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iHeartMedia EVP/Programming Tony Coles: "Our stations know how to mobilize quickly and respond instantly."
September 5, 2019
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. The overall focus is the same. Provide the information our listeners need to protect themselves and their families, make sure our employees and their families are safe, and prepare our facilities to whether the storm. Obviously, for coastal markets we are concerned about flooding and inland it is about the wind. We have an amazing engineering group and they obsess about keeping us on the air so programming can focus on what matters the most - our listeners
- Radio Rally Point was created by DMR/Interactive and All Access to shine a spotlight on the power of AM/FM radio. In this edition, DMR/Interactive Pres. Andrew Curran catches up with iHeartMedia EVP/Programming Tony Coles.
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iHeartMedia has stations from Miami to the Carolinas. With Hurricane Dorian placing such an unusually large part of the country in harm's way, how are your hurricane preparations different for coastal vs. inland communities?
Tony: The overall focus is the same. Provide the information our listeners need to protect themselves and their families, make sure our employees and their families are safe, and prepare our facilities to whether the storm.
Obviously, for coastal markets we are concerned about flooding and inland it is about the wind. We have an amazing engineering group and they obsess about keeping us on the air so programming can focus on what matters the most - our listeners.
As Dorian has proved to be a slow moving storm, how has that helped or hindered your efforts across markets?
Tony: There is no question that the extra time gave us more time to assess, plan and allocate resources. That is a luxury we don't have when a tornado hits in the Midwest or an earthquake happens in California.
There's covering the storm itself, then there's radio's ability to help fundraise following a disaster. What has that process been like, especially as we see the devastation that has happened in the Bahamas?
Tony: Year-round, our stations raise money for the communities they serve. They know how to mobilize quickly and respond instantly. Our South Florida markets have ongoing relationships with both the Red Cross and local first responders. Working with these organizations before disaster strikes makes all the difference. We have already coordinated a two-day relief effort that takes place this Thursday and Friday to get critically needed supplies to the victims of the hurricane.
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Thanks for reading and working each day to drive radio forward.
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