Greg Zabolocky operates a street level camera during parade coverage.
Although Sheboygan is rated the #1 place to go surfing on the Great Lakes, that’s not the kind of surfing we’re encouraging you to do this month (It’s still too cold!). WCM wants you to surf on over to one of WSCS Sheboygan’s digital platforms and take a look at all of their great work! We had a chance to chat with Scott Mealiff, WSCS’s director, and he had a lot to tell us about his community media center, the City of Sheboygan, and more.
WSCS, like many Wisconsin PEG cable access stations, got its start around 1982. Cable TV service had come to the City of Sheboygan just the year before. The cable company at that time established the access channel solely for the community’s use. From 1982 to 1997, the cable company continued to operate WSCS. Then, in 1997, the City of Sheboygan took control of the channel and has managed it ever since.
WSCS’ studios have been housed at the UW-Green Bay Sheboygan campus since that time. Scott now manages WSCS as part of the City IT department and states that WSCS is an integral part of Sheboygan’s communications toolbox. “Historically, WSCS hasn’t been the first thing that staff and residents go to,” says Scott, “But the pandemic has shifted that. WSCS now covers all public meetings. Luckily, about six months before the pandemic started we upgraded a lot of our systems to make live streaming possible.”
Other than providing extensive government meeting coverage, WSCS helps a handful of local non-profits produce programming and many churches submit their weekly services to the channel. “Some of those churches have really stepped up their production levels,” Scott says. “People like to watch them on the cable channel and miss then if they aren’t there.”
Scott reports that there has been lots of positive feedback from the community during the pandemic about the station’s programming as well. He says, “The occasions that create the most pride for me as a staff member are when I get a phone call or email thanking me and expressing appreciation.” He recalls especially a man who was frustrated with some transmission issues that WSCS was having and went to bat for WSCS at a Finance Committee meeting to ask that money be put back in WSCS’ budget to fix the issue. The man also read a nice letter expressing his appreciation for WSCS at a Council meeting. Scott says, “Ultimately, we got the money for the upgrade to fiber and cut over to the new system on National Community Media Day in 2019 -- October 20th.”
Scott has worked for WSCS since 2000 and took over as director in 2016. He has a staff of several part- time employees, including Production Technician Robert Ingraham. Robert does scheduling and production, and there are about a half-dozen more part-timers that help WSCS by recording programming for the channel.
Scott enjoys working in community media and says he also enjoys “working with WCM and colleagues who are facing the same issues, whether they be technical or otherwise. There is a broad sense of being in this together and sharing of techniques and ideas. If you reach out to members, they are more than happy to share. There is not a sense of rivalry and competition. That does not exist - it’s the opposite.”
We think so too, Scott!
Take a minute to check out all that WSCS has to offer. Visit them online at WSCSsheboygan.com, or follow them on YouTube and Facebook. If you’re in the Sheboygan area, they’re on Spectrum channel 990. Hang ten!
