Radio in India

Disclaimer: The note/s given below is/ are a compilation of information taken from various sources. The references to the sources are provided at the end. The views expressed in the note/s are those of the concerned student/s/ intern/s. The blogger or the compiler will not be responsible in any manner whatsoever regarding the authenticity of the information provided in the note/s.

These notes are being compiled to help the students for educational purposes during Covid-19 pandemic.

 "In India's remote villages there are many who, after the day's work is done, find time hanging heavily...and there must be many officials whose duties carry them into out-of-way places, where they crave the company of friends and solace of human companionship. To all these and many more broadcasting will be a blessing and boon of real value."

-         Lord Irwin, Viceroy of India

●       In India, the broadcasting media marked its beginning in the 1920s. Precisely, in June 1923, under the British Raj, the Radio Club of Bombay made the first-ever broadcast in the country.

●       In July 1927, the private Indian Broadcasting Company Ltd led to the establishment of the first radio station - the Bombay Station which began on July 23, 1927, followed by the second on 26 August 1927 i.e. the Calcutta Station.

●       However, the company witnessed liquidation in 1930 and the government took over the broadcasting facilities. Indian State Broadcasting Service began (ISBS) on April 1, 1930.

●       While it was established on an experimental basis, it went on to become All India Radio on 8 June 1936.

ALL INDIA RADIO

“All India Radio was worldwide.”

                                               -Ajay Naidu, American Actor

❖    June 8, 1930, is a golden mark for broadcasting in India. On this day, the ISBS was renamed All India Radio.

❖    This very term was coined by Sir Lionel Fielden. He was the first broadcasting controller of India. A senior producer in BBC, he spent five years in India and is one of the main people of established All India Radio.

AKASHVANI MYSORE

❖    The first private radio station was set up in Mysore - Akashvani Mysore.

THE ‘KICKSTART’ MILESTONE

❖    The real breakthrough was achieved in 1936, when the first news bulletin from the Delhi Station went on-air on 19 January. The bulletin was both in English and Hindustani and also talked about the current affairs from the station.

         THE ICONIC TUNE

❖    The legendary tune of All India Radio was composed by Walter Kaufmann. A Czech national, Walter came to India at the age of 27 as a refugee.

❖    From 1936 to 1946, Walter worked at AIR as the music director and composed the iconic signature tune with the renowned Indian orchestra conductor Mehli Mehta, who played violin for it.

 

Stream All India Radio Signature Tune by tajmahalfoxtrot1 | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

‘While millions are familiar with the tune, few are aware that it was created by the most improbable source - a Czech Jewish refugee fleeing the Nazis in Europe!’

THE FIRST NATIONAL MUSIC PROGRAMME

❖    The first national music program by All India Radio was broadcasted on July 20, 1952.

VIVIDH BHARTI - INDIA’S ALL-TIME FAVORITE

“It is a telling statement that in the era of the unstoppable onslaught of satellite television, radio rules in a vast part of India. No other single programme has beamed itself across the country, for more than 30 uninterrupted years, as had Vividh Bharati. The entertainment programme, presenting a mix of film music, skits, short plays, and other features, broadcasts 24 hours countrywide. This is much greater than the present reach of FM radio, restricted to metros. Not just, longevity, Vividh Bharati is about bringing connectivity and entertainment to India’s masses that need only to fork out less than Rs. 200/- for a tiny receiver to feel like they belong in the greater scheme of things, that there’s some joy in life in India’s vast rural beyond.”

-         India Today

❖    One of the most popular services provided by the All India Radio - Vividh Bharti was inaugurated on 3rd October 1957.

❖    Vividh Bharti of All India Radio is the largest entertainment network in the country since its very establishment in 1957.

❖    ‘Jaimala’, ‘Hawamahal’, ‘Inse Miliye’, ‘Sangeet Sarita’, ‘Bhoole Bisre Geet’, ‘Chitralok’, ‘Chhayageet’ are a few of the many popular programmes which were and are part of the listener’s daily life, generation after generation.

❖    On 5th October 2008, Vividh Bharti Programmes were made available on DTH, making it a 24-hour popular music channel.

❖    Vividh Bharti’s wide network consists of 37 centers and some Local Radio Stations and reaches more than 97% population of the country.

❖    Even in the neighboring countries, Vividh Bharti Programmes are highly popular. Listeners listen to it through short-wave networks and regularly send appreciation letters to All India Radio.

❖    The one-of-its-kind music countdown show Binaca Geetmala was earlier broadcasted on Radio Ceylon from 1952 to 1988 and was later shifted to the Vividh Bharati network in 1989. It ran until 1994.

❖    The well-known radio presenter Ameen Sayani gained immense popularity through this programme

Ameen Sayani... Memories of Binaca Geetmala

         CHE GUEVERA - ON AIR WITH K.P. BHANUMATHY

❖    Che Guevera, an Argentine Marxist Revolutionary visited India in 1959 and had an exclusive interview on All India Radio with K.P. Bhanumathy.

Source: http://goo.gl/qywz 

WHAT LED TO ‘AKASHVANI’

❖    Akashvani is a Sanskrit word that means ‘voice from the heaven’ or ‘celestial announcement’.

❖    Akashvani was first used by M.P. Gopalaswamy when he set up the country’s first private radio station in his residence - ‘Vittal Vihar’ in 1936.

❖    Moreover, Akashvani was used in the context of radio.

❖    The term ‘Akashvani’ was suggested by the very famous poet Rabindranath Tagore through a poem penned in 1938 for the inauguration of Calcutta’s shortwave service.

❖    However, the name gathered wide acceptance only after 1956 when India’s Public Radio Broadcaster - All India Radio adopted Akashvani as its on-air name.

        THE FIRST-EVER FM SERVICE

❖    The first-ever FM Service marked its beginning on July 23rd, 1977 in Madras, now known as Chennai.

❖    Time Slots on FM Channel to Private Parties started in 1993 in Delhi and Mumbai. This marked the revolution in FM Radio Stations in India.

         BIG B ON AIR

❖    It may not be known to many, but India’s greatest superstar Mr. Amitabh Bachchan interviewed for All India Radio as a radio announcer.

❖    Known for his deep baritone, it is quite surprising that Mr. Bachchan was rejected by an AIR employee Mr. Ameen Sayani. 

“I was rejected for the job in All India Radio because of my heavy voice.”

-         Amitabh Bachchan, actor 

❖    While Sayani went on to become a popular radio announcer, Amitabh Bachchan switched to the movie industry.

❖    Indirectly, All India Radio gave India its all-time superstar.

PRIVATE RADIO STATIONS

➔    The FM Broadcasting in India began in 1977 but boomed only after the 2000s, with the privatization of the Broadcasting Industry.

➔    Private Participation wasn’t authenticated by the government until 1993. The government started an experimental initiative with a daily 2-hour slot in big cities like Delhi and Mumbai.

➔    The first phase of private sector participation came in 2001when India’s radio sector began to expand. The government conducted open auctions for radio licenses.

➔    108 licenses were issued in total, out of which only 22 became operational in 12 cities of the country.

➔    On paper, Radio City Banglore is the first private radio station in India established on July 3, 2001.

➔    The major private radio stations in India are Entertainment Network India Limited which hosts Radio Mirchi, BIG FM 92.7, Jagran Prakashan Group's, Music Broadcast Limited which hosts Radio City (Indian radio station)|Radio City, D B Corp Ltd. which hosts My FM & Sun Network which hosts Red FM. Currently, 371 private FM stations are operating across 107 cities in India. Out of these, 31 are operated by micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs).

 COMMUNITY RADIO

➢    Community radio is a type of radio service that caters to the interests of a specific area, broadcasting material that has relevance to a local audience.

➢    In the UK, it originated in the illegal pirate radio stations whereas in America, as well as in India, community radio is more commonly non-profit and non-commercial, often using licensed class-D FM band transmitters.

➢    Community Radio was not legal in India till 2002. There had been a campaign by free speech advocates, academics, and community members across the country to get community radio legalized.

TURNING POINT FOR COMMUNITY RADIO

●       The turning point was a 1995 ruling of the Supreme Court in which the honorable court said that the “airwaves are public property and must be used for the public good”.

●       This 1995 ruling was the foundation stone of community radio in India. Immediately after the ruling came out, the civil society groups formulated and adopted a Bangalore Declaration, in which the need for a third tier of broadcasting, i.e. community radio was articulated.

●       This was followed up by a Pastapur Declaration in 2000 which reiterated the need for community radio and also asserted that it ought to be non-profit making, localized, and community-owned. These two declarations played important role in the development of the Community Radio movement in India.

●       In December 2002, the Government of India approved policy for the grant of licenses for setting up of Community Radio Stations to well-established educational institutions including IITs/IIMs.On 1 February 2004, Anna FM was launched as India's first campus “community” radio station by the students of Anna University.

●       In 2006, the Government of India amended the community radio policy which allowed the agricultural universities, educational institutions, and civil society institutions such as NGOs to apply for a community radio broadcasting license under the FM band 88–108 MHz.

●       The first NGO-operated community Radio in India was Sangham Radio licensed to Deccan Development Society which started broadcasting in 2008 in Pastapur village, Medak district, Andhra Pradesh.

●       The government of India announced in November 2019 that 118 new community radio stations are in the process of setting up.

●       Currently, India has 262 Community radio stations serving Farmer, Tribal, Coastal communities, ethnic minorities, and special interests.

NEWS REPORT

COMMUNITY RADIO STATIONS FIGHT COVID 19

Source: Times of India

At a time when misinformation had taken over the social media messaging, six community radio stations in Uttarakhand have come together under the banner of Umeed Network or Hope to provide relevant locally produced that provides valuable insights to the listens and fights fake news. These range from information related to new quarantine rules, locally available nutritious food, stress-busting techniques, educational programs, and entertainment.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/community-radio-stations-join-hands-to-fight-covid/articleshow/77304215.cms

 

 PHOTO GALLERY

The transmitter used by the Madras Residency Radio Club in 1942.

Source: http://goo.gl/1QPGqW

 

The building on 18 Alipur Road, Delhi which was used by the broadcast radio from 1936 to 1943.

Source: http://goo.gl/VTkR2A

East Nook, the building where the studios of AIR Madras were located, from June 1938 to July 1953. The building no longer exists.

Source: The Hindu Archives

Jinnah announced the creation of Pakistan over All India Radio.

Source: http://goo.gl/YS8W7f

 

                                                       R.D. Burman in AIR studio.

Source: http://goo.gl/4vQwf7

 

Singer Mukesh presenting the show ‘Jaymala’ on AIR.

Source: http://goo.gl/mzRSfI

REFERENCES

●       Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

●       Prasar Bharti

●       Vividh Bharti

●       Community Radio in India

●       Times of India

●       India Today

●       Indian Express

Bibliography

●       “Community Radio in India.” https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/community-radio-india.

●       “Facts about Indian Radio.” https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-facts-history-indian-radio-aniruddha-pawade.

●       “Indian Express.” https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/riding-the-waves-a-shared-history/.

●       “India Today.” https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/80-years-of-air-remembering-the-golden-days-of-all-india-radio-12987-2016-06-08.

●       “Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.” https://www.mib.gov.in/broadcasting/community-radio-stations-0.

●       “Prasar Bharti.” https://prasarbharati.gov.in/all-india-radio-2/#1588508332867-217ff0f1-f4fe.

●       “Vividh Bharti.” https://prasarbharati.gov.in/vividh-bharati-2/.

Compiled and Edited by

Tanya Pratap

Batch of 2023

B.A. (Hons.) Journalism

Lady Shri Ram College for Women, New Delhi