Press Kit

Annual Report

Annual Report, 2006-2007 (PDF, 9720 KB)

History

In 1984, when David Dawson moved to Boulder, Colorado, he discovered that Colorado, unlike Washington DC, and the other states where he had lived (Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Florida), did not have a broadcast service that provided blind people with access to newspapers and other print media. David was very familiar with the service, as he had relied on it since college when he began to lose his eyesight. It was a service that he sorely missed.

At the time, however, David was working for the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights in Denver. In 1988, due to his health, he began searching for a new career. As his masters was in Special Education and his undergraduate degree was in business and Mass communications, he decided to devote his time, energy and talents to developing a state-wide Colorado radio reading service: The Audio Information Network of Colorado (then called Radio Reading Service of the Rockies).

At the time most of reading services throughout the country broadcast on sub carriers of local public radio stations. But the quality of the signal, according to David was "a static--almost unlistenable--signal at best." Still he went to public radio stations first, as they were mandated by the federal government to provide space for a reading service for the blind. All of the stations he contacted turned him down. Rather than being discouraged, or arguing his case, David considered it a stroke of luck. It allowed him to approach KRMA, the public television station in Denver, which could provide a higher quality signal. Don Johnson, then the President and General Manager of KRMA, quickly responded, "We are a community service organization, if we can serve the public we will." That was the beginning of a unique relationship that continues today with Rocky Mountain PBS and the current President and General Manager, James Morgese.

In 1996, KRMA changed its on-air name to Rocky Mountain PBS to reflect plans for a satellite station in Grand Junction. In 1999, KTSC, channel 8 in Pueblo joined the network, which allowed AINC to expand its reach and to broadcast specific targeted programs to three separate regions that cover the state. Each of the regions broadcasts 24/7.

In 2009, television stations across the country will make the switch from analog to digital. For AINC listeners that means the analog equipment they are currently using will no longer work. Rocky Mt PBS and AINC are working together on a federal grant and project to develop the equipment needed for listeners to acquire AINC's new digital signal.

Early board members were key to AINC's success. Both Don Johnson and James Morgese served on the board. David Layne, chief engineer at KCNC and Roger Ogden, General Manager of KCNC in the 1980s and early 1990s, donated a professional audio board, which helped AINC set high standards for quality sound. Board members continue to help guide AINC, particularly in this current period of dramatic change.

AINC Timeline

1990
January: Radio Reading Service of the Rockies (original name) incorporated
November: 501(c)3 status granted
1991
June: Studio Construction (remodeling) finished RRSR moved into studios on Arapahoe Road in Boulder.
October- First broadcast. The schedule was immediately 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All of RRSR's early programs were rebroadcasts of other radio reading service productions from around the country that were on satellite.
1992
May: First live readings. The original programs were the Boulder Daily Camera, the Longmont Times Call, the Colorado Daily, and the Rocky Mountain News.
2003
August: RRSR moved into the larger studios which the company occupies today: 2200 Central Avenue, Suite A, Boulder, CO 80301.
2007
June: Board approves name change from RRSR to AINC, Audio Informaton Network Of Colorado.

Fact Sheet

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Past Press Coverage