Radio Information Service

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RIS Logo

The Radio Information Service or RIS is a reading service for the blind in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is carried via subcarrier on WDUQ-FM in Pittsburgh.

The RIS weekly audience is 1,200 listeners with two-thirds of the audience over 60 years of age. Most listeners live in Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland Counties but RIS also serves nine other counties in the region, including Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence and Somerset. RIS also serves parts of Ohio and West Virginia.

Since its first broadcasts of only a few hours, RIS has grown to be a 24/7 radio station. Listeners access RIS through a special FM radio receiver, over the Internet, on Comcast Cable systems or through the RIS Telephone Dial-In Service. More than 200 people volunteer with RIS each year.

[edit] Programming

RIS bases its programming on its motto "Independence Through Information". Given that many visual impairments tend to be age-related, RIS's services are specially tailored to their needs. One of the most popular programs is the daily newspapers where a pair of narrators read local and regional newspapers, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Other programming includes popular magazines, ads from grocery, drug and department stores, TV listings and other special interest publications. Additionally, RIS provides translations of printed material to Braille or audio recording.

[edit] History

At its founding in 1976 RIS was broadcast from the campus of Duquesne University. When operations grew too large for the station, the studio moved to the Southside neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

In 2004, facing a lack of funding and a possible shutdown, the board of RIS began exploring possibilities of partnering with another organization.

On November 1, 2005, RIS entered into a Management Agreement with WDUQ. This agreement allows the reading service to remain a separate 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a governing board responsible for all fundraising and community outreach while WDUQ will be responsible for the day-to-day RIS business operations, including programming, services, personnel and volunteer management.