Seven LPFM radio stations and one full-power AM radio station all managed by WCM media center members will continue to serve their communities for another eight years. The FCC has recently renewed all of their broadcast licenses.
The seven low-power FM (LPFM) radio stations are based in Eau Claire, Monona, Oshkosh, Rice Lake, Stevens Point, Sun Prairie and Waupaca. All are operated by media centers that also program PEG (public, education, and government access) cable television channels as well as other media outlets. Baraboo Broadcasting manages PEG cable channels for the City of Baraboo as well as a the AM station.
By law, these hyper-local LPFM radio stations must not operate at more than 100 watts, but low power does not mean low impact!
Like their sister PEG cable TV channels, these radio stations carry live government meetings, sports and local events, in addition to offering their community members a voice. “If someone calls and says ‘I want to learn how to make a radio show and get on the air,’ we help them make that happen, free of charge,” said Jake Timm, Oshkosh Media Operations Coordinator for the City of Oshkosh. “On Oshkosh FM 101.9 we also offer live government meetings, municipal updates and an eclectic mix of music you’re unlikely to find anywhere else,” said Timm, who is also the President of the WCM Board of Directors.
Josh Werner, City of Waupaca IT & Community Media Director, said that “Waupaca Radio fm96.3’s goal is to connect the citizens of the Waupaca area with the activities of their government and community. We do this by airing a lot of entertainment programming with small nuggets of information related to city government and our community mixed in every hour.” Josh notes that residents contribute to the line-up, too. “We’re proud to support Wisconsin-based musicians with a two-hour local music block every weeknight,” said Josh.
Just down the road on Highway 10, WSNP-LP in Stevens Point offers its own mix of government and unique local programming. “One of the benefits residents get from being in the WSNP-LP listening area,” said John Quirk, Community Media Manager for the City of Stevens Point, “is having the chance to listen to local government meetings and the mayor and other city officials safely – a big consideration now – either on their car radio or at home. Sure, we also play great music with no commercials, but that's a secondary benefit that is really there to help entice people to tune in regularly -- like ranch dip in a party tray -- it's only there to get you to eat the broccoli!”
With the pandemic shutting down so many events for high school students including graduation, 2020 Senior Class Officers at Monona Grove High School put WVMO radio to good use. “They recorded ‘shout-outs’ to each of the graduating students in May of 2020 and we played those throughout the week leading up to graduation. I was very pleased we could help these kids celebrate their achievement,” said Will Nimmow, Director of Monona Community Media. “We also have a student here going through the Youth Apprenticeship Program sponsored by the Dane County Youth Consortium. She’s getting experience in radio and doing PSA voice-overs for us.”
“WCM believes that strong media centers build strong communities,” said Jake. “Our mission, whether we do it using PEG cable TV, online streaming, an over-the-top channel, or with LFPM radio, is to keep our community informed and inspire them to get involved. Our commercial-free LPFM stations are an important staple in their respective communities, and a prime example of what makes community media so exciting.”
