WHRO is Ready for On Point with Tom Ashbrook

As On Point will launch a national tour in 2017, Listening To America, WHRO Public Media is excited to propose a stop in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Hampton Roads offers On Point unique access to conversations from a diverse community and perspectives, a rich history and forerunners in world-class arts and culture. 

Since its founding in 1961, WHRO Public Media has become a nationally recognized educational telecommunications service with educational content delivered to more than 286,000 students and 25,000 teachers; a trusted and valued civic space where citizens can explore diverse issues in a thoughtful manner; and provider of quality programming and services for television and radio audiences. Long known for its public service mission, WHRO is the only public broadcasting station in the United States that is owned through a collaboration with 19 local public school districts.

WHRO Public Media enriches the lives of the people of Eastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina every day, through engaging conversations with fresh, passionate, and captivating voices. For the second year in a row, WHRO was recognized with three National Educational Telecommunications Association awards, more than any public media station in the nation, in addition to being awarded the highest number of Virginia Association of Broadcasters Awards in the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

WHRO’s audience supports a wide range of content including: highlighting our vibrant arts scene, as documented by the Emmy award winning web-series The Scene; discussing today’s issues from an African American perspective on the radio talk show Another View, hosted by Barbara Hamm Lee, the recipient of the 2016 National Association of Black Journalists’ Salute to Excellence Award; and supporting and telling the stories of our veterans through initiatives such as Veterans Coming Home and Military Monday. Tuning in to WHRO on any given day our members are presented with thoughtful discussions on topics ranging from the urgent issue of sea level rise impacting our coastal communities, to approaching conversations of race in an insightful and safe manner, to gardening, and the introduction of community bike lanes.  

Centuries of history converge in Hampton Roads, including the first settlement in Jamestown in 1607. The area further set the stage for America’s evolution in 1619 with the first legislative assembly, the arrival of the first documented Africans, and the first “startup” as the Virginia Company implemented plans to diversify from pursuits other than tobacco to increase profits and grow the population.  These early years defined our economy, our culture, and not only our future but America’s as well.   

 The military presence in the area is deeply rooted with 108,000 active duty personnel, 41,000 civilian defense workers, and over 218,000 veterans, not to mention thousands who work in defense-related industries. You cannot live in the region without being able to call a veteran or member of the armed forces your neighbor. WHRO Public Media is located 3.1 miles from the largest naval station in the world, Naval Station Norfolk, which harbors 75 ships and 134 aircraft. In addition to being home to the world’s largest Naval Base and one of the nation’s fastest growing ports, all five military services’ operating forces and major command headquarters, including the Navy, Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, and Marines Joint Forces and the only NATO command on U.S. soil call Hampton Roads home.

LIVE BROADCAST TECHNICAL ABILITIES

WHRO has the technology, staff and equipment available for a nationally broadcast radio production: 

1.  ISDN, ZIP connection
2. Satellite broadcast capabilities  

Proud Military Community

With 2017 marking the 100-year anniversary of the Navy in the City of Norfolk, many local civic organizations, businesses, and nonprofits, including WHRO, are planning a yearlong celebration to commemorate the milestone. Bringing On Point to Hampton Roads during this commemoration would provide a tremendous opportunity to engage the nation with issues that face our community and continue important, compelling conversations surrounding our nation’s military and veterans. 

In addition to the real sacrifices made by the region’s members of the military, veterans, personnel and their families, they serve as our friends, coworkers, mentors and active members and contributors to the community. WHRO has long been committed to strengthening its relationship with military and veterans, and developing meaningful content and resources to advance the connection of veterans to our thriving community. An example of this was WHRO’s Emmy award-winning Veterans Voices Town Hall, where we brought the community together to showcase the stories of Veterans determined to overcome challenges such as getting their VA benefits, military downsizing, challenges facing women in the military, PTSD, homelessness, and depression – all before a studio audience.

WHRO is proud to be a leading force in Hampton Roads and to share the community with other acclaimed institutions. Virginia Arts Festival, an internationally renowned annual celebration of the arts, also calls Hampton Roads home along with the Chrysler Museum and the renowned state-of-the-art Perry Glass Studio, several thriving arts districts, performing arts centers, and, we cannot forget to mention, our own Triple-A baseball team, the Norfolk Tides.

Hampton Roads presents a variety of unique and exciting opportunities for live broadcast of On Point, including: 

• The USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, the nationally significant battleship measuring 887 feet, which participated in World War II, the Korean War, and the Persian Gulf War earning a total of six battle stars and a Navy Unit Commendation for service; 
• Fort Monroe, the largest stone fort ever built in the United States, which provided a safe haven for thousands of enslaved people during the Civil War; 
• Harbor Park, which was once rated by Baseball America as the finest minor league facility in the country; and 
• The Virginia Arts Festival, a world-renowned annual celebration of the arts that features the Virginia International Tattoo, an exhibition of military bands, pipes and drums, military drill teams, gymnasts, Scottish dancers, and choirs, which the American Bus Association has put on their must-see list of the most exciting events in the world.

Promotion Plan

Radio
HearSay, our award-winning, an hour long, public affairs radio call-in program that discusses issues important to Hampton Roads, would devote a program to On Point. Our producers will also work to secure additional local guests that would contribute to the conversation.

On air:  Broadcast Spots will air two weeks before the event. Can add more as needed. 
WHRO FM: 20 spots - run of schedule 
WHRV FM:  40 spots – run of schedule
WHRO TV:  40 spots – run of schedule 

e-Newsletters: reaches 30,000
Promote it in our weekly content newsletter
Dedicated lead stories leading up to the event 

Dimensions-WHRO Member Guide: 20,000 households
Monthly ad in issues leading up to the screening 

Social Media:  250,000 reached, 15,000 followers
Weekly posts leading up to events on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts 
Utilize partners’ social media to support promotion

Web: 613,234 page views per year
Provide an online promotion campaign to feature this event
Create a dedicated WHRO event page 
Establish an EventBrite invitation to promote the screenings and collect RSVP’s

Partners

Will work with partners to maximize partnership cross promotion on all platforms. Ad promotion series and local outreach/programming can be planned in publications such as The Flagship, Military News, Virginia Pilot Military, Peninsula Warrior, and Coast Guard News which serve the military and veteran communities in our Service area.

• Potential Partners include:
• Nauticus: home to the Battleship Wisconsin, one of the largest and last battleships ever built by the U.S. Navy, and the Naval Museum. 
• Virginia Wounded Warrior Project: part of the national movement to provide programs and services to meet the needs of injured service members.
• The Military Career Transition Program, Darden College of Education, Old Dominion University: assists veterans transitioning to civilian careers could collaborate with WHRO to disseminate information and promote military transitions.
• The Center for Military and Veterans Education of Tidewater Community College: a one-stop shop for educational needs, including career counseling and financial aid.
• Virginia Aquarium
• Local public schools
• City of Norfolk
• Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center
• Chrysler Museum
• Hampton Roads Pride
• Tidewater Bicycle Association
• Jamestown/Yorktown Foundation