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Broadcasters Work Together To Provide Hurricane Alerts and Information In Spanish

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 17, 2018): In the best public service tradition of broadcasting, three radio station groups have voluntarily banded together to provide life-saving information to Spanish speaking residents of two coastal South Carolina communities threatened by Hurricane Florence. The companies are:

  • Cumulus Media, which serves Myrtle Beach
  • Dick Broadcasting, which serves Hilton Head
  • Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS), which is voicing and transmitting Spanish language alerts and information for Cumulus Media’s and Dick Broadcasting’s South Carolina stations.

The three broadcast companies came together at the request of the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). The South Carolina Broadcasters Association and the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau each assisted in identifying the participating broadcasters.

Through this initiative, the 22,000 Hispanic residents of the Myrtle Beach radio market and 21,000 Hispanic residents of the Hilton Head radio market are receiving life-saving information about health care issues, shelters, how to find missing persons, health care issues, and avoiding injury.

“Cumulus, Dick Broadcasting, and SBS did not hesitate to come to the aid of the most vulnerable Spanish-speaking South Carolinians in their time of need,” stated MMTC President and CEO Maurita Coley Flippin. “These companies are an example to other broadcasters of the essential services that they should provide to the public they serve in times of disaster. Many thanks also to LULAC, the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, and the South Carolina Broadcasters Association for their assistance.”

LULAC Chief Executive Officer Sindy Benavides declared, “It is heartwarming that these three companies, truly dedicated to serving the public, joined together on less than a day’s notice to ensure their communities receive life-saving information. Every person in America, regardless of their language, should have access to life-saving information when a hurricane strikes.”

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About MMTC: The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) is a non-partisan, national nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and preserving equal opportunity in the mass media, telecom and broadband industries, and closing the digital divide. MMTC is generally recognized as the nation’s leading advocate for multicultural advancement in communications.

About LULAC: With approximately 132,000 members throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC is the largest and oldest Hispanic civil rights organization in the United States. LULAC advances the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, housing, health and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs operating at more than 1,000 LULAC councils nationwide. The organization involves and serves all Hispanic nationality groups.