Category: News and Events

As we move into April, KIDS-4 crew will get ready to wrap up for the crew year. The final live show for Thursday Night Live (TNL) will take place on Thursday, April 11 at 6:30pm. The crews will not meet during Spring Break, the week of April 15-18. In addition, the last week of crew will take place during the week of April 22-25. Finally, the end of the year Pizza Party is set for May 8 and this event is for KIDS-4 kids who have recorded an event outside of crew time. Even though the crew year is set to wrap up soon, the kids can still stay involved over the summer months by participating in the Summer Workshops and/or they can continue to record events around the community…

The city of Sun Prairie is considering producing a video documentary concerning the events of July 10, 2018. The documentary would cover the events between the July 10 explosion and the November 2018 reopening of Main Street. The purpose of the documentary would be to capture the stories from residents most directly impacted by the explosion, from public safety workers and city employees, to displaced residents, business owners, and those who directed relief efforts. The documentary also hopes to encapsulate the resiliency of Sun Prairie and its residents, a fact perhaps represented locally by the #SunPrairieStrong movement. Not included in the documentary will be stories exclusive to any criminal or civil investigations spawned by the explosion. The Sun Prairie Media Center is planning to collect interviews and other footage to…

The Sun Prairie Media Center and its public-affairs program “Talk of the Town” will be presenting a live forum among SPASD school board candidates. The debate will take place in the Council Chambers at Sun Prairie City Hall beginning at 6 PM on Friday, March 22. The public is welcome to attend although there is not expected to be time for audience questions. Five of the six school board candidates are scheduled to be present: incumbents Caren Diedrich, Dave Hoekstra, and Steve Schroeder, as well as challengers Montie Bowie and Bob Jokisch. Tim Fandek is unavailable to attend the forum. “Talk of the Town” co-hosts Don Hooser and Chris Mertes will moderate the debate. The debate carries on The Sun Prairie Media Center and “Talk of the Town”’s mutual mission…

Are you new to town? Have you been so consumed with work, school, family, Celebrity Big Brother, whatever, that you really don't feel you know that much about what the Sun Media Center does? Want to get some free hands-on experience behind the camera, in front of the camera, and in front of the microphone? The SPMC is the best place in town to share your creativity and your passion with friends, family, the city, even the world. And there is no better time to learn more about the Media Center then our Free Media Maker Labs for Kids and Adults held in conjunction with the Sun Prairie Public Library.Be a Radio DJ! Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a radio disc jockey? Did you…

The Sun Prairie Media Center is happy to announce that effective immediately, it is increasing the number of city meetings that it is covering on its main TV channel KSUN. KSUN has been providing live coverage of the following meetings for years: Common Council, Committee of the Whole, Finance Committee, Personnel Committee, Plan Commission, Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee, and Public Works Committee. Starting in January, the Media Center is adding the following meetings to its broadcast schedule: Business Improvement District, Library Board, Transit Commission, Tourism Commission, Parks Rec and Forestry Commission, Historical Library and Museum Board, Police and Fire Commission, Sun Prairie Utilities Commission, Alcohol License Review Board, and Sexual Offender Residency Board. “This expansion of meeting coverage came from discussions we’ve had with city administrator Aaron Oppenheimer and Mayor…

Did you know that the Apple TV service has, according to a study by research firm eMarketer, 21.3 million subscribers? If you are one of those subscribers, you can now use your Apple TV device to live stream KSUN and KIDS-4 as well as get tons of great on demand content created locally at the Sun Prairie Media Center! This comes hot on the heels of last month’s announcement that KSUN and KIDS-4 streaming and programming is now available on all Roku devices as well, which claims 38.9 million subscribers, according to the same eMarketer research. “In order to attract member producers and end users to our channels, it basically breaks down into two main areas, content and distribution,” said SPMC director Jeff Robbins. “Content isn’t an issue because we…

Now it is time to turn our attention to Sun Prairie Cardinals boys’ and girls’ varsity hoops as they get set to tip off their 2018-2019 seasons! All varsity basketball games are scheduled to be broadcast, with home games seen live on KSUN Charter cable channel 983, TDS cable channels 13 and 1013, streamed live at sunprairiemediacenter.com, and available on the KSUN Roku Channel. Home and away games will also be broadcast live on 103.5 The Sun Community Radio. The first 103.5 FM radio broadcast of the 2018-2019 season will be Friday, November 16, as the girls’ varsity team visits Madison Memorial. All games are currently scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM. Following the live broadcasts, all boys’ and girls’ home games will be made available for on demand viewing…

Is the return of football enough to ease the sting of summer ending? We don't know for sure, but the folks who run high school football are nice enough to let us eat our cake and have it too with no fewer than three Cardinal football games this summer (i.e., before high school classes start). The Sun Prairie Media Center is pleased to announce that KSUN, sunprairiemediacenter.com, and 103.5 FM The Sun Community Radio will once again be the places to tune to for live coverage of home AND away Sun Prairie Cardinals high school football games this fall. All home games will be broadcast live on KSUN (Charter cable channel 983 and TDS channels 13 and 1013), streamed on sunprairiemediacenter.com, and aired on 103.5 The Sun Community Radio. Away…

On Saturday, August 11, the Sun Prairie Media Center hosted several of its member producers at the first annual Sun Prairie Media Center Volunteer Appreciation Picnic. The private event preceded the public 103.5 FM Summer Bash that featured live music from Madpolecats and the Kelsey Miles Band. The Media Center previously honored an individual producer at the annual Sun Prairie Public Library Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon, but SPMC staff thought it was time to branch out. "Being part of the annual library event was great and we were very grateful that Svetha and her staff always made us feel welcome," said SPMC director Jeff Robbins. "But with the numbers of our volunteers growing, we felt it was appropriate to give our members their own ceremony which would allow us to properly…

Sun Prairie City Administrator Aaron Oppenheimer and Managing Editor of the Star Chris Mertes ended their summer on a high note as they marked 100 episodes of their KSUN TV original production “Inside Your City with Aaron and Chris.” Aaron and Chris began their illustrious TV hosting career together in May of 2014. On their first episode, they featured an interview with then-Sun Prairie Public Library director Tracy Herold. Since then they have interviewed dozens of city employees, business leaders, local service group leaders, and others. The featured guest on the 100th episode of “Inside Your City” of Tim Semmann, city of Sun Prairie Planning Director. While Mertes had hosted a KSUN show with Don Hooser for several years prior to 2014, “Inside Your City” was Aaron Oppenheimer’s first regular…