A technique for providing secondary data in a single frequency network (SFN) provides a first forward error correcting (FEC) decoder for decoding a received coded orthogonal frequency division multiplex (COFDM) signal. A second FEC decoder is also provided for decoding a received COFDM signal. When the received COFDM signal includes valid primary data, the first FEC decoder is utilized to decode the received COFDM signal to provide general information, i.e., music, sports, etc. When a received COFDM signal includes valid secondary data, the second FEC decoder is utilized to decode the received COFDM signal to provide regional information, e.g., emergency broadcasting information. The received COFDM signal includes one or more defined COFDM symbols inserted by a transmitter of the COFDM signal to indicate the valid secondary data and the invalid primary data.