Promoting the best source of local coverage in Oregon includes outer space and dinosaurs

Kids of all ages flocked to OCA Media’s booth at the annual Oregon Summerfest to see themselves being chased by a T-Rex or romping with monkeys or flying through space while saying a line like, “OCA Media is out of this world!” 

Paul Zwicker, Executive Director of OCA Media says, “Oregon Summerfest brings out the crowds and it gives us the kind of public visibility that helps us boost viewership and it’s fun for the kids.  They get to see themselves on TV, and they learn a little about technology and how green screens work -- and we get some great station IDs out of it!”

Promoting OCA Media is a top priority for Zwicker, not only because he wants everyone in this village of nearly 12,000 people to know about this great source of local stories, but also because the station’s budget needs the revenue from sponsorships to replace the revenue the Village of Oregon is losing due to the decline in cable TV subscriptions. Like all municipalities with cable television service, a small percentage of cable company gross revenues goes to the municipality as payment for use of city streets.  As cable company revenue declines, so do video service provider (VSP) fees and funding for OCA Media. 

Sponsorships are linked to viewership numbers

Zwicker was out last week knocking on doors, visiting local businesses, and asking for sponsorships.  Thanks to YouTube, Zwicker can point to viewership numbers for specific programs -- statistics that have never been made available by cable companies.  Last year the high school basketball season generated 26,000 views.  OCA Media’s sponsorship packet says it will put a company name on the scoreboard all season for $3,000.  Torhorst Insurance has picked up sponsorship of these games for several years now.   In a surprise twist last year, the company got a lot more exposure than it ever could have imagined.  A buzzer beater shot went viral.  Kids flooded the floor.  ESPN replayed it.  Within a short time, it had over 3 million views.   The soccer scoreboard goes for $1500 a season.  A local contractor decided to sponsor it because his son plays.  He said he wanted to be able to look back in five years, see his son play, and see his business logo right there, too.  

Zwicker’s rounds took him to the local Culvers and HyVee, which just took over a local grocery store.  “We promoted HyVee when it opened,” said Zwicker.  “We were there for the ribbon cutting.  The other day I visited the new manager and said that I wanted to talk with him about sponsorships.  The new manager didn’t know much about OCA Media and an employee who worked at the business prior to the new owner, told him he better jump on board and sponsor OCA since we were ‘the best thing going here in town!  They cover everything!’  That unsolicited comment not only helped lock in the new manager as a new sponsor for our sports programming, but it made me feel like what I am doing both matters and is recognized as important to our community.”

These kinds of moments are gold to Zwicker, who confided that “sometimes it seems no one knows we exist.”  Efforts to market and promote normally take second priority to keeping up with the production schedule. 

In 2022, OCA Media covered over 300 events.  OCA Media regularly covers the village board, parks board, and planning commission live as well as school and community events.  A new village hall opened just last month in a former bank building.  The extensive remodel includes a board room designed with state of the art four-camera video coverage in mind. 

OCA Media’s programming can be viewed on its YouTube channel, which has 2,690 subscribers to date, and cable television, both on TDS and on Charter Spectrum.  OCA Media also posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram extensively to promote school district, chamber of commerce, and village events and information.  From Facebook, viewers are driven to OCA Media’s YouTube page and cable TV channels to watch live coverage of events.  Last year there were 51,000 views of high school sporting events.

TDS is moving area PEG channels to higher numbers

When TDS informed the village last week it was moving Oregon’s cable channels to new channel numbers in the nosebleed section of the line-up, it was a blow.   All Dane County municipalities have been enjoying low channel numbers on TDS in contrast to the high channel numbers assigned to PEG channels on the Charter Spectrum system.  Oregon is on Spectrum channels 983 and 984.  And there has been a reservoir of good will for TDS because it has been carrying the local PEG channels in HD, whereas Charter Spectrum continues to resist upgrading the PEG channels on its systems. 

Zwicker joined others in writing to TDS.  “Please understand that this drastic change with very little notice is both upsetting and financially difficult for our non-profit organization.  This change will force us to reprint our marketing materials for our sponsorship drive that just began. My part-time staff of three operate 2 channels 24/7 and now we have to pull all our station IDs and PSAs and update them in very short order. Will TDS be updating customers on this change? I have not received any such notice at my home or business.”

TDS did listen to the outcries from PEG stations affected by this move and offered to delay the channel move until November 1 to allow stations to better market the move.

On TDS Plus, a cheaper alternative that allows subscribers to select a set of channels, OCA Media’s channels are moving from 34 and 35 to 996 and 997.  On the “legacy” platform, the channels are moving from 1019 and 1020 to 1996 and 1997.  

Legally, there is nothing that can be done about the channel change.  Count it as just another marketing hurdle the communities with TDS will have to surmount, like not having the names of PEG (Public, Education, and Government) access channels on the electronic program guide, which viewers use to select programming.

With few exceptions, neither Charter Spectrum nor TDS list PEG channel names.  For example, both of Oregon’s channels are listed as “Oregon Gov Acc” instead of “Oregon OCA Media – Community” and “Oregon OCA Media – Schools.”  Cable companies also rarely carry the program schedule for PEG channels either, which means that viewers can’t easily compare the offerings on PEG channels to what’s playing on the other channels and PEG programs can’t be recorded. 

Despite the ongoing frustration with the headwinds created by video service providers, the Village of Oregon and many other communities continue to actively program the PEG channels.  “We know cable television is still a vital and integral part of many Oregon residents’ information and entertainment services,” said Zwicker.  According to numbers available from the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, last year 40% of village households subscribed to either Charter Spectrum or TDS.  Zwicker noted that those who subscribe to TDS Plus should know that all programs are recorded and saved for a few days in the TDS system, so OCA Media’s local programming is also being recorded on that platform.

OCA Media is located in Oregon High School

OCA Media was founded in 1985 with the mission to produce and share videos that celebrate the events and stories in the Oregon area.   In 1987, it was organized as a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation. 

Over the years the site of the television station has moved around.  Currently it’s located in room 520 at Oregon High School.   “The support from the school district is extremely important to us financially and being in a high school means we are accessible to students, and we know what’s important to cover for the school district.” 

You’ll see OCA Media at high school football, basketball, volleyball, soccer, and hockey games, middle school and high school choir and band concerts, at school board meetings and other school events.  OCA Media frequently covers performances at the Oregon Performing Arts Center.  “We hire students at $15 an hour and then train them how to cover games and events,” said Zwicker.  A busy student’s schedule doesn’t always fit with the production schedule, however.  “We can cover Friday night football games with three cameras because we have the students to do it.  But on weeknights, it’s another story.”  Sometimes some of the Oregon Community Access Media Board members will lend a hand, but the media center can always use more part-time student and adult help.  

Zwicker notes that adults in the community may not realize they can volunteer at the station.  Not having a public storefront that is easily accessible to the public is a definite drawback from a marketing point of view.

OCA Media keeps quality front and center

Zwicker has had a long career in commercial videography and is serious about maintaining a consistent level of quality in all the programming OCA Media puts out.  To do that, he makes sure that the equipment is up to the task as well as the training.  “We want to make sure that the ball is in the frame,” Zwicker joked, “so one of the ways we support that goal is having larger exterior viewfinders.”  One of OCA Media’s former student part-timers, who worked with the station for four years, is now going to Madison College and wants to go into video production or journalism.  She has come back to visit and reported “her instructor often calls on her to explain something.”  Zwicker notes that her real-world experience with OCA Media has likely put her far ahead of her peers.  “Working at a local media station like ours is a deep dive into the field,” he said.  During her years with OCA Media, she acquired technical skills like how to set up a multi-camera switched production set-up and how to use software to live stream events and she also learned a lot about the aesthetic, like how to frame a shot and how to work with natural light.  Zwicker notes that he is very excited about the high school announcers now working with OCA Media.  “We have a student employee now who sounds like he has been doing it for 20 years.  He wants to do it for his career.”  

OCA Media is fortunate to have a seasoned staff of three part-timers, who are contracted to work no more than 30 hours a week.  Zwicker himself is a part-timer; as is Josiah Wampfler, the station’s programming manager; and Frank Caruso, the social media coordinator.  Producer Dan Sutter works about 20 hours per week.  The team now produces three regular series programs. 

Caruso’s Oregon Life weekly show bottles the essence of a wide range of Oregon residents through interviews with beekeepers to carpenters to a contestant on the Wheel of Fortune.   The pieces are not constrained by time and range from a few minutes to a half hour.  Over the last four years, these heart-warming and fascinating features have attracted a strong following.

Wampfler’s Two Tickets Please, a well-crafted and savvy look at recent feature films, was added to OCA Media’s regular line-up a couple of years ago.  You can find reviews of Barbie and Oppenheimer. 

Zwicker is excited about a new half-hour interview program called Let’s Talk Oregon.  Designed to be timely, the half-hour monthly talk show is divided into two segments with a different guest on each.   The outgoing village board president and the incoming president are on the first show. 

Strengthening Oregon’s sense of community

The Village of Oregon is located just south of the City of Madison and is one of many communities that are located in Dane County.  It’s known for its great schools, safe small-town atmosphere, and high standard of living.  It has also been characterized as a “bedroom community.” Strengthening Oregon’s sense of community is a key strategic goal for the village.  OCA Media is a critical part of that plan. 

“There is a danger that as the village grows and people isolate more and more, either working on a computer at home or going off to work and coming back at the end of the day, that a sense of community will be lost,” said Zwicker.  “OCA Media brings our community closer together.  We help people get to know their neighbors.  Who would have known there is a garlic farm on the edge of town? Or a high school kid who is raising steers?  A lot of people -- 300 -- saw the story about a carpenter in town who builds beautiful furniture.  OCA Media strives to be the hub for village information.  Think about it.  We brought 300 events to residents last year that many would not have had the time to attend.  Parents and relatives who don’t even live here can watch their children play sports or perform on stage. That’s a service I think is really important.  We do hundreds of livestreams every year that make local sports and government meetings accessible to everyone.”

“These pieces that we do -- ribbon cuttings, watching chicken eggs hatch at the high school, celebrating the Fourth of July at the Veterans Park Flag Pavilion, the Summerfest Parade -- a lot of warm and fuzzy things -- are stories that people can’t get any other way.  All of it brings our community closer together.”

OCA Media has reason to be proud of what it has achieved.  And thanks to YouTube analytics, it has hard numbers to talk about with its prospective sponsors. 

How to watch OCA Media:

Charter (SD)
Channels 983 & 984.

TDS Plus (HD)

34 is moving to 996

35 is moving to 997

TDS Legacy - HD

1019 is moving to 1996

1020 is moving to 1997

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ocamediawi/

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmn3YvoEbMYp2k_WvppdDIg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ocamediaoregon/?hl=en

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ocamedia

Capturing those special moments for the Waterloo community

Reading contest winner is videotaped by WLOO getting a special ride in a fire truck.

Now located in the beautiful Solarium building, Waterloo TV has positioned itself in the media landscape to capture special moments and bring Waterloo residents the content they need and want.

by Mary Cardona

It’s been six years since LaRon Davis began working at Waterloo TV, and about a year and a half since he became manager.  From the very start, Davis was impressed with the positive can-do energy.  “It’s an amazing thing that a town this size [population 3,700] has such an active station.  The whole city – from the mayor on down – is very supportive of me and the station.  Everyone understands Waterloo TV is here for our community.   I never have to explain to anyone why we should have this.”

WLOO TV Manager LaRon Davis

Davis manages Waterloo TV part-time and has the help of another part-timer, some volunteers who do it for fun, and a very involved and supportive cable board.  “My oversight board is the best,” said Davis.  “They are one of the best groups of people I have ever worked with.   They understand the goal of the station and they really want the station to be here for residents.”

WLOO Videographer Christopher Weihert

The commitment to the station, which was founded in 1988, is best exemplified by its move in March from city hall to the “glass palace,” the old Perry Printing building now called the Solarium.  Perry Printing at one time was the largest business in Waterloo employing 800 people.   When operations closed for good in 2010, it almost succumbed to the wrecking ball.  Now it houses Waterloo TV and five other small businesses and is a wonderful place for large events. 

“We wanted to expand our services to the community and city hall had limited space,” said Davis.  “The owner of the building offered us a discount as a community organization.”  The new space consists of an office, a room equipped with a green screen that is used as a studio, and a dedicated podcast area.  There are also several shared spaces, including a kitchen and several rooms of various sizes for events.  Davis is “really excited” about the ease with which they will be able to cover events held there.  In June, Waterloo TV recorded an all-day workshop called Uniting for Wisconsin’s Civic Health.  The organizers brought together residents from a four-county area to learn skills to help them create a more connected and “civically healthy” Wisconsin.  Davis was in the process of editing the footage at the time of the interview. 

The new studio is the site of three new series programs. Waterloo Resident Artist highlights local artists and their work.  Another program, Conservationist Landowners of Jefferson County, features landowners who have committed their property toward the conservationist goals of preserving and enhancing native vegetation and watersheds using either bioremediation (using specific plantings and custom alterations of the terrain to restore the land to an ecologically healthy status) or habitat restoration (removing invasive plant species and restoring native plants to the landscape).  The program brings on professionals to explain bioremediation and how it works, and who guide viewers through two ongoing Jefferson County bioremediation projects.  The program also follows two conservationist landowners, one who is restoring an oak savannah/prairie landscape and the other who has just begun restoring the shoreline vegetation on their newly acquired property. 

The third series, Waterloo Gardens, is the result of a cable board discussion.  “The cable board was discussing program ideas,” explained Davis, “and Laura Cotting mentioned that many of her friends enjoy gardening and enjoy sharing tips and talking about their harvests online.  She thought it would make a good show so she asked some friends if they would be interested.”  Four of them now make up a panel that discusses urban gardening.  All of them used to live on a farm and now they have reconnected with their roots in a city setting.  The first show was shot all in-studio.  Now several shows have featured tours of their own gardens and they plan to show how gardens change through the seasons.

The Waterloo Cable TV Regulatory Board: Laura Cotting, Kate Abitz, Paula Jacobs, and Chad Teubert

Waterloo TV has always covered community events and and city meetings, including the city council and school board.  “Our city government strongly believes this coverage benefits our residents and our community,” said Davis.  In recent years it has also added high school sports.  Some kids he’s talked with want to do sports commentary and Davis hopes to do more with the high school drama club.  “I think Waterloo TV could play a role in inspiring kids to be active in the creative arts, using video as an outlet for their own stories.  It may also spark their interest in media as a career.”

Davis also noted that because media has an outsize influence on the lives of youth, schools need to make sure students are learning about it.  Besides consuming media, kids today are also doing a lot of self-production.  “There is so much self-production today -- they can upload and download media of their choice.  It’s a good idea to train them how to make it and how to evaluate it.” 

Last summer Waterloo TV collaborated with the local elementary school to create a two-week class on scriptwriting and TV production.  Davis talked to the class about what to keep in mind when translating their scripts to video.  The completed student recordings were then sent to Davis, who edited them using a “give and take process” with each student via email.  Then all the shows were put together and uploaded to YouTube. Davis was impressed with their abilities.  “These fourth and fifth graders were very smart, and they did a great job,” he said. 

“Everyone today is trying to transition to social media platforms and other digital networks.  We have been working on that a lot over the last year.  We want to get our programming out to residents in several ways so that people have a choice of viewing options.”  Waterloo TV posts completed programs on YouTube and Facebook as WLOOCATV and livestreams meetings.  The city also has two cable channels on the Charter Spectrum system.  A graphical community bulletin board runs on channel 991 and video programs air on 992.  WLOO is also venturing into the radio field.  It has just set up a podcasting studio and Davis would like to start with a bimonthly program. “I thought it would be a good idea to offer podcasting to our community.  Podcasting has become a very popular way that people consume media.”  

Nearly all programs are produced by Waterloo TV, but the station also accepts programs from residents, including church services.  The station transitioned to HD several years back and a digital server, a Leightronix Ultra Nexus, feeds the cable channels.  An old analog modulator, the equipment required to be used by Charter Spectrum to connect with its system, is still holding up after decades of use.

The biggest challenge for Waterloo TV has been to find someone to fill the part-time videographer position.  Davis said, “A lot of creatives like to explore a larger dream.  Bigger productions.  Bigger cities.  I’ve learned that it is sometimes hard to get these people’s attention to invest their time in a small community.  Or when they come, they want to work on their own projects.  A good candidate is hard to find.  Someone who will stick around. I’ve come to just accept this as an ongoing challenge and keep pushing forward.” 

LaRon became interested in media arts after high school.  He attended Madison Media Institute in Madison to pursue a recording/engineering degree, but ultimately received his degree in electrical engineering.  For a while he left the area but returned to Waterloo in 2017 and went into business for himself.  When he decided he wanted to get more into media creation, he came across the opportunity to work part-time at Waterloo TV.  He applied and got the job.  At the time Jesus Burgos was managing the station.  “In the beginning I mostly covered city meetings, but whenever possible Jesus would show me how to work with the programming equipment and when he decided to retire, I was already trained in how to operate the station.  I put in an application and here I am!  I like that I get to do what I like to do, like editing, multitrack audio, and social media marketing, and it provides me with an opportunity to learn more and be an inspiration to others as well.  I also like living in a small community.  It’s not overwhelming.  And I like the people I work with.”

Serving the mission of Waterloo TV has been rewarding for Davis.  “When I’m able to help people in the community learn about the services the city has to offer residents, I really enjoy that.  For example, we did a show featuring a nature walk in the Garman Nature Preserve with the public library.  We thought a lot of people might not know about it.  We received lots of comments on that show.  I really like that Waterloo TV helps people know what is going on and what our community has to offer.”

Davis also talked about how Waterloo TV has been able to be there for some special personal moments that speak volumes about what Waterloo is all about. 

A first-grade girl won a reading contest and was going to get a ride on a fire truck.  Her mom contacted Davis, asking if he could record her atop the truck arriving at her school.  “So, we did, and we also showed the excited school children greeting her and did an interview with her grandmother, who was very proud of her.  It was just one of those small things that happen.  But it was one of those moments.  And if we can shine a light on those special moments so that everyone can see what the community is all about…it is what we are here to do.”