Raul Alarcon Sr. to receive Medallas De Cortez Lifetime Achievement Award.

Raul Alarcon Sr., founder and Director Emeritus of Spanish Broadcasting System, will be honored with the Medallas de Cortez Lifetime Achievement Award, the Hispanic radio industry’s most prestigious award, at the annual Radio Ink Hispanic Radio Conference. The conference will be held May 19-20 at the Biltmore Hotel in Miami-Coral Gables.

“When we look back on great companies that have become institutions, we often forget that someone had to give them life and battle the obstacles for years,” said Radio Ink Publisher B. Eric Rhoads. “Raul Alarcon had the incredible vision and unstoppable tenacity to do something unheard of at the time — start a Hispanic media company. He faced resistance at every turn and had to deal with bigotry and advertisers who had never before considered Hispanic audiences. His perseverance not only built a company, it built an industry.”

Alarcon left Cuba and the radio company he had founded following Fidel Castro’s rise to power and the subsequent seizure of the media. Arriving in the United States, he re-established his radio career in New York as a newscaster and disc jockey. In 1983, he purchased his first station, also in New York. As he explains, “My first station had one million problems and cost me three million dollars.”

But his hard work and persistence paid off, and, 25 years later, SBS owns 21 radio stations, in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Puerto Rico, San Francisco, and Chicago and is one of the largest and most prominent broadcasting companies in America.

Alarcon served as President of the board of directors of SBS until November 1999. Today, SBS is run by his son, Raul Alarcon Jr,. one of Radio Ink’s “40 Most Powerful People in Radio.” Alarcon continues to serve on the SBS board, and his voice can be heard on several of his stations, where he provides commentary on global issues and current affairs, especially those relating to Hispanic issues.

For all his success, Raul Alarcon Sr. still dreams and aspires. He would like to create an international radio station from Miami that would serve, via satellite, Spanish-language radio stations around the world, from Latin America to Europe and beyond.

The Medallas de Cortez awards ceremony, honoring excellence in Hispanic radio, will be held Tuesday, May 20, during the Hispanic Radio Conference. Nominations in sales, management, programming, and marketing categories are currently being accepted here.