Category: News and Events

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the city of Sun Prairie’s commitment to reducing the risk of spread of the virus within city facilities, the Sun Prairie Media Center will have limited staff presence beginning Thursday, March 19. This does not mean the Sun Prairie Media Center is closing. We are working diligently to maintain community access to our studios for our members and city staff as necessary during this time. However, the KIDS-4 program has been suspended until further notice. Even during times of limited physical presence, the SPMC staff will be accessible through mail and e-mail. Please call 608-837-4193 or e-mail staff@sunprairiemediacenter.com or jrobbins@cityofsunprairie.com if you need assistance, are requesting access to the SPMC TV or radio studios, or have any questions. Of course you can continue…

The results for the Best of the Midwest Media Fest Results are in, and programming produced at the SPMC took home 19 awards, including “Best in Show” honors for the program “Bienvenido Wisconsin” and for a short documentary produced by Prairie Phoenix Academy students about student culture at the school. Elsewhere, Tina Paulus-Krause and Mark Gonwa scored “Excellence” awards for the radio programs “Your Leadership Legacy” and “Song Archaeology” respectively. Here is a breakdown of all of the categories: Best in Show Awards: Eric De Vries (Bienvendio Wisconsin -- Best Cultural/Ethnic Program) Terri Simpson's Prairie Phoenix Academy class (Best Program Produced by Youth) Excellence Awards: Mark Gonwa (Song Archaeology) Tina Paulus-Krause (Your Leadership Legacy) Achievement Awards: George Chavez (Making the Connections) Mark Gonwa (Beth Bombara interview) Mark Gonwa (Lou Ferrigno…

Sun Prairie residents will have a lot to decide when they head to the polls on April 7. And the Sun Prairie Media Center is offering extensive programming to help residents make those decisions. Thanks largely to candidate forums hosted by Chris Mertes and Don Hooser of the public-affairs program “Talk of the Town,” KSUN, sunprairiemediacenter.com, and the new Sun Prairie Media Center app will soon be loaded with shows specifically produced to assist voters in making informed choices during the upcoming spring election. “Talk of the Town” will record three candidate forums at the Sun Prairie Media Center in the upcoming weeks: On February 21, District 4 incumbent Mary Polenske and challenger David Virgell will be featured, followed by a March 6 record date for District 3 incumbent Maureen…

Another Groundhog Day in Sun Prairie has come and gone. Thanks to the loyal volunteers at The SUN and KIDS-4, we will have memories from this event. Bill Baker and Lisa Wolf provided a live broadcast of the event on The SUN, 103.5FM starting at 6:30am. Along with airing the prognostication event they also provided music and entertainment before and after it occurred. KIDS-4 crewmembers Logan, Griffin and Kevin also got up bright and early to brave the cold weather on February 2 and headed down to Cannery Square to see what Jimmy had in mind for Groundhog Day 2020. This year marked the 72nd anniversary of the Groundhog Prognostication in Sun Prairie. In case you missed it, Jimmy communicated with Mayor Esser that we will see six more weeks…

Ever since “The Star” was nice enough to name me as one of its “20 to Watch” for this year, I’ve felt a tinge of anxiety. After all, 2019 was so busy at the Sun Prairie Media Center, how will 2020 ever compete? Let’s take a brief look back on some of our highlights from the last year of the decade: January: After a request from the mayor and city administrator, the SPMC greatly increased the number of city meetings that it broadcast live. After adding nearly every board and commission meeting to our schedule, our meeting coverage expanded by 123 percent, keeping us busy all year and giving Sun Prairie residents a more complete and transparent look at its government in action. February: KIDS-4 and 103.5 FM The Sun…

The Sun Prairie Media Center, home to TV channels KSUN, KIDS-4, and 103.5 FM The Sun Community Radio, is pleased to announce the launch of a brand-new, free, all-inclusive app for all mobile devices. The app is available to download now from the App Store and Google Play. Unlike the Media Center’s previous app that focused on audio content only, this new app includes both video and audio programming. Once the app is downloaded, users have access to live streams of KSUN, KIDS-4, and 103.5 FM The Sun Community Radio. Users can also access literally hundreds of KSUN programs, City of Sun Prairie meetings, SPHS sports productions, SPASD school board meetings, and dozens and dozens of podcasts recorded at the 103.5 FM The Sun Community Radio studios underwritten by the…

All 57 students enrolled in the Sun Prairie Media Center’s unique KIDS-4 program are sporting brand new KIDS-4 shirts thanks to a generous donation from the Bank of Sun Prairie! This the third year in a row that the cost of the shirts have been covered by local organizations. Previous donors included the Optimist Club and Titley and Associates, an Allstate Agency. The design of the shirt is unique as each year students enrolled in KIDS-4 submit their ideas for a T-shirt design, with the winning design picked by other kids in the program. This year’s winner is Abby Packard, a sixth grader who has participated in KIDS-4 since she was in 4th grade. After some minor design modifications, the shirts were printed at Ameriprint Apparel, located in Sun Prairie.…

It may be cold outside, but the action on the hardwood will be heating up beginning this week as the Sun Prairie Cardinal boys’ and girls’ varsity hoops teams are set to tip off their 2019-2020 seasons! Taking a very quick breather from another year of exciting Cardinal football coverage that just wrapped on November 8, the Sun Prairie Media Center is excited to begin basketball coverage with the girls’ varsity team taking on Monona Grove at home on Tuesday, November 19. Coverage of all games is set for 7 PM with the tipoff scheduled for 7:15 PM. As in years past, all varsity basketball games are scheduled to be broadcast, with most home games airing live on KSUN (Spectrum Cable 983, TDS 13/1013, streamed at sunprairiemediacenter.com and also available…

On Monday, October 7, Culver’s of Sun Prairie held what has become an annual “KIDS-4 Share Night” to raise money for the Media Center’s flagship student media literacy program. The night was a remarkable success, resulting in a Culver’s donation of $455.45 to the Parents of KIDS-4 fundraising group. A percentage of all sales at the restaurant from 5 PM to 8 PM on October 7 counted toward the donation total. “Once again the Culver’s Share Night was a great success for us this year,” said Sun Prairie Media Center director Jeff Robbins. “We love working with Duane and his entire staff at Culver’s. A huge thanks of course to our very active and involved group of KIDS-4 families, both those who volunteered at the event and those who came…

At the monthly Media Center Commission meeting on October 2, the Sun Prairie Improvement Council presented the Sun Prairie Media Center with a donation of $60,000. The generous donation will go towards the Friends of the Sun Prairie Media Center, the 501c3 group established to financially support, promote, and advocate for the Media Center. Members of the Improvement Council are well aware of the Media Center and its work to educate and enrich the Sun Prairie community. Peter Steitz, the organization’s treasurer, is the husband of Pam Steitz, who was the Media Center director from 1992-2010. “When we were discussing community groups to donate to, we knew that we wanted the funds to go to groups and organizations that are uniquely Sun Prairie and that contribute to making Sun Prairie…