NEWS & RESOURCES
We are saddened to announce the passing of our Founder, Robert Sikorski, on May 29, 2025. Bob, aged 74, dedicated more than 30 years of his heart and soul to your Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service and helped cement its future by partnering with Western New York Independent Living before stepping down due to health issues.
Thousands of people who are blind or have a print disability were able to read thanks to Bob’s vision. When he founded Radio Reading in 1986, the internet was still in its infancy and newspapers, magazines, and most books were not available in anything but print. He tirelessly pressed forward to make sure the power of print was available to all. Read more about his life in the Buffalo News article at the right.
Your Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service has a new mobile app! This will make finding and listening to programming easier from your smartphone, tablet, smartwatch, or other smart device.
The app is FREE and available now from the Apple App Store and Google Play. Click on the links above or search for “NFRRS” or “Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service” in the app store for your device.
Please be aware DEVELOPMENT IS ONGOING and we anticipate changes to be made as necessary.
You can help us develop the best app possible. Download the app and play with it, then click here to take a short survey providing your feedback.
Once we collect enough surveys, we’ll be drawing a name for a $25 grocery gift card as our thanks!
When Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service first went on the air 39 years ago, the internet was very much a novelty and there was no such thing as Audible.com. Books-on-tape came in binders of six cassettes for the average novel – if you could afford them. And computers converting text to speech? That was the stuff of science fiction.
So, since March 19, 1987, people who were blind, had low vision, or had other print disabilities were treated to something few had dreamed of: a consistent, reliable, and daily reading of their national and local newspapers, magazines, and books.
All of these were read by volunteers and broadcast over a private frequency to each Listener’s own radio receiver, provided free by NFRRS. Before this service came to be, they had to depend on friends and family to read for them or go without.
Since those modest beginnings, tens of thousands in Western New York and Southern Ontario have had their lives enriched by the NFRRS – one page at a time. They’ve kept up with critically important news, followed events in their community, and kept abreast of their favorite sports teams.
Recently, we began streaming our live feed online and making popular programs available through online podcasts. This gave thousands more instant access through almost any internet-connected device, including desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and smart speakers.
Radio Reading programs not only inform and share news, but they also entertain and inspire. Their familiarity brings Listeners a sense of companionship, as if the reader was next to them and reading just to them.
There are an estimated 130,000 people in the WNY-Southern Ontario-Rochester region who are blind or have another vision, physical, or cognitive disability that makes reading difficult or impossible. Your Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service is here for you, 24/7, every day!
For years, Radio Reading services were provided by WXXI Reachout Radio. It closed at the end of May 2021. While we may not be able to fill their shoes, we have the capacity to make sure Listeners in the region have access to local news and publications.
Look for Rochester publications posted on the Programming page of our website, in the major podcast services, and in our mobile app. Support for this initiative is courtesy of Wegmans.
We’re looking for volunteers who are interested and available to read the Democrat & Chronicle, the Rochester Business Journal, and the many other newspapers and magazines that serve Rochester. We’ll provide the easy training to record and submit your readings from the comfort of your home!
If you or anyone you know would like to be a volunteer reader, please contact us at (716) 821-5555 extension 3.
NFRRS 2.0
Streaming & Podcast Initiative
In July 2020, your Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service launched NFRRS 2.0 – a new Podcasts & Streaming Initiative that brought the radio station’s live feed and program archives to the Internet. This move removed the limitation requiring listeners to use a special radio receiver, and enabled any listener with an internet connection the ability to access live and recorded content when, where and however they want through their computer browser, smartphone, smart speaker, or other device.
This powerful new initiative would not have been possible without the generosity and support of the organizations below.
ABOUT US
Your Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service was founded in 1987 to help people who are blind, have low vision, or have other print-related disabilities “read” printed materials.
Volunteers read books, magazines, newspapers, and other print materials that are heard 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These readings are broadcast over a private subcarrier radio frequency to listeners who have a special receiver and are streamed online over the Internet. Nearly 400,000 hours of material has been broadcast since our first days.
The agency was launched through the hard work and clear vision of founder Robert Sikorski, a lawyer by vocation and former general manager at WBFO 88.7. Over his 30+ year tenure, he tirelessly labored to secure funding, recruit volunteers, and reach new listeners – all while operating a service that was on air 24/7. Michael Benzin took over as Executive Director in December 2018.
NEW AFFILIATION BRINGS GREAT PROMISE
In December 2018, your Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service began a new affiliation with Western New York Independent Living, one of the state’s largest comprehensive agencies serving people with disabilities. The relationship not only provides needed administrative supports for our service such as accounting, payroll, HR, IT, and maintenance, it offers both agencies the ability to leverage each other’s strengths as advocates for our community.
Western New York Independent Living is a community-based non-profit organization that serves more than 7,000 people with disabilities annually through peer counseling, support for independent living, transitional services, advocacy, information and referrals.
WHY PRINT IS IMPORTANT
Because of one or more of a variety of disabilities, not everybody can read or read well. Yet reading is important. Print media, for example, can offer a greater and more detailed perspective and analysis than most TV or radio news programs. Print has both the space for words and the time for perspective. And books are a wonderful literary tool. Books encourage, entertain, illuminate, inspire, motivate, and teach. They help readers understand that nothing is impossible, allow readers to take action, and help readers know their true potential.
But, even with improved today’s technology, people who are blind, have low vision, or have other disabilities are unable to access print materials. Studies have shown that people who read – or have material read to them – are more open-minded, creative, and show enhanced cognitive engagement in vocabulary, thinking skills, and concentration. Reading has been shown to reduce stress and help keep the brain functioning effectively as people age. Readers also have stronger capacities in things that can affect empathy, social perception, and emotional intelligence.
People who read are more positively engaged in their community than people who don’t.
LINKS & RESOURCES
The links below connect with our partners and other organizations who provide programs and services for people who are blind, have low vision, or have other print disabilities.
Western New York Independent Living
Western New York Independent Living (WNYIL) is a family of agencies in Erie, Genesee, and Niagara Counties that provide services and programs that assist individuals with disabilities to remain independently living, working and thriving in the communities of their choice. Your Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service is an affiliate of WNYIL.
Find WNYIL’s weekly podcasts by clicking here. You can also listen on NFRRS Sunday mornings from 8:30 AM to 9 AM.
International Association of Audio Information Services
Your Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Services is proud to be a member of the IAAIS, a volunteer-driven membership organization of services that turn text into speech for people who cannot see, hold, or comprehend the printed word and who may be unable to access information due to a disability or health condition. Since its formation in 1977, the IAAIS (formerly the Association of Radio Reading Services) has assisted, represented, and set standards of good practice for audio information services worldwide.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President
Paul Beakman, Sr.
Vice President
Chuck Nellis
Treasurer
Ann Scherff
Secretary
Sue Ann Sehl
Directors
Richard Dread
Frauke Stoffel
Kenneth Sullivan
Their support and counsel have played a critical role in our success!
Joyce Trautman Bobrowski
Donna Dickey
Ann Marie Ford, ex officio
Cheryl Haake
Margaret Mergenhagen
William A. Miles
Walt Otto
Margaret Recktenwald
Margaret Riso
David Roll
Ronald Scholze
Robert Sikorski, President & CEO
Ronald Sipos
Suzanne Swanson Wittek
Chairs Emeritus
David Hall
Lori Heidenburg Morrell
Are you interested in becoming a Board Member? Perhaps you would like to join our Program Committee or Community Engagement Committee? Choose the opportunity that fits you!
Effective boards and committees are composed of various skills, talents, backgrounds, and perspectives. If you would like to learn more about what is involved, please contact Marian Hetherly at 716-821-5555 extension 3 or marian@nfradioreading.org. People with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
Staff
Program Manager
Nicholas J. Aldrich
nick@nfradioreading.org or (716) 821-5555, ext. 1
Community Engagement
Marian Hetherly, MBA, CGS
marian@nfradioreading.org or (716) 821-5555, ext. 3