60 years of ONDAS
Each year, the PRISA Group presents the Ondas Awards for the most outstanding Spanish and international audiovisual productions.
These are the most prestigious audiovisual awards in Spain and have the greatest international impact. They were founded by Cadena SER’s Radio Barcelona station 60 years ago.
The Ondas Awards sprang from an idea that Ramón Barbat, the then head of Radio Barcelona, had. He met with Cadena Ser’s board of directors in 1953, which deemed it appropriate to set up and fund a major national prize. That very same year, on 7 November, the First National Scriptwriting Prize was awarded. One year later, in 1954, it would become the Ondas Awards.
In 1956, Ondas expanded its horizons with the international awards category. In 1957, a new section was added: the Ondas Television Awards and, later on, in 1991, the Cinema awards category was included.
But it was not until 1993 that the final twist in the Ondas Awards’ long and prestigious history came about, when a category was created to reward the most outstanding musical productions.
The Ondas Awards have since become the most eagerly-awaited media event of the year in which a total of 21 awards are contested.
60 years, 6 different statuettes and more than 1,500 prizes later, the Ondas Awards have become much more than just a ceremony held in the middle of November. They turn Barcelona into a celebration: “The Celebration of Radio”.
Awards Statuettes
1954
The Ondas Awards first took the form of a golden statue of a woman with her arms raised holding a laurel crown.
1955
The prize was a female figure with a laurel branch around her hips.
1958
The figure became a golden eagle on a dome with its wings spread upwards.
1959
A new version of the statuette was created, a silver eagle on a pedestal.
1972
The Ondas Awards became a silver Pegasus.
1992
A bronze Pegasus, heavier and much more stylised, is the current statuette, which has been presented to the Ondas Awards winners since 1992.