History of All India Radio

History of All India Radio

History of AIR

History of All India Radio : In the communication process, the word media, literally the plural form of the word medium, Radio is a very pervasive medium. Radio is a very much powerful medium of mass communication. Here in this post we'll discuss about the history of All India Radio. 

Many of us don't know about the development of Radio as a mass media, features of Radio, advantages & disadvantages of Radio, history of Radio, growth of All India Radio etc. 







You know, all most all kids of 1980-90s have experienced radio differently and seen different image of radio, It was large and its body made of wood. In village only rich have a radio at their houses.

People from neighbourhood gathered at place and listen to radio at that time. At that time programmes like Sangeet Sarita, Bhule Bisre Geet, Hawa Mahal, Jaimala, Inse Miliye, Chaya Geet and many more were the popular programmes of Vividh Bharati.

At that time radio entertained for nearly 15 to 17 hours a day and it proved to be a highly popular source of entertainment. Elders used to listen Radio News, All India Radio News but for me All India Radio news in Hindi was one of my favourite programme.

I still remember the old radio, how we waited for the music and short play programmes that used broadcast. But in 2000s the size of radio changed and later on it changed totally. New channels and stations were introduced and most of them are private stations.

It was time when listening radio become a fashion for all class of people. From a huge figure radio came to portable and then to phones and radio provides 24 hours non-stop entertainment. I know, it is hard to believe for today's generation but its true.

Before heeding further let us discuss about its development as a mass medium.

Image Source: Internet

Development of Radio as a mass media

The combination of a number of discoveries by scientists from different countries gave rise to the development of wireless technology and later to radio broadcasting.

This came about during "World War I" largely because of military requirements. After the war, radio found its commercial base and was given a social form 'through a combination of several traditions - those of telecommunications as industry and the press.

The first radio stations were set up in Pittsburgh, New York and Chicago in the 1920s to broadcast election news, sporting events and opera performances. By mid 1932 as many as 450 stations sprouted across the United States Dall run by a pool of amateurs.

Public Service Broadcasting supported by taxes rather than advertising oriented commercial broadcasting found widespread favour. Thus while the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) was established in the United States, the British Government took the initiative to set up the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as an autonomous Public Service Corporation.

Features of Radio

• Radio is the earliest form of electronic media.
• It has large audiences.
• It has a totally - undifferentiated audience composition.
• Low unit cost to the consumer.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Radio

As like every invention, radio too has some advantages and disadvantages. Here at first we will discuss about the advantages of radio and the disadvantages of radio.

Advantages of Radio
• Radio is tangible, one can get the feeling that the radio is on.
• Without straining our eyes we can hear everything. Radio has only one side and that is only audio.
• It is a portable medium, radio can be carry easily.
• We can get it anywhere in any language we would like to receive.
• It is the fastest and cheapest form of mass media.
• Radio is termed as the intimate medium. Intimacy is one of its great advantages.
• There is no language and literacy problem with radio.

Disadvantages of Radio
• No visual provision as it is only an audio medium.
• The programmes can't be preserved like newspapers.
• Technical faults may cause major disadvantage for the medium.

image Source : Internet

History and growth of Radio

Guglielmo Marconi is commonly credited as the inventor of radio in 1895. Whether he was really the first to send signals through the air is a debatable question. Eleven years prior to that, Mahlon Loomis had actually obtained a patent for Wireless telegraphy.

In India, Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose is credited as the first radio inventor. But Marconi was a very public relation oriented person, and he was able to get himself associated with the invention of radio. He provided evidence that wireless transmissions could work, he patented the invention in England and set up the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company.

Radio achieved its peak popularity in the 1930s and 1940s. Its wide range of live music, comedy, variety shows and dramatic programming provided a welcome escape to the people from the distress.

In the previous days radios were not small devices as like the present time, they were built into large wooden vacuum cases with the circuitry and speakers and large loops of wire work adjustable antenna for receiving distant stations. Later, transistors and integrated circuits replaced the vacuum tubes.

In 1935 Radio became the most important medium of information and entertainment. In America two out of three homes had radio sets where 4 national and 20 regional networks provided programmes everywhere on around the clock basis.

All India Radio (Radio in India) 

in June, 1923 the Radio Club of Bombay broadcast the first radio programme in India. Under a contract between the then Government of India and a private company named Indian Broadcasting Company ltd.

Broadcasting was started in India in July, 1927 on an experimental basis at Bombay and Kolkata simultaneously. Sound broadcasting was set up in India in 1927 with a creation of private radio clubs.

All India Radio (AIR) started the programme formally in 1936 with clear objectives to inform, educate and entertain the masses. Rapid expansion of the network took place in the post - Independence era.

When India gained independence in 1947, the AIR network had only 6 stations at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Lucknow and Tiruchirapalli with 18 transmitters. 6 transmitters on the Medium Wave (MW) and 12 on Short Wave (SW). The coverage area was 2.5 % and 11 % of the population. Radio listening on MW was confined to urban areas.

At that time 2,75,000 receiving sets were there but now there are more than 132 million estimated radio sets in the country. The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India is responsible for the national service.

Mini FM radio

All India Radio frequency

All India Radio has a network of 215 broadcasting centres with 144 medium frequency (MW), 54 high frequency (SW) and 139 FM transmitters. The coverage area is 91.42 % serving 99.13% of the people of the country.

All India Radio broadcasting langauge

AIR broadcasts programmes in 24 languages and 146 dialects in its Home Services, It covers 27 languages; 17 national and 10 foreign language in its External Services.


Here in this article, I have tried to cover up basic information about the History of All India Radio. Hope you like it. Donot forget to share it with your friends and family. if you have any suggestions for us, feel free to comment in the comment section. Thankyou very much for your time.