Overview
La Cadena SER (the SER Network) is Spain's premier radio network in terms of both seniority (it was created in 1924) and audience share (it had a regular listenership in 2018 of 4,139,000). The acronym SER stands for Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión (Spanish Broadcasting Company).
Cadena SER's programmes – which includes news, sport, talk, entertainment and culture – can be received throughout Spain. The network's main studios are located on the Gran Vía in Madrid; In addition, studios across the country contribute with local and regional news and information, and local programming in each location amounting between 2 and 3.5 hours daily.
Cadena SER is owned by Unión Radio, the majority shareholder in which is currently the PRISA group, a major player in the Spanish media market which also controls, music radio stations such as LOS40, Cadena Dial, Radiolé and a number of newspapers (including the influential national daily El País), as well as other media in Spanish-speaking countries around the world.
History
At 18:30 on Friday, 14 November 1924, station EAJ-1 Radio Barcelona, the first Spanish radio station to receive an official license from the government of General Miguel Primo de Rivera, began regular broadcasting. Seven months later, on 17 June 1925, Unión Radio – a company which had the backing of the leading manufacturers of electrical and broadcasting equipment in Spain, Germany, and the United States – opened station EAJ-7 Radio Madrid, and when the foundations were in place for the formation of Spain's first national radio network on 10 November 1926, this same company also took over the ownership of Radio Barcelona. By 1927 Unión Radio was operating not only Radio Madrid and Radio Barcelona, but also EAJ-5 Radio Sevilla, EAJ-9 Radio Bilbao, and EAJ-22 Radio Salamanca, enabling all of these stations to broadcast simultaneous, i.e. networked, programming for most of their time on air, with Radio Madrid as the chief production center.
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