PACTV

The award-winning Talking Information Center (TIC) in Marshfield, MA has announced a new partnership with Plymouth Area Community Television (PACTV).

TIC is a nonprofit reading service which broadcasts 24-hours a day to thousands of visually impaired and otherwise print impaired listeners throughout the state, and is Massachusetts Reading Network’s South Shore affiliate. PACTV will now be broadcasting TIC’s feed on their channels, which reach over 100,000 viewers.

The PACTV audience can now listen to TIC shows airing in between programming on the following channels: Duxbury Government Channel (Comcast Channel 15 and Verizon Channel 39);

Kingston Education and Government Channel (Comcast Channel 14 and Verizon Channel 41); Pembroke Education Channel (Comcast Channel 14); Pembroke Government Channel (Comcast Channel 15); and Plymouth Government Channel (Comcast Channel 15 and Verizon Channel 47).

TIC provides informational, entertaining broadcasts that simply aren’t available elsewhere. Operating with the help of more than 600 volunteers statewide, which includes 200 volunteers in the Marshfield studio alone, TIC broadcasts newspapers, magazines, books, special consumer information, medical and stock market updates, jobs, sports, supermarket specials, voting guides, community newspapers, and television programs. TIC also offers cultural programming such as old-time radio drama, theater, and poetry.

More than 30,000 listeners statewide appreciate the TIC link to the world, and with the PACTV partnership, TIC will be able to reach an audience of thousands more.

“We are proud to partner with the Talking Information Center and provide this service to our viewers,” says Julie Thompson, Director of Administration at PACTV. “As part of our mission to inform and empower the community, this service is a wonderful way to help facilitate the exchange of ideas and information to our viewers.”

“We are delighted to announce our exciting partnership with PACTV which will broaden our reach dramatically and enable us to share community news, events, entertaining shows, stock market updates and comprehensive programming that just isn’t available elsewhere,” explained Jim Bunnell, Executive Director of TIC. “Older adults and veterans are the fastest growing segment of our audience and PACTV’s broadcast of TIC makes it easier for them to tune in.”

It is estimated that 150,000 in Massachusetts are unable to read the printed word and those who are vision impaired face challenges of literary, maintaining independence, unemployment (70 percent) and paralyzing isolation. Two out of three aging Americans confront vision loss. Others who experience vision problems are living with AIDS, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, stroke, paralysis and other physical ailments that make it difficult to hold a publication or turn its pages. TIC continues to reach out to engage more of those who can benefit from the service.

PACTV’s mission is to inform and empower the community to connect and engage through media. PACTV is a nonprofit, community media center providing Public, Educational and Government access. Now in its 20th year, PACTV serves the towns of Duxbury, Kingston, Pembroke and Plymouth. For more information about PACTV visit www.pactv.org.

TIC is a proud member of the International Association of Audible Information Services (IAAIS), and is the hub of the Massachusetts Reading Network, broadcasting to all of Massachusetts as well as southern New Hampshire and Connecticut.

TIC programming may be accessed several ways: via live audio stream at http://www.ticnetwork.org; by utilizing a specially tuned radio receiver; through AudioNow by calling 712-832-7025 from a home or cell phone; or by smartphone app. Listeners with smartphones may download the free TIC app by typing “Talking Information Center” in Apple or in the Google Play store for Android devices.

In 1977, Ed Perry, the founder of radio station WATD-FM in Marshfield, MA, donated his Subsidiary Carrier Authorization signal for use as the first radio reading service in New England. Operating similarly to other broadcast networks, TIC has affiliates throughout the state of Massachusetts that provide inserts of local news and information that is of interest to listeners in their area. The Executive Office of Elder Affairs and the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind oversee TIC, which is located at 130 Enterprise Drive, Marshfield, MA 02050. For more information visit www.ticnetwork.org or call (781) 834-4400.