Airborne Media garners acclaim

Durango tech company attracts big audience

by Stew Mosberg

Cordell Brown displays Audioair on his phone at El Rancho Tavern earlier this week. The Durango-born app and its parent company, Airborne Media Group, is garnering attention and accolades, recently being named one of “Colorado Companies to Watch.” More than 70 locations use the service, which allows people to listen to TV using smarthpones./Photo by Steve Eginoire

Three guys walk into a sports bar ... sure, it may sound like the lead-in to a joke. But for two local entrepreneurs, it was the lead-in to one of Durango’s newest and most successful start-up tech firms.

See, as an any bar-goer knows, sound is typically only audible from one screen, even though several different games are being broadcast simultaneously from different TVs. So what if each guy wants to listen to a different event? Rather than argue over who gets to watch which match-up, each plugs into his smartphone and accesses his preference.

No, that’s not wishful thinking. It was the brainchild of former restaurant workers Justin Ginn and Ryan Danford, the two inventors of Audioair, a system designed to allow users of mobile devices to listen to televisions or digital displays whose sound has been cut back.

The innovation, and the company that spawned it – Airborne Media Group, or AMG – is already gaining attention in the business community and has recently won the prestigious Colorado Companies to Watch Award (2013); receiving four nominations in the process, including a nomination from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. AMG was the second youngest company among 50 selected from a field of 800 nominees. Most recently, AMG received an Ascent Award as most innovative company from Colorado Communication Technology Professionals, a nonprofit, communications technology organization.

The story of Airborne began brewing a few years ago in Durango when Ginn, the company co-founder, worked as a manager at Old Tymer’s Café. It was there that he often witnessed the multi-screen dilemma as some patrons wanted a game on one TV while others wanted a different game on another TV. Predictably, there was a point of contention with the sports fans; which games would have the audio turned on and which would be muted? It became obvious to Ginn that while watching several televisions was possible, having the volume up on all of them was unreasonable.

The answer lay before him on the bar and tables around the restaurant. Ginn ultimately enlisted support from bartender Ryan Danford, and the two began developing a system prototype. The concept was simple: allow customers to listen to muted televisions with their cell phones using either the built-in speaker, headphones or Bluetooth.

But getting the concept to work was going to be a little more complicated.

To get the ball rolling, the two founded Airborne Media Group in the spring of 2011 and Audioair was officially born. Expanding their start-up dreams, AMG quickly enlisted the expertise of locals Cordell Brown and Chip Lile, owner of El Rancho Tavern, both of whom have engineering technology experience.

The Durango connection was reinforced with the solicitation of investors, with First Bank of the Southwest providing an aggressive line of credit and E7 Systems, a local venture technology firm, providing ideas, design, software and business consulting.

CEO Brown also credits Ed Morlan, Director of Region 9 Economic Development, and Sam Bailey, with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, as being instrumental in the start-up. 

The critical feature of Audioair is the engagement of mobile devices through a powerful “second screen” program called the Audioair Network, and a provisional patent has been filed with the U.S. Patent Office. The resulting solution was the foundation for creating mobile, socially interactive communities in a number of markets, such as health clubs, sports bars, restaurants, casinos and other venues where TVs need to be muted for multiple-viewer consideration. The platform can also provide interactive mobile advertising and gaming. Among other applications, the gaming feature allows for the ultimate “off-track” betting option, and AMG recently entered into a strategic technical alliance with Sky Ute Casino.

First timers will discover Audioair to be a simple system to use just by downloading the free app, selecting Audioair WiFi network and choosing the program they want to listen to. Listeners can also use the app to share chat messages with friends and even check in on Facebook.

At present, more than 70 locations in 14 states partake in the system, including the installation of the 36-inch to 54-inch screens.

In addition to its six employees and a headquarters in Durango, AMG has opened a design and development office in Sunnyvale, Calif., and has component production in San Diego and a new operations center in Park City, Utah. Referencing the company’s domestic focus Brown says, “American manufacturers are more aggressive than foreign companies.”

Plans such as the casino tie-in, with gaming on premises or on mobile devices, can be enhanced through language translation capabilities, giving rise to a global network through the internet. “Net access is greater on mobile devices now (than by computer access),” says CEO Brown. “The current system supports Apple and Android platform interface, but discussions are ongoing with other manufacturers.”

According to Brown, the second screen is the crux of the product for the mobile device user because establishments licensing the system will be capable of sending them direct messages about events, tailor advertisements and post important notices or special offers. The facility pays a licensing fee and installation charge to AMG and in turn can offer patrons special considerations.

If you would like to experience the technology first hand, some of the facilities using the product in Durango include: Carver’s, Cuckoo’s Chicken House, Desperado’s, Irish Embassy, Sporting News Grill (Holiday Inn) and of course, Old Tymer’s and El Rancho Tavern.