National Broadcasting Day: History And Significance — All You Need To Know

National Broadcasting Day 2022: Radio broadcasting in India began as a private venture in 1923 and 1924 when three radio clubs were established in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras (now Chennai).

National Broadcasting Day 2022 (Representational Image)

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National Broadcasting Day 2022: National Broadcasting Day is observed on July 23 all over India to commemorate the first radio broadcast made on this day, in 1927, from the Bombay Station of the Indian Broadcasting Company.

History of Radio Broadcast in India:

Radio broadcasting in India began as a private venture in 1923 and 1924 when three radio clubs were established in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras (now Chennai). But, these stations had to close down due to a lack of sufficient financial support.

It was followed by the setting up of a Broadcasting Service that began broadcasting in India in July 1927 on an experimental basis at Bombay, and a month later at Calcutta under an agreement between the Government of India and a private company called the Indian Broadcasting Company Ltd.

Faced with a widespread public outcry against the closure of the IBC, the Government took over the broadcasting on April 1, 1930, and renamed it as Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS). It was initially on an experimental basis, but later it permanently came under government control in 1932.

A radio station was established in Delhi in 1936. On June 8 of the same year, the Indian Broadcasting Service changed its name to All India Radio (AIR), and a new signature tune was added. The Delhi station eventually evolved into the nucleus of broadcasting at the national level.

Akashvani Or All India Radio (AIR)

All India Radio has come a long way since June 1936. When India became independent, the AIR had only six stations- Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Lucknow and Tiruchirappalli; with 18 transmitters- six on the medium wave and the remaining on short wave. Radio listening on the medium wave was at that time, confined to the urban elites of these cities. However, FM broadcasting began almost 30 years later, on 23 July 1977 in Chennai.

A division of Prasar Bharati, AIR is India’s very own national radio broadcasting service which reaches millions of homes across the nation today. 

Presently, All India Radio (AIR) is the largest radio network in the world. With 479 stations across the country, it reaches over 92 per cent of the area of India and is accessible to 99.19 per cent of the population of the country.

The aim of AIR is to educate, inform and entertain the masses. With its motto ‘Bahujan Hitaya: Bahujan Sukhaya’, it broadcasts programs in 23 languages and 179 dialects.

Significance Of National Broadcasting Day:

Indian radio had an enormous impact on the creation of an independent India. Before independence, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's Azad Hind Radio and Congress Radio both contributed to rousing Indians against the British. In the war of 1971, Akashvani was crucial in assisting Bangladesh to free itself from a repressive Pakistan. These make National Broadcasting Day a very important occasion for our country.