Augusto Delkáder: “When in doubt, journalism”

The first time I heard Augusto Delkáder, who died this Friday in Madrid, speak in public, I discovered a visionary. It was in 1990, at the closing of a meeting of SER directors in Granada. I was the very young director of one of the smallest stations in the network and he was the new general director (later president and CEO). His diction was not the best, but everything was understood. And what he conveyed that autumn noon was a brilliant and exciting vision of what he wanted for the company's future.

Since its arrival, and for more than three decades, this radio station has transformed from a network based on entertainment to one built on current affairs and journalism. Surely these days many will remember a phrase of his that has become a motto: “When in doubt, journalism.” Under Augusto, the radio was modernized with new formats and professional management. He opted for Iñaki Gabilondo to beat Luis del Olmo in the mornings and for José Ramón de la Morena to dethrone José María García in the evenings. He identified internal talent and created the creativity ecosystem that allowed professionals such as Carlos Llamas, Gemma Nierga, Xavier Sardà, Javier del Pino, Paco González and many more to grow. It placed the listener at the center of the company's objectives and removed the weekend from ostracism and oblivion. His formula was successful and unbeatable.

At the same time, and under his leadership, local radio was restructured, putting journalists and content managers in charge, and sharing modernization objectives with associated and affiliated stations, until it became one of the axes of the company's proper functioning.

His management did not focus only on talk radio, as he promoted music radio in a way that was until then unimaginable, with Los40 as the greatest exponent. And it was not limited to Spain either, since it deployed an extraordinary project in Latin America.

A brilliant man, with character and a special genius, he knew how to listen, detect talent and surround himself with the best teams. He treated them with demand and ambition; and he rewarded their loyalty with humanity. Many professionals in the fields of journalism, music radio, management and advertising owe their success to him.

For more than three decades, he surpassed the objectives he had announced that distant autumn noon through nose, commitment and perseverance. Spanish radio owes it its great leap in quality and for laying the foundations of its modernity in democracy. And those of us who share a career with him at SER owe him a work philosophy that has always made us feel proud of our radio station.