SUN PRAIRIE MEDIA CENTER SCORES 4 WISCONSIN BROADCASTERS ASSOCIATION AWARDS
On May 2, 2025, The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association handed out their annual awards for broadcasting excellence and Sun Prairie’s own 103.5 FM The Sun Community Radio scored with four awards.
Entering in the “Large Market-Music Format” category, 103.5 FM took home a first for “Best Public Service Announcement” with “Seeking Sports Announcers for Sun Prairie High School Games.”
Elsewhere, Tim Hatfield’s “Sun Prairie Notecard Fundraiser” won second place in the “Best Public Service Announcement” category. The team of Mark Gonwa and James Kademan took home second place in the “Best Live On-Site Broadcast Remote” for their production, “2024 Classic Car Remote.”
In the highly competitive “Best Morning Radio Show” category, John Sheehan and Mike Gomoll of “Seriously Sun Prairie” took home third place for their episodes on “Joey’s Song” and “Livin’ Large.”
Winning these awards is a tremendous honor for SPMC, especially considering 103.5 FM submits in the large market, in direct competition with public and commercial radio stations in Madison and Milwaukee. It is worth nothing that SPMC does not submit awards on the television. Following the WBA eligibility rules, SPMC TV stations are not considered broadcast because cable is the main means of distributing them.
Want to be part of this award-winning team? The Sun Prairie Media Center is currently looking for radio and podcast producers to take advantage of its studio facilities and knowledgeable staff. Anyone interested should call 608-837-4193, email 103.5 FM Production Manager Colin Lessig at clessig@cityofsunprairie.com, or check out sunprairiemediacenter.com, where program ideas can be submitted directly to SPMC staff.
Episodes of 103.5 FM’s award-winning programs can be accessed for on-demand listening by downloading the Sun Prairie Media Center app, available for free from the App Store or Google Play.
SUN PRAIRIE MEDIA CENTER TAKES 15 AWARDS AT MEDIA FEST
Wisconsin Community Media, in conjunction with the Alliance for Community Media’s Midwest Region, has announced their annual award winners for the 2025 Best of the Midwest Media Fest.
The Sun Prairie Media Center is thrilled to announce that no fewer than 15 original shows created for either KSUN NOW, KSUN LIFE, or 103.5 FM The Sun Community Radio are set to receive awards at the fest, which will be held in Pewaukee on Thursday, May 1. The total represents over 13 percent of all awards to be given out at the event.
Included in the 15 awards are six “Excellence” awards: Mark Gonwa’s “Song Archaeology,” which is an hour-long music show hinged on unique themes; “Everybody’s Got a Story,” where host Sharyn Alden interviewed Lisa Smith, the CEO of Girl Scouts of Badgerland, Wisconsin; Dave Watson’s jazz program, “All Jazz;” Rose Daily’s “Sustainable Sun Prairie, which won in the Significant Community Program category for her devotion to educating Sun Prairie residents on how to live more sustainably; and finally, Tim Hatfield took home two Excellence awards. His first was for a Sun Prairie Showcase public service announcement, and his second, “Trees,” won in the short form documentary/feature category.
Three additional programs produced at the SPMC were selected for “Achievement” awards, including Calahan Steed and Ryan Gregory’s high school sports program, “Cap City Sportscast,” Sedrick Page’s “Front Porch: Interview with Briana Che,” and Marc Borland’s “Common Council” city meeting.
Finally, six SPMC shows are taking home “Merit” awards, including “The Traveling cheesehead: Holiday Gift Guide,” “Marc Madness Sports,” “Declaration of Indiependence,” “Library Expansion Series,” “Inside Your City,” and “The Allen and DJ Show.”
The SPMC staff is happy for our award winners, and they are grateful for them and all our producers, regardless if they entered a program to WCM or not, who create exceptional content for us, for Sun Prairie, and beyond.
The SPMC staff also wants to thank the Friends of Sun Prairie Media Center group for their continued support and for paying the entry fees so producers could enter the judging process with no cost out of pocket.
To be eligible for an award, a program must have been produced and/or distributed through the facilities of a community media center and premiered on a cable access channel, community radio station, or its website for the 2024 calendar year.
Want to be an award-winning community media producer? The Sun Prairie Media Center is currently looking for producers to take advantage of its awesome studio facilities and excellent staff. Anyone interested should call 608-837-4193 or check out sunprairiemediacenter.com, where program ideas can be submitted directly to SPMC staff.
Episodes of SPMC’s award-winning programs, and all our shows, can be accessed by going to sunprairiemediacenter.com, or by downloading the Sun Prairie Media Center app, available for free from the App Store or Google Play.
More information on Wisconsin Community Media and the Media Fest can be found at wisconsincommunitymedia.com.