastern portion of the Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

 radio market, operating on 91.5 MHz.

The station originated as a high school broadcast class at Kenston High School
Kenston High School
Kenston High School is located in Bainbridge Township, Ohio, and serves both Auburn and most of Bainbridge Township, with a small segment of the latter covered by the Chagrin Falls district. In the fall of 2006 Kenston H.S. moved into a new a building due to a growing population base and a larger...

 on May 6, 1977, broadcasting at 88.3 MHz. Initially, with only 10 watts of power, the station could only be heard clearly barely beyond the high school parking lot, with luck on your side it could be heard within a couple miles of the transmitter. The station featured a general rock radio format
Radio format
A radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...

 and was managed by high school students and both a paid adult Station Manager and a full-time paid English teacher as a part of the English department curriculum. One of the first steps to cementing the station's future was to involve the community by adding adult volunteers on weekends. By 1983 power had increased to 300 watts which increasing the ability to clearly hear the station to a range of several miles.

The school district ran into some tough financial times and began making system-wide cuts. Unfortunately, the station's courses were axed as was the funding for the paid Station Manager. The English program was dropped and the teacher returned to "regular" coursework. On the brink of being shut down completely, one of the adult volunteers (Scott McVay) stepped forward at a school board meeting and personally funded the remainder of that school year (to the tune of approximately $7000. The station was reorganized under a nonprofit company, WKHR Radio, Inc. by McVay, in 1990, allowing it to stay alive financially. All major funding for the station was provided by this non-profit including new studios, new broadcast equipment, and a new tower.

The station kept up its student-run alternative rock format for the next two years but was forced to transition from a station managed by students to a station managed by adult volunteers for district liability reasons. The format was a dual format, featuring alternative rock all day and a nostalgic Big Band music format featuring recordings from the 1930s through the 1950s every weekday morning from 7am to noon and 7am to 4pm on Saturdays. Students would air the alternative rock format from noon to 9pm weekdays. The station was dark the remainder of the time and on Sundays.

McVay continued to work with the district Board and Superintendent regarding the reinstatement of the courses. A compromise was reached when the district discovered they could bring back a teaching program under a "vocational" status, allowing funding assistance from the State of Ohio.

In 1992 a new Operations Director working for the non-profit began extending the broadcast day with the use of volunteers from a local broadcast school. This allowed the station to begin Sunday programming as well as 24-hour programming on weekends with the alternative rock format, at this time called "THeEDGE." With a cease and desist order in hand from a major market broadcast company who stated THeEDGE format was robbing their local commercial affiliate of listeners due to its cutting edge programming, WKHR made the decision to fully adopt the Big Band/Nostalgia format.

In May 1995, the station received permission from 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...

 to increase its power to 1000 watts. The increased power along with an improved antenna allowed WKHR to be heard for the first time throughout the eastern portion of the Cleveland market. To avoid interference with Baldwin-Wallace
Baldwin-Wallace College
Baldwin–Wallace College is a liberal arts college in Berea, Ohio, founded in 1845. It is home to the Riemenschneider-Bach Institute and the Baldwin–Wallace Conservatory of Music, an internationally renowned music school. The college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Students receive a...

's WBWC
WBWC
WBWC is a non-commercial, college radio station located on the campus of Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. At 4,000 watts, WBWC broadcasts 19 hours a day, 365 days a year via the airwaves and webcast. WBWC is a student-run radio station that features Alternative Rock music as well as...

 in Berea
Berea, Ohio
- History :The first European settlers were originally from Connecticut. Berea fell within Connecticut's Western Reserve and was surveyed and divided into townships and ranges by one Gideon Granger, a gentleman who served as Postmaster General under President Thomas Jefferson...

, the station moved from 88.3 to 91.5 in September 1995 in a frequency swap deal that involved WKHR and cousin-station WSTB
WSTB
WSTB — branded The AlterNation — is a modern rock high school radio station in Streetsboro, Ohio and is entirely locally produced. WSTB provides coverage to Northeast Ohio-Akron market. They are located on the FM dial at 88.9 MHz, providing Modern Rock from Monday through Saturday. On...

 (Streetsboro, OH), broadcasting with its current power of 750 watts. In 1996 the station made the final programming expansion to fulltime broadcasting, 24 hours a day. Its Big Band music format is also available through streaming audio from its web site.
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