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1980s |
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We were thinking, 'Who knows if we can pull this off?' But Bill Siemering, radio station manager at the time, said, 'You're gonna feel like you're lost in the woods, but don't worry. You'll find your way out, and everything will be fine.' In those early days, I repeated that to myself often.
Of course, we had a guest wish list... Lou Reed, Dennis Hopper, Martin Scorsese. Eventually, when it became much easier to land big-name celebrities, we became more focused on finding the interesting people who our listeners may not have heard of yet.
-- Terry Gross, host and executive producer of Fresh Air, which made the leap to national broadcasts in the mid-'80s. Until then, Terry presented a daily, three-hour edition of the program locally on 91FM for nearly 10 years. |
During a pledge period, WHYY's Ed Cunningham is joined in the studio by Jean Marsh (Rose) of Upstairs, Downstairs. |
Whoopi Goldberg makes an appearance with host LeVar Burton on Reading Rainbow, which joined TV12's lineup in 1983. |
Louise James Africa gives emotional testimony at the hearings that followed Philadelphia's 1985 confrontation with MOVE members on Osage Avenue. WHYY is the only broadcaster to air the hearings from start to finish. |
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1980
|||||||||||||| Public television pioneers the development of multi-channel ("Stereo") TV broadcasting. A Prairie Home Companion comes to 91FM from Lake Wobegon. |
1983
||||||||||||| Frontline and Reading Rainbow take center stage on TV12. WUHY-FM reverts to its original call letters, WHYY-FM. TV12 produces its first live broadcast from Dover, DE with a satellite telecast from Legislative Hall. WHYY's Jubilee of Prizes Sweepstakes is introduced. |
1984
||||||||||||| Family Matters debuts on 91FM. A year later, Dr. Dan Gottlieb becomes host. In 1992, the program is renamed Voices in the Family. WHYY's signature Spotlight series makes a grand entrance on TV12. A year later, NPR's Weekend Edition is first heard on 91FM. WHYY's program guide is relaunched as Applause. |
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1986
|||||||||||||| TV12 and 91FM simulcast live 144 hours of the Move Commission Hearings, earning praise for community service. WHYY assumes operation of WDPB, Channel 64, in Seaford, DE, expanding TV12's service to southern Delaware. WHYY-TV teams with Dean Johnson as the presenter of Hometime a national how-to, do-it-yourself series. |
1987
||||||||||||| WHYY-FM's Fresh Air with Terry Gross debuts as a national daily program, and Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane joins the 91FM lineup. |
1988
||||||||||||| Congress authorizes $200 million to replace public radio and television satellites. |
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'Going national' was frightening. We had to hire a larger staff, and we had to find ten arts critics a week. The control room had to be rebuilt, and our offices had to be built in a space that had been bathrooms, showers and dressing rooms.
