Onda Cero celebrates 25 years of success

Today Onda Cero is the second most listened to general radio station in Spain, with more than two and a half million listeners. During these 25 years, some of the best Spanish radio professionals have passed through the Atresmedia group network.

On this day at six in the morning on November 26, 1990, the announcer Ángela Bodega was the first voice that went on air from the microphones of Onda Cero.

Twenty-five years later Ramón Osorio, general director of Atresmedia Radio, recognizes that "it is a good time to think about the future and to bet on a radio station that is sensitive to the changes in Spanish society. We would not have gotten to where we have without the effort and dedication of all the workers."

In the opinion of the head of the network, "we cannot forget that Onda Cero is an important part of the recent history of radio in Spain and that it wants to continue reaffirming its leadership vocation." Osorio recognizes the work done by the great stars who have passed through the Onda Cero studios, but also making the following clear: “we would not have gotten to where we have without the effort and dedication of all the workers.”

The 25th anniversary coincides with a period of changes in programming, in line with 21st century society and the challenges of a radio that transmits credibility, transversality and closeness.

During these 25 years, some of the best Spanish radio professionals have passed through the Atresmedia group network.

Carlos Alsina and Juan Ramón Lucas in the morning (more than one) represent in the current stage a new way of doing radio, without losing the references of the plural, close and participatory model, which have already become a hallmark of the channel along with the rest of the professionals that make up the channel's offer: Elena Gijón (Midday News), David del Cura (The Compass), Julia Otero (Julia on the Wave), Hector Fernandez (At the first touche), Sergio Fernández and Arturo González-Campos (The Parish), José Luis Salas (It's not hours), Rocío Santos (Stay with the best of the week), Pablo Rodríguez and Soledad de Juan (Agricultural Wave), Juan Diego Guerrero (Weekend News), Isabel Gemio (I give you my word), Esther Eiros (traveling people), Carlos Rodríguez (Like the dog and the cat), Javier Ares and Javier Ruiz Taboada (Radio station), Bruno Cardeñosa (The Wind Roses) and Bartolomé Beltrán (In safe hands).

Furthermore, during these 25 years, some of the best Spanish radio professionals have passed through Onda Cero, such as Concha García Campoy, Jesús Quintero, Gomaespuma, Luis del Olmo, José María García, Carlos Herrera, Andrés Aberasturi, Luis de Benito, Juan Antonio Cebrián, Manuel Antonio Rico, Ernesto Sáenz de Buruaga, Juan Pablo Colmenarejo, J.J. Santos or José Antonio Abellán.

Onda Cero has been an excellent source of communicators throughout this quarter of a century. Great radio professionals have been trained alongside their microphones. Among others, names that continue to make history on Onda Cero such as Carlos Alsina, Juan Ramón Lucas, Julia Otero, Fernando Ónega, Javier Ruiz Taboada, Esther Eiros or Paco de León. Talent continues to be one of the great assets of these 25 years.

Today Onda Cero is the second most listened to general radio station in Spain, with more than two and a half million listeners.

A network that looks to the future with optimism, taking as its starting point the credibility conferred by open and balanced programming, where all sensitivities fit.

The definition of “last great radio network of our time” is still valid a quarter of a century later. The birth of Onda Cero at the end of November 1990 caused a substantial change in the Spanish radio map during the last decade of the 20th century, which has continued in the early stages of the 21st century.

The year after its birth, after the signings of Luis del Olmo and Julia Otero, among others, Onda Cero was already one of the main radio networks, with 1.6 million listeners. On September 9, 1996, the then Prince of Asturias, Don Felipe de Borbón, officially inaugurated the chain's headquarters on Paseo Pintor Rosales.

25 years of history

The announcer Ángela Bodega had the honor, at six in the morning on November 26, 1990, of being the first voice to go on air from the microphones of a new radio station called Onda Cero. With Luis de Benito as news director, that first team included professionals such as Alfonso Arús, Andrés Aberasturi, Mariví Romero, José Antonio Ovies and Juan Antonio Cebrián.

From then until today, many professionals have passed and numerous events in the recent history of our country and abroad have been covered. The arrival of Luis del Olmo, in the summer of 1991, was one of the important milestones, along with the later incorporation of Julia Otero.

Nor can we forget the arrival a year later of Fernando Ónega, as general director, or the incorporations of Ernesto Sáenz de Buruaga and Juan Ramón Lucas, to make Up to date y The Compass, respectively

In the 1994-1995 season, ONCE, owner of the network, hired Concha García Campoy to present the early mornings and the audience continued to grow gradually until it exceeded one and a half million listeners.

Two years later, in 1996, Onda Cero became the first Spanish radio station that could be heard around the world via the Internet. And, in May of that same year, the then Prince of Asturias inaugurated the studios located on Madrid's Paseo de Pintor Rosales.

In 1998 Protagonists, with Luis del Olmo, celebrates 25 years on the air. By then, it is already the leader in a good part of its time slot, as are the afternoons with Julia Otero.

The channel was acquired by Telefónica from ONCE in the summer of 1999 and four years later acquired by the Planeta/Agostini Group, becoming part of the Antena 3 Group (Atresmedia), then chaired by José Manuel Lara and with Mauricio Carlotti as CEO.

During these last fifteen years, important events have taken place, such as the incorporation of Europa FM into the group or the agreements with Onda Rambla and Radio España to improve and expand coverage. We should also highlight the signings of Carlos Herrera and José María García at the beginning of 2000, the appointment of Javier González Ferrari as president (summer 2002) and that of Carlos Alsina as head of the Informativos. Manu Carreño, Juan Pablo Colmenarejo and Isabel Gemio also join the network at this stage and programs such as Radio station, with Javier Ares and Javier Ruiz Taboada.
In a more recent stage, the return of Julia Otero to Onda Cero programming is especially notable, after eight years away from the network, the new stage of The Compass, with Carlos Alsina, the appointment of Julián Cabrera as News Director and the incorporation of Héctor Fernández to the direction and presentation of At the first touch.

In the spring of this year on the radio of the Atresmedia Group, already chaired by José Crehueras and with Silvio González as CEO, the mornings are renewed. Carlos Alsina, whom Luis del Olmo called at the end of the nineties as “the white hope of Spanish radio”, and Juan Ramón Lucas premiere More than One. Another important change also occurs: Javier González Ferrari leaves the presidency of the chain and Ramón Osorio becomes the company's chief executive.