Join us to collaborate, educate, advocate,
and share resources to build strong media centers
and create responsive local programming for Wisconsin communities.
Join Wisconsin Community Media
Media Center Memberships
Media centers with cable access channels and LPFM radio stations operating in Wisconsin are eligible to become “Station Members.” Memberships include all people related to your organization. Member Stations designate a “primary contact” and everyone else is called an “Associate Member.” Associate Members include all media center staff (volunteer and paid), commission members, city and school officials, and producers who pay a membership fee to the station. Station membership fees are on a sliding scale based on the station budget.
LPFM stations join at a discounted rate the first two years of membership - $100 for the first year, $150 for the second year.
Any Station or Associate Member may be elected to the 11-member board of directors for a three-year term. Each Station Member gets one vote in board elections and matters that come before a membership meeting.
2024 Station Member Rates
Stations with a budget under $50,000 - $230
Stations with a budget between $50,000 & $99,999 - $275
Stations with a budget between $100,000 & $200,000 - $310
Stations with a budget over $200,000 - $350
PDF with rates
Membership Forms
New Members • Renewing Members for 2024
New Members: Half-year station memberships are available between July and October and run through March. If you join after October, you join at the full year membership rate and receive a 17 month membership.
Independent Producers - $45
Annual Independent Producer memberships are $45 and they renew on your anniversary date. We welcome producers working in video or radio and who are distributing their programming through community media centers or LPFM radio stations to join as independent producers. A special perk of this level of membership is the ability to use WCM's MediaFire subscription to distribute shows to all WCM member centers throughout Wisconsin with one upload! Independent Producers may also serve on committees.
New and Renewing Independent Producers Form
Friend Memberships - $15
Would you like to support our mission? Annual Friend memberships are $15 and they renew on your anniversary date. We welcome everyone to become a friend, except those who qualify to be station members! Besides helping us to create more local programming, Friends receive discounts on all WCM-sponsored events and may serve on committees. At this time, Friend memberships are not tax-deductible. WCM is a 501(c)(6) non-profit.
Emeritus Memberships - $35
You may become an Emeritus member if you formerly worked at a media access center as a staff person or volunteer and you are nominated by either a WCM member station or by the WCM Board of Directors in recognition of dedicated years of service to community television. The year of your nomination, the membership fee is waived. In succeeding years, the fee is $35. Emeritus members have special privileges unlike any other member. As an individual (as opposed to representing a media center), they are able to serve on the Board of Directors and on committees as full voting members. If elected, an Emeritus Member serves a one-year term. When Station Members vote, Emeritus Members in good standing get one vote, too.
Renew your Emeritus Membership
Mission
“Uniting to collaborate, educate, advocate and share resources to build strong media centers and responsive local programming for Wisconsin communities.”
Benefits
WCM offers its member Stations (and Associates), Independent Producers, Friends, and Emeriti the following benefits:
Annual conference. WCM holds a two-day conference each year co-sponsored by the Midwest Region of the Alliance for Community Media. This year the conference is in Eau Claire, Wis. on May 16 & 17. The conference covers video production, the use of social media, media law and regulation, media center management, and future trends in the field. Members receive a substantial discount.
Fall Workshop. WCM holds either a one-day workshop at a community television station or a Legislative Day at the capitol. Members receive a discount.
Best of the Midwest Media Fest. Our annual Media Fest gives professional and amateur community television and radio producers a chance to showcase their programs and receive valuable feedback. The Fest is open to producers in a nine-state area: Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, North and South Dakota, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. Producers can receive trophies, plaques, and certificates. WCM members receive a discount on entry fees. All programming produced and/or distributed through a member station may be entered at the member rate. The deadline to enter is in January. In 2023, the Fest Show is being held on Thursday, May 4 in Madison at the Park Hotel on the Capitol Square on during our two-day conference.
Program sharing. WCM’s program sharing system is a constantly evolving digital library of programs produced by our member media centers and independent producers. Through WCM File Share, a robust digital system established and managed by WCM, our members share the great programming they have produced with our member centers around the state, who play them on their various distribution channels.
Lobbying. WCM lobbies the federal government, state legislature and state agencies on behalf of Public, Education, and Government Cable Access Television and assists members with issues related to carriage on cable systems. Our positions include: 1) Carriage in HD, if programs are produced in HD; 2) Relief from paying for transmission lines and equipment; 3) Enforcement provisions that ensure cable companies are responsive. During the 2023 – 2024 session on the federal level WCM is supporting the Protecting Community Television Act and opposing HR 3557, which includes a de facto end to local cable franchising and seriously erode local government’s ability to control the right of way.
ZoomChats. Members are invited to attend casual discussions held monthly over Zoom.
Member Library. Members have access to our online library, which contains various legal, regulatory, and management materials. WCM also regularly records and archives our conference sessions for view by members.
Monthly newsletters. Members receive the monthly WCM Member Update with organizational and member updates as well as articles of interest on PEG media, production, and related topics. WCM’s Your Monthly Community News is designed to promote our member media centers and producers, our major events, our policy positions, and important developments in the field. Your Monthly Community News is emailed to a large list of community media makers, supporters, stakeholders, and legislators.
Social media presence. WCM is active on Facebook and Instagram and promotes the work of our member stations and producers to the public.
Information and referral. Do you have a question? WCM will answer your PEG-related questions, connect you with another member who can, or refer you to an outside source.
Media Center Public Search Tool. WCM believes one of the best ways to support our member media centers is to promote their use. The public can use our home page search button to find and contact a member media center near them. Members have access to the full database of information we have on media centers.
Member Surveys. WCM now has an ongoing survey in the form of member station profiles. These profiles contain all the basic information you might want to know about other community media centers in the state. Targeted surveys gauge member interest in conference topics, organizational priorities, and community media issues. WCM also conducts salary surveys.
Member Forums and Interest Groups. Members can reach the entire membership with a single message uploaded to the Forum. Members talk about technical and management issues, sell equipment, and promote uploaded programs. Smaller communication groups have been organized into Circles — listservs, each headed by one of our eleven board members.
Connections to national community television organizations. WCM enjoys close relationships with the national and Midwest Region of the Alliance for Community Media, the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, and the League of Wisconsin Municipalities.
Collaboration. WCM is headed by an 11-member elected Board of Directors. The work of the board is done through our committees — Public Policy, Conferences, Marketing, Communications & Resources, and Membership. Through WCM, our 52 member stations act together to protect and grow community television. As a member of WCM, you will be first to know when a situation is developing, and you will be a valuable part of the group that takes action together.
Building a strong local media. While this list details how you as a producer and your media center will benefit, the best benefit may be knowing you are helping to build a strong local media network that serves everyone.
We hope you will join us!
