Hailing from one of the most rapidly-growing communities in Wisconsin, the Sun Prairie Media Center’s staff of four full-time employees manages and oversee two cablecast channels, KSUN and KIDS-4, as well as their highly-respected LPFM radio station 103.5 The Sun. Sun Prairie Media Center’s KSUN channel boasts a wide assortment of local origination programming including a weekly movie review program, a weekly local newscast, regular interviews with city staff and council members, high school sports, and a wide range of governmental meetings. One spot up the dial, the KIDS-4 channel is the only local access channel in the country entirely devoted to children.
KSUN
KSUN in Sun Prairie is widely accessible and open to the community with shows produced and coordinated by many different local volunteers. “The amount of local programs being done at the SPMC is what attracted me to this job in the first place,” says SPMC director Jeff Robbins. “When I discovered that the SPMC was producing all of these cool hyperlocal shows I knew it would be a great place to be. I’m proud to say that in my time we’ve greatly increased our local production. Great shows we’ve launched in the last year or so include Sun Prairie News, our weekly newscast, Roundtable Sun Prairie, which is like ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption but with local topics, and The Parenting Game, which strives to help mom and dad be better parents.” KSUN is on Spectrum Channel 983 in their section of Dane County as well as on TDS Channel 13 and 1013 in HD. KSUN is also available on Roku and Apple TV devices, streaming online at sunprairiemediacenter.com and on their own app, free to download from the App Store and Google Play.
KIDS-4
KIDS-4 – TV for kids, by kids – is the most unique aspect of the Sun Prairie Media Center. The 24-hour channel completely consists of programming produced by students who are enrolled in the SPMC’s KIDS-4 after school program. The SPMC staff provides media literacy training and technical support to their students, who attend classes (“crews”) held at the SPMC after school four days a week. The kids ----- who typically range in age from fourth through eighth grade -- meet weekly from October to April and are taught the basics of production, including camera operation, sound, lighting, directing, animation, and yes, even being on-camera, eventually working their way up to assisting with the production of Thursday Night Live, KIDS-4’s own live weekly program. “KIDS-4 is really a remarkable program,” said Robbins. “It was created back in the 70s to make sure that kids had access to creating content. Being involved in that creation can’t help but lead to greater understanding of how media professionals compose their messages. Fast-forward 40 years and all of us – not just kids – are constantly bombarded with media messages. KIDS-4 has never been more relevant than it is today.” KIDS-4 is available on Spectrum Channel 984 and TDS Channel 14 and 1014 in HD and streams everywhere that KSUN does.
103.5 FM The Sun Community Radio
103.5 FM The Sun Community Radio hit the airwaves in the summer of 2015 providing a new and exciting medium for both the station’s listeners and the station’s content creators. The Sun’s lineup consists of dozens of locally-produced programs such as Take Immediate Cover, Song Archaeology, Council Playback, Good Morning Sun Prairie, Inside Sun Prairie Police, and many more. The Sun also ventures out into the community to bring live interviews and commentary from local events such as Corn Fest, Strawberry Fest, and many others. “The community aspect is my favorite part of the radio station,” said Robbins. “We used to have booths at local events and frankly not have much to do. Now we do live broadcasts and that not only makes it more fun for our staff and volunteers to be at the event, but it makes event attendees more interested in checking us out. Broadcasting live is a big draw.” The Sun earns dozens of awards for their programming annually. You can hear 103.5 FM The Sun online at sunprairiemediacenter.com or at tunein.com or on the radio waves if you happen to be in the area.
Local Sports Coverage
Sun Prairie is proud of the quality of its high school athletics, and the Sun Prairie Media Center is there to bring live coverage of sporting events on both KSUN and 103.5 FM The Sun. The SPMC has covered everything from wrestling to volleyball, but football, baseball, basketball, softball, and hockey are the sports covered most regularly. The SPMC has traveled the state bringing sports coverage back to the citizens of Sun Prairie including regular season, playoffs, and other WIAA events though the generous contributions of its volunteer announcers and business sponsors. “Sports coverage is probably our most popular programming,” said Robbins. “We’re excited for the fall of 2022 when we will have TWO high schools with full athletic programs to begin covering.”
Sun Prairie Media Center Staff and Commission
The Sun Prairie Media Center is guided by their Executive Director Jeff Robbins. Jeff is a veteran of the television industry working for different broadcast stations in the Madison area before starting with the SPMC in 2014. Alongside Jeff are two veteran “Production Managers”: Rachel Packard recently celebrated 20 years at the SPMC, Mara Trusty joined up in 2010, and Colin Lessig came onboard in 2019. All of the staff work with volunteers, city staff, and KIDS-4 students to cover the growing community of Sun Prairie the best they can. The staff is assisted by the Sun Prairie Media Center Commission., a seven-member advisory board featuring involved community members, a rotating City Council member as well as Wisconsin State Representative Gary Hebl.
Where to Find the Sun Prairie Media Center
The Sun Prairie Media Center is located within the Sun Prairie Public Library building at 1350 Linnerud Drive in Sun Prairie. KSUN can be found on Spectrum Cable 983 and TDS 13/1013, online at www.SunPrairieMediaCenter.com and streaming on Roku and Apple TV devices, online at sunprairiemediacenter.com and on their own app, free to download from the App Store and Google Play. KIDS-4 can be found on Spectrum Cable 984 as well as TDS on 14/1014 and online at www.kids4.tv. Those of you wanting to check out the award winning programming on 103.5 FM The Sun can venture over to the Sun Prairie area and tune to 103.5 FM or check out the live stream at www.SunPrairieMediaCenter.com or tunein.com.
