BETTER TOGETHER. Volunteers from the newly combined Converge Media at the recent Pride in the Park event in Eau Claire. (Submitted image)

The merger of two local, nonprofit media outlets will help amplify community voices on radio, TV, and beyond, says a board member for the newly christened Converge Media.

The new entity was formed through the merger of Converge Radio, which operates a community radio station on 101.9 FM in Eau Claire, and Valley Media Works – previously known as Community Television – a longstanding public access cable TV channel.

The official combination has been in the works for a few years, says Ed Hudgins, an executive board member of Converge Media. It began when Converge Radio lost its original home on the local airwaves in 2020 when the UW-Eau Claire Foundation sold 99.9 FM to a Christian radio chain. At the time, Converge partnered with Valley Media Works to shift its programming over to a low-power FM signal operated by the community television outlet.

“Without our relationship with Valley Media Works a few years ago, we wouldn’t have had a signal to keep going,” says Hudgins, who has been involved with Converge Radio since early in its history. “As we continued to work together, it became apparent that there would be some mutual benefit to us working more in-depth together.”

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Without our relationship with Valley Media Works a few years ago, we wouldn’t have had a signal to keep going.

ED HUDGINS

CONVERGE MEDIA BOARD MEMBER, ON HOW THE CABLE ACCESS CHANNEL HELPED SAVE CONVERGE RADIO

It’s an interesting marriage, combining an alternative formatted radio station that emphasizes local and independent music and a public access cable center best known for broadcasting City Council meetings and DIY shows.

But the organizations’ community focus and recent history drew them together. While Converge Radio – originally born in 2016 at Blugold Radio after the UWEC Foundation received the 99.9 FM channel as a gift – was facing existential challenges, so was Valley Media Works: Originally founded in 1977 and a longtime cable home of government meetings and community-produced programming, the public access channel’s funding dwindled over time, and by a few years ago it was left with just a handful of board members and no paid staff.

The merger, which became official earlier this year and was announced in June, will give the combined organization an opportunity to reach the community more effectively, Hudgins says. For example, for the first time it will give the radio station a way to reach an audience through video, either on cable (on Spectrum cable channels 993 and 994 locally) or online.

The band Softly Dear performed in 2014 during a recording of the Sue Orfield Show at the former Community Television studio in Banbury Place. The merger of Converge Radio and Valley Media Works (a.k.a. Community Television) could lead to more such multimedia music collaboration. (Photo by Andrea Paulseth)

It will also provide stability to both organizations after a period of volatility. While it has continued to broadcast on 101.9 FM as well as provide music to downtown Eau Claire via streetside speakers (a.k.a. Converge Downtown), Hudgins is hopeful that Converge Media can now embark on more extensive community outreach, from taking part in events (as it did recently at Pride in the Park and the Blue Ox Music Festival) to obtaining sponsorships and encouraging listeners to give monthly. He has high hopes for obtaining grants, solidifying more programming, and further integrating the organization into the community.

“Community engagement’s been really important, because as you can imagine, there are lot of folks who thought Converge died when 99.9 went off the air,” Hudgins said. At the time, the radio station moved from broadcasting on a 25,000 watt signal from a tower near Bloomer to a 100 watt signal at Banbury Place, while the studio moved from the UWEC campus to the Pablo Center. (Converge Media has since moved out of the Pablo Center studio, and all its equipment is now in Banbury. It maintains an office in CoLab in downtown Eau Claire.)

"To me it's not just a radio station or a media organization, it's bigger than that. Let's bring people together, let's connect, let's have conversation. Let's celebrate the arts, let's celebrate diversity (and) equity. Let's celebrate people."

Ron Viste, who was a member of Valley Media Works’ board of directors for about six years and is now on the board of the combined organization, said he thinks an influx of “youthful enthusiasm” will help Converge Media. With its roots in public access television, community involvement is key to the nonprofit, he says.

“We want the Eau Claire public to be involved,” Viste explains, whether that’s through volunteering, proposing ideas, or creating partnerships with other community groups. Viste is also hopeful that the revitalized organization can upgrade its equipment and once again pursue coverage of public meetings.

Hudgins is optimistic about the combined organizations’ trajectory. “To me it’s not just a radio station or a media organization,” he says. “It’s bigger than that. Let’s bring people together, let’s connect, let’s have conversation. Let’s celebrate the arts, let’s celebrate diversity (and) equity. Let’s celebrate people.”

Learn more about Converge Media online at convergemediaec.com and on Facebook.