Media Forward November 2025

Join us for a special Media Forward program at WBAL, Baltimore, designed to

introduce students to careers in broadcast media through tours of its AM, FM, and TV

broadcast operations, alumni success stories, live interactive SBE study support for

CRO/CTO certifications (part of the WKHS training curriculum), and advice on

education, mentorship, and professional opportunities.

Cameo presentations will also be shared by industry stalwarts Jonathan Solomon, Kerry

Plackmeyer, Perry Priestley, David Van Dyke, Chris Singleton, Bob Eburg, Brian

Szewczyk, Kevin Trueblood, Jim Hammond, Camri McKee, and Towson University EMF

department leadership.

Our participants include:

--Juniors and seniors from WKHS (Kent County High School) broadcast training program

--Media students from Montgomery College and Towson University

--Educators, mentors, engineers, and media professionals from SMPTE and SBE

Media Forward is a SMPTE and SBE DC initiative that connects high school and

college students with broadcast and media professionals through tours, presentations,

and mentorship — helping inspire the next generation of engineers, technologists, and

storytellers.

The Kent County High School broadcast student cohort will travel by bus and share

stories and advice with their community college and four-year university companions.

WKHS is a class B1 full power FM station in the Baltimore DMA, with all facets operated

by students and community volunteers. WKHS is one of the few high power HS

stations in the country with great success rate of employment to dozens still in the

industry, including our own DC market engineer Fred Willard of Televisa/Univision. The

station puts solid grade B signal into Baltimore city and has an omnidirectional reception

radius of 60 miles.

This Media Forward Town Hall is for students interested in any facet of media

technology – audio, video, streaming, podcasting, broadcast, editing, and promotion.

SMPTE is the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, the leading

worldwide media technology membership organization. Setting technical standards and

offering exemplary training.

For those attending virtually a Microsoft Teams link is provided after registration for the

lecture portion of the event, and for the remote speakers that will be presenting to share

their screen. TEAMS will not be able to cover the tour portion of the meeting, although

teams will be up and running the entire meeting.

About Media Forward:

Media Forward is an initiative of the late Peter Wharton, that continues in his honor,

building careers in media technologies and associated fields, providing students with

technical knowledge and an understanding of what it takes to succeed in the technical

and production areas of the media industry today. Peter was a mentor to many of us in

the DC media market.

About SBE

The Society of Broadcast Engineers--is a technical organization representing

more than 4,000 members in the U.S and overseas, and offering certification,

mentorship, education, and professional networking.

Our combined members run television networks and stations, sports facilities, film and

recording studios, production houses as well as cloud services, technology companies

and a host of other media technology enterprises.

We encourage local DC and Baltimore SBE and SMPTE members to come support and

get to know the next generation of media technology professionals. This is an in-person

event that includes lectures and a tour of the WBAL (AM/FM) radio and TV broadcast

facilities.

Parking instructions at WBAL Baltimore (television hill):

Once through the Hooper Avenue security gate, proceed to park in the lot adjacent the

entrance. Allow enough time to show ID and sign in the electronic name tag generation

station. We have a lot to cover starting at 9:45, so recommend arriving no later than

9:25 am.

Thanks for the generosity of WBAL and Hearst broadcasting for providing the facility,

staff, and time to give tours of their great facility.

This is a no charge event to participants, and lunch is provided by the generosity of

are excellent sponsors.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher SMPTE- Washington DC Section