WFOS

WFOS is a Variety formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Chesapeake, Virginia, serving the Southside of Hampton Roads. WFOS is owned and operated by Chesapeake Public Schools.
History.
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 down in Florida and other equipment. They wanted the station's call-sign to be WOFS, for Oscar Frommel Smith, but those were taken. They settled for WFOS. The idea was that running the station would allow students to learn the ins and outs of broadcasting and see if they were interested in radio as a career. The city of South Norfolk merged with Norfolk County to form the city of Chesapeake in 1963, resulting in the present city of license; at the same time, Chesapeake Public Schools replaced the South Norfolk school board as the licensee.
Students of Chesapeake Public Schools were put on the air to run hour-long shows or reading news or sports. The station sent students to cover local elections, even sending a contingent up to Richmond to cover state elections.
In October 1990, WFOS moved from 90.3 MHz to 88.7 MHz to accommodate the relocation of WHRO-FM, though it had to provide some protection to 88.5 FM in Virginia Beach. This was one leg of a three-part frequency and license shuffle that took years to come to fruition, in which WHRO-FM moved to 90.3 on WFOS's old license; the prior WHRO-FM became WHRV; and WFOS moved to what had been the frequency of the dormant WNHS at I. C. Norcom High School in Portsmouth. WNHS had launched September 14, 1973, but it had "fizzled out" with low student interest a decade later. The shuffling was made because the 90.3 frequency could be used at higher power than 89.5 or 88.7. WHRO bought the transmitter WFOS used on 88.7.
In the late 1990s, WFOS would increase its power to 15,500 watts. Eight DJs were on rotation during the week, playing their own music throughout the day without advertisements.
Sale to HRETA.
In 2015, Chesapeake Public Schools abruptly stopped offering a radio program to their students. Advancements in technology had made music more accessible to the public in other formats. Partly as a result, jobs in local radio have become scarce, making it less vital for Chesapeake Public Schools to train students in radio. However, students do still come in and intern during the summer. Students interested in communications or audio engineering can get credit, and the station can look good on a resume.
In November 2020, WFOS attempted fundraising, posting on its Twitter account that it was aiming to become listener-funded. By fall, it had raised 15% of a $40,000 goal. It wouldn't be enough. The station had a lengthy list of needed repairs, totaling about $150,000 on top of the $200,000 a year it costs to run it.
On January 27, 2021, Chesapeake Public Schools and the Hampton Roads Educational Telecommunications Authority, parent of WHRO-FM and WHRV, reached a programming and services agreement to allow for the operations of the station to continue; two months later, HRETA filed to buy WFOS outright.