WCVE Richmond PBS made its debut on September 14, 1964 on channel 23. With a core mission of serving schools in central Virginia, it became the first educational television station in the Commonwealth. Today, WCVE Richmond PBS serves over 40 school districts; and provides national PBS and locally-produced programs that provide life-long learning opportunities for all ages.

WCVW Richmond PBS went into full operation in 1968 on channel 57. Upon its arrival, WCVW began serving the high schools while WCVE focused primarily on serving the elementary and parochial schools. Today, WCVW Richmond PBS complements WCVE with PBS and locally-produced programming and covers the Richmond City Council meetings throughout the year.

WHTJ Charlottesville PBS began serving the greater Charlottesville community with a full complement of PBS and locally-produced programming in 1989. A number of WHTJ programs including For The Record, Wilder: An American First and East of The Blue Ridge have gone on to air nationally through the American Public Television Stations consortium.

WCVE Public Radio came under the Community Idea Stations umbrella in 1988 as 88.9 WCVE FM when the Union Theological Seminary decided to sell WRFK-FM, Richmond’s only public radio station. Today, there are three stations in the WCVE Public Radio family – 88.9 WCVE (serving the greater Richmond area), 89.1 WCNV (serving the Northern Neck area) and 90.1 WMVE (serving the Chase City area) – each providing NPR programming and classical and jazz music.