Eau Claire’s Valley Media Works and Converge Radio have combined to form Converge Media! The new collaboration brings together local radio station 101.9 and the two PEG (Public, Education, and Government) cable television channels, 993 and 994, on the Charter Spectrum system that have long been managed as a community channel and a government access channel.
The part-time executive director of Converge Media, Cullen Ryan, is very excited about the collaboration, which will ultimately bring together a very active arts community in Eau Claire with the PEG center’s mission to cover local government and community issues. “Eau Claire is a hotbed of artists -- including famous ones,” said Ryan. “There’s an incredible amount of talent here. With Converge Media, we have the ability to serve the community and showcase the arts. I’m really excited about that.”
Converge Media is led by an eleven-member board of directors that includes two members of the former Valley Media Works Board, local musicians, musical event planners, radio managers and technicians. Ryan met all of them after becoming involved in the open mike comedy scene at The Plus in Eau Claire when he moved here in 2012. What started out as just a few people walking up to the mike on a Wednesday night blossomed into 30 or 40 people performing sets by 2015. Ryan was the driving force. He brought talent to The Plus from around the region, then started booking national acts. Soon he was working with Converge Radio to bring bands to The Plus that Converge Radio would record.
In 2020 there was a major setback. The UW-Eau Claire Foundation, which held the operating license for Converge Radio on 99.9 (WDRK-FM), decided to sell the station to the Family Radio Network, a Christian network based in Appleton. The station would no longer offer space to local performances. Ryan and Ed Hudgins, a local arts enthusiast, started hunting for an alternative broadcast opportunity and discovered that Valley Media Works was ready to give up management of its low power radio station, 101.9.
Valley Media Works is one of the oldest PEG media centers in the state, for a long time calling itself Chippewa Valley Community Television. The media center had a history of success, with robust public access services for the community and a strong relationship with local government. But due to passage of 2007 Wisconsin Act 42, dedicated PEG funding ended in 2011 and the center lost more than half of its annual budget. The PEG center was forced to downsize and drastically shrink its services to the community. In the ensuing years, the center had difficulties finding a sustainable model. Then in 2019, it hit a brick wall. Nearly all its paid staff resigned and eventually in 2020, both the city and the county pulled their contracts with the organization. Valley Media Works moved out of its studio space at Banbury Place and the Board of Directors struggled to maintain services with volunteers.
Converge Media came out of the ashes. The new non-profit has already delivered on creating a new space on local radio for fresh and homegrown music and comedy and is now working on saving the once thriving local venue for video production and community programming.
“I am really thrilled to have the calibre of people we have on the board of directors,” said Ryan. “Ed Hudgins, the president of our board, has been involved in the local music and arts scene for a long time and has so many great ideas. Lindsey Quinnes is our secretary. She also works for a local community arts publication and manages its retail store, called Volume One. It's our local free arts magazine. Scott Morfitt formerly managed Converge Radio and brings a wealth of experience. Karen Verlander is a media specialist with the Blue Ox Music Festival. Jerrika Mighelle is a local musician. Adam Accola, our vice-president, is also our ‘resident genius’ and brings a lot of creativity and organizational ability to the mix. Brad Murphy is in charge of the technical aspects of running a radio station. Chris Schlicher, a longtime volunteer with Valley Media Works, understands the history of community television in Eau Claire. Ron Viste was the last manager of Valley Media Works and brings his experience from that world to our board. The newest member is AJ Moen, who works at the Pablo Center at the Confluence where the radio station has its studio.”
Today, Converge Media offers a mix of music, comedy, and government meetings including live coverage of Eau Claire School Board meetings, Eau Claire City Council, and the Eau Claire County Board. Ryan says a lot of decisions still need to be made about the cable television side of the collaboration. Right now, the cable channels carry coverage of government meetings and schedule information and people can view meetings on-demand through the Valley Media Works website.
Finding more funding for Converge Media is at the top of the list. “We want to be accessible to the public,” said Ryan. “And we need more funding to re-energize the video services Valley Media Works once offered.” The Converge Media Board hopes that the Pablo Center at the Confluence, a major downtown arts and entertainment center that is already providing space to the radio station, may also support the video aspect of its mission. “The Pablo Center is a wonderful arts facility and is central to the arts scene,” said Ryan. “Having its support for our full mission would be such a win for the whole community.”
While the Converge Media Board of Directors may not know yet what the future holds for this non-profit local television and radio collaboration, every one of them is determined to deliver to Eau Claire, and the whole region, the kind of media coverage that reflects the creativity, talent and dynamism of its residents.
