First launched in 2005, The Morning Wave, was Ocean City High School’s own in-house production that aired live during homeroom. The program’s popularity led to OC-TV’s programming being additionally rebroadcast on the PEG TV channels in both Ocean City and Upper Township, NJ. The Morning Wave served as much more than a simple read of the morning announcements. It moved at the same fast pace as the first eleven minutes of news seen during most local newscasts, eventually evolving into the expanded magazine show that exists today. That program, now called Current OC, is the flagship broadcast product of Ocean City High School’s TV/Media production classes. First aired in 2012 as a monthly prime-time magazine show, the Current OC quickly grew to become a weekly backbone within the culture of OCHS from 2016-2021 before reverting to its current monthly format to allow for further expended studio production operations.
On a daily basis, students are in the field gathering ideas and creating program content that airs. Students take on real-world positions just as they would if working at a professional station. The show is staffed by: producers, writers, editors, reporters, photojournalists, anchors, directors, technical directors, stage managers, studio camera operators, prompting assistants, CG operators, and audio engineers. It is produced entirely by students and it is student-staff that determines all program content. What makes our program so unique is the students’ desire to be creative. What you won’t find here, is “talking heads”. We offer an imaginative, highly entertaining & visually appealing news magazine, produced by the students for their peers and communities.
The Billows is the student-run newspaper publication from Ocean City High School that published its first edition in March of 1914. Named after the coastal region and the waves that crash along the beach, the early editions were small booklets. As the co-curricular organization grew, so did its distribution methods. By the mid ’90s The Billows was distributed via local newspaper, where it was included as a section of Ocean City’s Sentinel Ledger. Eventually, Microsoft Publisher files were made accessible online and in 2012 the organization joined forces with the TV/Media program. This digital merger took the publication online without the need to download stories for the first time in its history. Today, interested student journalists write lifestyle features and other articles of interest to them as well as act as MMJ journalists as a part of the television production program. Their content helps spread awareness of happenings in both their school and community as online contributors here at www.oc-tv.org.
Past graduates have gone on to intern and work for: the Philadelphia Phillies Media Dept., MTV, NFL Films, NFL Network, Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, NBC-Universal, USA Network, TV Guide, Philadelphia Inquirer, The Late Show with David Letterman, Screen Gems Studios, WCVB, Beast Editorial, Olympic Broadcasting Services (London 2012), Film Nation Entertainment, Deluxe Entertainment, Comcast SportsNet, Discovery Communications, the Philadelphia Eagles, the San Francisco 49ers, NBC Sports (including the Super Bowl), and countless other organizations/media entities.
TV/Media at Ocean City High School is a part of School Choice. Students from outside districts can pursue their interests in media production by applying in hopes of ultimately attending Ocean City High School to experience state-of-the-art television & film production offerings.
