Joaquim Maria Puyal

Joaquim Maria Puyal i Ortiga (Barcelona, March 24, 1949) is a Spanish journalist. He is considered one of the best television presenters and radio presenters in Spain, as has been confirmed by the audiences of his programs, the surveys and the numerous recognitions he has received, among which 4 Ondas awards stand out. He has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Barcelona (his thesis was recognized with the Extraordinary Doctorate Award), a degree in Romance Philology (University of Barcelona) and in Information Sciences (Autonomous University of Barcelona).

Radius

Puyal was a student of Philosophy and Letters, but he was a lover of the radio and, as he himself admits, from a very young age, on Thursdays he dedicated himself to visiting Barcelona stations to offer his services.

In 1967 he began to collaborate with Radio Barcelona, where he would remain for 17 years developing different tasks, until 1985. He began doing shifts on FM, then an incipient and minority frequency, but the station's director, Manuel Tarín Iglesias, suggested that he broadcast the Barcelona-Córdoba soccer match on Onda Media. He came to narrate more than 500 soccer matches in Spanish, between 1968 and 1976. In those years he also broadcast boxing matches from the Gran Price and the Palacio de los Deportes. However, already in those years he always traveled with a Catalan grammar book and a dictionary, to prepare himself in case broadcasts in Catalan were ever allowed. For two years he was the Barcelona correspondent for the Hora 25 program, directed by José María García, who led the Spanish radio nights.

Pioneer of radio in Catalan

On September 5, 1976, he was finally able to broadcast a football match, from FC Barcelona, in Catalan, being the first to do so. He raised the proposal with the general director of the SER chain, Manuel Terán, shortly after Franco's death. He thought that the new winds of the Transition would tolerate it, despite the fact that democracy had not yet been established in Spain. So it was. Above all because the SER approved the project of broadcasting in Catalan on the FM, a frequency that is still a minority, and because its program "Futbol en català" was sponsored from the beginning by the Caixa de Pensions "La Caixa", which paid all the costs of the program. The show quickly became a highly rated show. In 1985 he left Radio Barcelona to sign for Catalunya Ràdio along with his entire team (in which Antoni Bassas and Eduard Boet stood out). Since then and for twenty years he has not stopped narrating, in Catalan, not one of the official matches played by FC Barcelona.

In total, he has narrated more than 2,000 soccer matches, more than 500 in Spanish, and more than 1,500 in Catalan. On July 4, 2018, he announced that he would no longer broadcast Barça matches, after 50 years of doing so.

Television

The popularity and prestige of Joaquim María Puyal is due both to his work on the radio and to his presence on television, a medium in which he has directed, produced and presented various programs, always in Catalan, and with great audience success.

He began his relationship with the small screen in the Miramar studios, in the Catalan circuit of Spanish Television. There he began presenting, in 1977, and in the Catalan language, the program " Vostè Pregunta ", which meant an unprecedented format in Spain until then, and earned him, in 1979, the second Ondas de la career of him

On TVE itself and throughout Spain, he also presented Memories of Spanish cinema (1978), Mano a mano (1981) and the first broadcast of the program Good night (1982), with Mercedes Milá. After that first broadcast, he submitted his resignation after the first broadcast, due to an alleged incompatibility with the performance of other activities.

In 1985 he signed for Televisió de Catalunya to direct and present, on TV3, the program "Vostè Jutja", which was on the air for two years, until 1987.

In 1989 he premiered the program “La Vida en un xip” on TV3, which was on the air until 1992. A year later he premiered “Un tomb per la vida”, a program in which, for two years, he invited great figures from society to review his life.

On television, he also directed two contest programs for TV3, although he did not present them: “Tres pics i repicó” and “El joc del segle” (a contest invented by the one from which a board game was also released).

• Television programmes
  • Vostè question (TVE for the Catalan circuit)
  • Vostè jutja (1985 - 1987)
  • Life in a xip (1989 – 1992)
  • Three pics i repicó (1988 - 1991)
  • El joc del segle (1991 - 1992)
  • A tomb per life (1993 - 1994).

He has been the godfather of great Catalan journalists, to whom he gave their first professional opportunity, such as Antoni Bassas, Eduard Boet, Pilar Calvo, Jordi Basté, Xavier Bosch, Mònica Terribas, Manel Fuentes, Ricard Torquemada, Rut Vilar, etc. …

Since 1997, he has preferably oriented his work towards university activity and research in the field of communication theory.

Today he gives talks and conferences, and produces audiovisual programs for different channels through his own production company.

Books published

Aicnàlubma (in Catalan), published by Columna (2011).

La realidad inversa (in Spanish), a reflection on society and the media, published by Destino (2011).

Awards and recognitions

• 4 Ondas Award, awarded by Radio Barcelona, of the SER Chain:
  • 1978- National Radio Award
  • 1979- For its program “Vostè Question”, by TVE
  • 1986- For its program “Vostè Jutja”, TV3
  • 2004, Ondas a la ”Trayectoria o labor profesional más destacada”, “for his personal style of making sports radio, initiated 28 years ago and now successfully develops in Catalonia Ràdio”.
• 2004. Premis Nacionals de Radiodigüsió, Televisió, Internet i Telecommunications de la Generalidad de Cataluña, 2004, por sus retransmissions sport en el programa “Futbol en Català”, de Catalunya Ràdio, “Per fer del català la llengua vehicular de molts dels oïdors dels programes esportius del país, sigui quin sigui el seu origen cultural. ”
• Premi Ciutat de Barcelona
• Premi Nacional de Cultura, de la Generalidad de Cataluña.
• Creu de Sant Jordi, de la Generalidad de Cataluña.
• In charge of performing the pregon of the Festivals of Mercè 2011, in which he reviewed his life and the history of Barcelona and appealed to overcome the differences between citizenship.
• Three awards awarded by Òmnium Cultural.
• Double prize to the “best radio announcer” and the “best television presenter” of the centuryXX., according to popular votes in the prize to “The Numbers 1 of the Communications of the 20th Century”, awarded by the program “L’Altra Ràdio” of Ràdio 4 i Eutelsat
• Premi Català de l'any 2012