Our History

The History of TIC and the
Massachusetts Reading Network

In 1977, Ed Perry of Duxbury was granted an FCC license to operate WATD-FM. Ed had heard about reading services in other parts of the country. Knowing there were none available in New England, Ed promised to donate his SCA signal for use as a radio reading service. When WATD went on the air in 1977, Ron Bersani, a teacher at Marshfield High School volunteered to help out when things got started. Ron is executive director today.

A Board of Directors was formed and a collection taken up to buy the first ten radios. TIC began broadcasting June 19, 1978 from a tiny third floor room at WATD with two borrowed microphones, a beat up cassette deck and an old reel-to-reel recorder. Broadcasts consisted of four hours daily, Monday through Friday.

The Massachusetts Commission for the Blind awarded TIC a start-up grant of $41,158. This money enabled the Reading Service to increase daily broadcast hours and expand the coverage area to include Greater Boston, using the SCA signal of WERS-FM at Emerson College in Boston. As funding increased, coverage was extended to the Worcester area, through the Audio Journal, Cape Cod through the Audible Local Ledger, Springfield and western Massachusetts, through the Western Massachusetts Radio Reading Service. This was the Reading Service structure for most of the 1980s.

During the 1990s, affiliates were added in Lowell, through the Lowell Association for the Blind; in Framingham, which became the Metrowest Radio Reading Service; and in Dalton, the Berkshire Talking Chronicle.

TIC operates similarly to other broadcast networks, such as CBS or NBC. Affiliates throughout the state provide inserts of local news and information that is of interest to consumers in their area. TIC is the hub of the Massachusetts Reading Network. The Network has moved beyond its original mission. It has added a Web site, featuring our live audio stream; selected archived programs; and links to other service organizations.