[8] The final program under the Obama administration, The Smithsonian Salutes Ray Charles, is documented on YouTube as "WETA at the White House", features singers like Demi Lovato, Usher, and Anthony Hamilton.

Delan was also co-creator and was an executive producer of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Music, whose first recipient, Paul Simon, was presented the award in a ceremony at the Warner Theater.

Delan attended Phillips Exeter Academy[12] alongside subsequent music, film, and television veterans Bobby Shriver, Miles Chapin and Benmont Tench (former keyboard player for the late Tom Petty).

He was an active journalist during this time, writing for the Henry David Thoreau Journal,[15] as editor of The Nassau Lit, and as a writer and critic for The Daily Princetonian.

[32] There, he helped produce investigative reports with several big names in media, including a film featuring writer and historian William Manchester,[33] and hosts Hugh Downs,[34] Peter Jennings,[35] and Barbara Walters.

"[39] In 1986, Delan was hired at HBO[40] to help build and serve as an executive producer of the America Undercover documentary series, as well as informational family programming specials.

When Landmark Communications in Norfolk, Virginia, purchased The Travel Channel, Delan was hired in 1992 to help restart and grow the network, based in Atlanta.

[52] Delan also worked with filmmakers to develop original films (Marina Zenovich on "Independent's Day" and Leslie McCleave on "Meeting Marty"), as well as with prominent actors like Jon Cryer, Susan Sarandon, and Meg Tilly.

As its first Managing Director and Chief Content Officer, Delan cited the goal of telling "the stories of the most pressing issue of our time, brain and mental health".

"[63] Delan writes a biweekly syndicated column, The Unspin Room, for Pulitzer Prize-winning daily, The Berkshire Eagle, whose roots reach back to 1789.