WisconsinEye, the statewide network that provides gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Capitol, will stop event coverage due to a lack of funding effective Dec. 15, a notice on their website says.
In a October press release, the network said it needs $1 million in operational support. If adequate funds are obtained to cover the network’s 2026 operational budget of $887,000, programming will resume for one year, the notice reads.
In addition to ceasing event coverage, WisconsinEye’s video archive of state government proceedings, news conferences, candidate interviews and programming will go offline and downloads will not be processed.
“A healthy democracy demands that truth is accessible to all, our voices are heard, and our leaders are accountable,” the press release reads. “Wisconsinites deserve to see their government in action — unfiltered, unbiased and accessible. Open government is more than an ideal; it’s a necessity.”
The announcement comes after state lawmakers and Gov. Tony Evers gave the network one more year to raise $10 million to receive the same amount in matching funds from taxpayers to establish an endowment fund under a provision included in the 2025-27 state budget signed into law in July after WisconsinEye leaders failed to meet the same goal between 2023 and 2025.
The new budget provision would provide the network with matching funds on a dollar-by-dollar basis instead of a lump sum once the total funds were raised. In addition to the matching funds, it provided $250,000 in state funds that network leaders do not have to match to help the network cover operational costs.
Between 2023 and 2025, WisconsinEye raised just $210,000 instead of the $10 million required to receive the full amount of funds for the endowment.
A closer look at WisconsinEye’s finances, spending
If WisconsinEye were able to raise funds to match the $10 million endowment from the state, that $20 million in state funding and matching donations should sustain the WisconsinEye Public Affairs Network for decades, according to recent spending by the organization.
Back in July, WisconsinEye President and CEO Jon Henkes told the Milwaukee Journal the network’s operating budget for 2025 is $1.05 million — a number he said has not changed in four years.
“We are a highly efficient organization with five full-time staffers. To get the job done for just over $1 million for what we produce is amazing,” Henkes said.
But Internal Revenue Service filings from 2019 to 2022 show WisconsinEye’s financial struggles.
For the 2019 fiscal year, WisconsinEye spent about $1.4 million, with a net income of — $86,786, according to a filing with the IRS.
The pandemic hit the network particularly hard, with WisconsinEye spending about $1.3 million, resulting in a $404,859 loss in revenue. And while the network appeared to be back on track in 2021 with a net income of $391,991, for the fiscal year that ended in December 2022, WisconsinEye found itself back in the red with a nearly $334,000 loss in revenue.
During past debates about the network’s funding, some lawmakers raised concerns about Henkes’ salary. He was paid about $283,000 for the fiscal year that ended in September 2019, but he said in 2021 his pay had been cut since then.
In the 2022 fiscal year, Henkes was paid about $277,000 — roughly $6,000 less than he made in the 2019 fiscal year.
As of July 2025, Henkes’ annual salary was $150,000, however, in a Nov. 20 email to the Journal Sentinel, Henkes said he has been without compensation “through the current fiscal challenge.”
WisconsinEye has been on the air since 2007 and for years has been buoyed by millions of dollars in donations and loans from Diane Hendricks, a Beloit billionaire who is a philanthropist and megadonor to Republican causes. Initially, funding for WisconsinEye was supposed to come from a mix of donations and fees on cable subscribers, but the network’s costs outweighed its demands.
In 2020, WisconsinEye furloughed some of its employees and made other decisions to cut costs as donations dried up during the pandemic. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES, created the Paycheck Protection Program, which provided WisconsinEye with a $112,000 forgivable loan, helping keep the network afloat.
Separately, CARES gave Evers control of nearly $2 billion in aid, and he used $100,000 of that to help WisconsinEye.
In 2021, the network created a paid subscription model after struggling financially during the pandemic. Under that model the network provided its live coverage for free but required subscriptions to watch event that were more than 24 hours old.
While WisconsinEye doesn’t disclose specifics about how its budget is met, Henkes said in July the funds come from a mix of private charitable gifts and grants from individuals, foundations and businesses. Some current sponsors at the time included the Wisconsin Counties Association, Nicolet Bank and the Wisconsin REALTORS Association and sponsors typically provide $10,000 to $50,000 for a two-year sponsorship.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Anna Kleiber can be reached at akleiber@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: WisconsinEye to stop event coverage after falling short of funds needed to cover costs
Reporting by Anna Kleiber, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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