Category: News and Events

To celebrate the fifth anniversary of 103.5 FM The Sun Community Radio and the SPMC’s soon-to-be-ready new radio studio, the Friends of the Sun Prairie Media Center are hosting a live, on-air, twenty-hour trivia contest. Think you know your stuff? Prove it.   Trivia-Palooza will be happening live on 103.5 FM The Sun Community Radio from 9 AM-7 PM on both Saturday, September 26, and Sunday, September 27.   You don’t have to play all 20 hours, but we think you’ll want to. There will be valuable prizes each hour. Plus, whoever answers the most questions correctly over the weekend will be eligible for a — get this — grand prize! Registration to play Trivia-Palooza is now open! You can sign up to play for free right here. You must be registered…

A new year of KIDS-4 is just around the corner! KIDS-4 is an after-school media production program run by the Sun Prairie Media Center designed for SPASD students in 4th through 8th grade. KIDS-4 “crews” start in mid-October and will run through the end of April. KIDS-4 Registration for the 2020-2021 crew year opens on August 1. Registration forms can be found online at www.kids4.tv/kids-4-signup-info. Students enrolled in KIDS-4 work after school once a week in "crews" and their work airs on KIDS-4, a 24-hour public access station available on Charter, TDS, Roku and Apple TV devices, as well as streaming on kids4.tv. Some projects will air on 103.5 The Sun Community Radio. The Media Center understands concerns about COVID-19 during these unusual times. Summer workshops – basically condensed versions…

The Sun Prairie Media Center is happy to announce the launch of a new weekly 10-minute newscast entitled “Sun Prairie In Focus.” The newscast is produced and anchored by former WKOW-TV reporter/anchor and current Sun Prairie resident Dan Presser. The goal of “Sun Prairie In Focus” is to highlight the city’s weekly news and events in an entertaining, easily-digestible format. While the Sun Prairie Media Center is closed, Presser will be anchoring the segments from his house but looks forward to being able to use the SPMC studios soon. Anyone with any story ideas or suggestions is urged to e-mail spmcinfocus@gmail.com. Right now it is the goal for new episodes to be uploaded every Monday afternoon to the Sun Prairie Media Center on-demand player and SPMC app, with frequent playback…

The Sun Prairie Media Center is happy to be collaborating with the Sun Prairie Area School District on a virtual high school graduation, set to be broadcast on June 12 at 6:30 PM, the date and time that the in-person graduation was originally scheduled. Currently the plan is for the broadcast to air on KSUN and its related platforms as well as on the SPASD’s YouTube page. “I’m thrilled that the district approached us with this idea,” said SPMC director Jeff Robbins. “Anything we can do to brighten what has been a tough year for high school seniors, we are happy to do.” The broadcast is set to include class speeches recorded remotely as well as a complete reading of graduates to be accompanied by their senior pictures. The district…

The Sun Prairie Media Center wants to know what you’re up to behind closed doors. As Sun Prairie residents, businesses, students, and city government struggle to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and the massive shutdowns, closures, cancellations, and social distancing that it has brought our way, most of us are looking to move on and forget much about our current situation. But it’s true that in the not-too-distant future, people will want to remember what life was like during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sun Prairie Media Center, home to public access TV channels KSUN, KIDS-4, and the community radio station 103.5 FM The Sun, is hoping that you’ll take time to document what you are doing during the quarantine in the form of a short video. How are you passing…

Love to make movies and videos? Then sign up for SPMC’s summer workshops! These workshops are designed for budding journalists, filmmakers and actors who want a fun and creative way to express themselves. Participants will be introduced to media production in a fun, hands-on learning environment that is conveniently located – we are in the same building as the public library! These courses will inspire kids in a creative atmosphere to learn communication skills they can use for a lifetime. Nothing is impossible when you have a camera, an idea and a group of friends!More information and online registration is available at kids4.tv.Registration opened on April 15. Registration will close on June 19. All workshops will meet at the Sun Prairie Media Center. Discounted rates for SPMC members are available.…

As the governor’s “Safer at Home” order was widely being reported, SPMC director Jeff Robbins made the difficult decision to suspend community access to the Media Center effective on the afternoon of March 23. The KIDS-4 program had already been suspended as of March 13. While this decision pained the entire SPMC staff – recognizing that the Media Center is built on the idea of community access – it quickly became clear that the step was a necessary one to support the governor’s call to eliminate nonessential travel and to limit community spread of COVID-19. Since March 23, staff has been working from home to, among many other tasks, program the channels and help produce programming. Although media outlets are exempt from the Governor’s order, being a community media center…

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the city of Sun Prairie’s commitment to reducing the risk of spread of the virus within city facilities, the Sun Prairie Media Center will have limited staff presence beginning Thursday, March 19. This does not mean the Sun Prairie Media Center is closing. We are working diligently to maintain community access to our studios for our members and city staff as necessary during this time. However, the KIDS-4 program has been suspended until further notice. Even during times of limited physical presence, the SPMC staff will be accessible through mail and e-mail. Please call 608-837-4193 or e-mail staff@sunprairiemediacenter.com or jrobbins@cityofsunprairie.com if you need assistance, are requesting access to the SPMC TV or radio studios, or have any questions. Of course you can continue…

The results for the Best of the Midwest Media Fest Results are in, and programming produced at the SPMC took home 19 awards, including “Best in Show” honors for the program “Bienvenido Wisconsin” and for a short documentary produced by Prairie Phoenix Academy students about student culture at the school. Elsewhere, Tina Paulus-Krause and Mark Gonwa scored “Excellence” awards for the radio programs “Your Leadership Legacy” and “Song Archaeology” respectively. Here is a breakdown of all of the categories: Best in Show Awards: Eric De Vries (Bienvendio Wisconsin -- Best Cultural/Ethnic Program) Terri Simpson's Prairie Phoenix Academy class (Best Program Produced by Youth) Excellence Awards: Mark Gonwa (Song Archaeology) Tina Paulus-Krause (Your Leadership Legacy) Achievement Awards: George Chavez (Making the Connections) Mark Gonwa (Beth Bombara interview) Mark Gonwa (Lou Ferrigno…

Sun Prairie residents will have a lot to decide when they head to the polls on April 7. And the Sun Prairie Media Center is offering extensive programming to help residents make those decisions. Thanks largely to candidate forums hosted by Chris Mertes and Don Hooser of the public-affairs program “Talk of the Town,” KSUN, sunprairiemediacenter.com, and the new Sun Prairie Media Center app will soon be loaded with shows specifically produced to assist voters in making informed choices during the upcoming spring election. “Talk of the Town” will record three candidate forums at the Sun Prairie Media Center in the upcoming weeks: On February 21, District 4 incumbent Mary Polenske and challenger David Virgell will be featured, followed by a March 6 record date for District 3 incumbent Maureen…