Radio Macaya: Bringing Modern Broadcasting to Les Cayes

Radio Macaya was inaugurated on October 19, 1996, in Les Cayes, broadcasting on 102.5 FM with a tagline that still captures its founding spirit: "Le pont entre le Sud d'Haiti et le reste du monde," the bridge between southern Haiti and the rest of the world. Its founder, a journalist with experience at Radio Kiskeya and Radio Concorde in Port-au-Prince, returned to Haiti for the 1995 presidential elections and noticed that the broadcasting landscape in Les Cayes hadn't kept pace with the rest of the country.

With support from Dr. Yves Jean-Bart, the station set out to give Haiti's third-largest city a radio outlet that genuinely matched the expectations of its population. Before Radio Macaya, residents of Les Cayes often had to wait hours or days for news from the rest of the country, or rely on long-range antennas just to pick up signals from the capital. The station's arrival changed that almost overnight, reaching listening figures that exceeded its founders' own expectations.

Today, Radio Macaya covers national and international news alongside entertainment, leisure, cultural, sports, and social programming, complemented by a companion television channel, Tele Macaya, on Channel 5. Its musical programming draws on Caribbean genres including reggae, soca, dancehall, and calypso, alongside local and international hits.

For the people of Les Cayes and the broader southern department, Radio Macaya has functioned as a genuine local institution for nearly three decades, born specifically out of the recognition that the region deserved better access to information.