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Historical Timeline of Fifty Years at WETA

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Enjoy this step through time charting WETA's history from its founding in the 1950s as an educational television station, the addition of a public radio station, and evolution into a major national producer for PBS.

  • 1957 Campbell President of GWETA

    1957

    Elizabeth Campbell is elected president of the Greater Washington Educational Television Association (GWETA).

  • 1958 Time for Science

    1958

    WETA’s first production, Time for Science — and programs that follow such as Elementary Spanish, Children’s Literature and Window on Our World — begin a long WETA tradition of creating educational programs for use in local schools.

  • 1961 First Broadcast

    1961

    On October 2, 1961, WETA launched channel 26 as the educational television station serving Washington, D.C. An overflow audience came to Yorktown High School to watch WETA’s inaugural broadcast, entitled A New Era, which featured a message from President John F. Kennedy.

  • 1964 Move to Howard University

    1964

    WETA moves from a classroom in Yorktown High School in Arlington, Virginia, to Howard University in Washington, D.C., where a renovated gym provides a complete production and broadcast facility. WETA studios would be based at Howard until 1972, when they moved to their current location in Shirlington.

  • 1967 Washington Week in Review

    1967

    WETA premieres Washington Week in Review, the first station-produced program accepted for national distribution by PBS. Paul Duke hosts 1974–1994, and Gwen Ifill takes the helm in September 1999.

  • 1969 Sesame Street Premieres

    1969

    Sesame Street premieres on WETA. The first episode, on November 10, 1969, was sponsored by the letters W, S, and E and the numbers 2 and 3.

  • 1970 WETA 90.9 FM Goes on the Air

    1970

    WETA 90.9 FM goes on the air with classical, jazz and folk music and news coverage, adding the new NPR news program All Things Considered in 1971.

  • 1973 Watergate

    1973

    WETA produces Senate Watergate hearings for a nationwide PBS audience.

  • 1974 Upstairs Downstairs Premieres

    1974

    Upstairs, Downstairs premieres on Masterpiece Theater.

  • 1976 MacNeil/Lehrer Report Premieres

    1976

    The MacNeil/Lehrer Report premieres. The daily newscast was a co-production of WETA and WNET, New York, and quickly became one of the most respected programs on television.

  • 1978 In Performance at the White House Premieres

    1978

    The WETA series In Performance at the White House premieres during the Carter administration with a concert by pianist Vladimir Horowitz.

  • 1981 A Capitol Fourth Premieres

    1981

    The WETA co-production A Capitol Fourth premieres, presenting the Independence Day concert and fireworks live from the National Mall.

  • 1985 Around Town Premieres

    1985

    WETA premieres Around Town, a 30-minute weekly roundtable hosted by Robert Aubry Davis. The show features discussion by critics and cultural experts on the visual and performing arts in Washington.

  • 1988 WETA 90.9 Starts 24-Hour Programming

    1988

    WETA 90.9 FM expands to a 24-hour format.

  • 1990 The Civil War

    1990

    Ken Burns’s film The Civil War, a co-production with WETA, premieres and becomes the highest rated miniseries in the history of PBS.

  • 1995 New Shirlington Building

    1995

    WETA purchases its current Shirlington, Virginia, headquarters — now designated Campbell Place in honor of Elizabeth Campbell.

  • 1997 DTV Transmitter Activated

    1997

    WETA activates a new DTV transmitter and broadcasts its first HDTV production (Impressionists on the Seine).

  • 1999 Gwen Ifill joins Washington Week

    1999

    In September, veteran broadcast and print journalist Gwen Ifill joins PBS as a senior correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and as moderator and managing editor of Washington Week in Review.

  • 2000 Mark Twain Prize

    2000

    WETA becomes a co-producer of the annual program strand The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize, celebrating American humorists.

  • 2002 WETA Launches Digital Channels

    2002

    WETA begins multicasting over the air and through the Comcast digital cable service. Offerings include WETA Prime, WETA Kids, WETA Plus, and WETA HD Showcase.

  • 2006 WETA Guide Launches

    2006

    WETA launches the mini-documentary series WETA Neighborhoods, kicking off a new slate of local productions that include the series WETA All Access and The WETA Guide.

  • 2007 The War

    2007

    The War, a seven-part series directed and produced by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, premieres and earns nationwide acclaim.

  • 2007 WETA 90.9 Changes to All Classical Format

    2007

    WETA changes radio format to all-classical music and launches Classical WETA 90.9 FM, the exclusive classical music station in the nation’s capital.

  • 2009 Washington Week Peabody Award

    2009

    Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal wins the prestigious 2008 George Foster Peabody Award for excellence.

  • 2010 VivaLaVoce Launches

    2010

    WETA launches all-vocal classical station VivaLaVoce online and via the HD2 signal of Classical WETA 90.9 FM.