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Broadcasting started in India in 1927 with two privately-owned transmitters at Mumbai and Calcutta which were taken over by the Government in 1930. These were operating under the name “Indian Broadcasting Service” until 1936 when it was given the present name “All India Radio (AIR)”. It also came to be known as “Akashwani” from 1957.
In 1956, UNESCO selected India for a unique experiment known as ‘Radio Rural Forums Project’, which was earlier successfully implemented in Canada. Pune was the site of this experiment. Village radio forums were created and made to listen to half-hour radio program broadcast by AIR and then discussed the content of the program. The theme of the experiment was, "listen, discuss and act". The research evaluation showed that, "the Pune radio forums helped to unify the villagers around common decisions and common acts, widening the influence of gram panchayat and broadening the scope of its action."
The radio forums continued to do some good work. In fact, credit for the success of the Green Revolution and the attaining of self-sufficiency in food production was partly given to radio. With the advent of the transistor, radio receiver sets became cheap and reach of radio was enlarged. The farmers of the Thanjavur paddy growing belt in Tamil Nadu, named the hybrid variety of paddy they grew after listening about it over transistor radio as "Transistor paddy."
The Five Year Plans have given new impetus to the growth of broadcasting resulting in a phenomenal expansion from 6 stations at the dawn of Independence to around 200 stations at the close of the millennium. Today, AIR’s network comprises 231 stations which provides coverage to 99.16 % of the population and reaches 91.82% of the total area.
Social responsibility and Public Service broadcasting continue to be hallmark of AIR. The services provided by AIR on its primary channel including local radio stations are a vital part of life in the country. It educates, entertains and provides information for enrichment of lives of the people and it seeks to cater to the interests of the few as well as of the many. It provides- Information through news and current affairs programmes. Entertainment through Music –devotional, classical (Indian & Western) Folk/ Pop/ Light, Film songs etc. Education through extension programmes for specific audience including farmers, women, children, youth, troops, formal and non formal education, Adult education, IGNOU, UGC etc.
The AIR network comprises the National Channel, Regional Stations, Local Radio Stations, Vividh Bharati Centres, FM Stereo Service, External Services and North-Eastern Services.
With the advancement of technology and innovation of new trends in interactive broadcasting, it is now possible for the listeners to receive popular programmes and music/songs stored in a computer system. AIR has developed a system for providing ‘Music on Demand’, wherein listeners will be able to get the music of their choice on request. All India Radio has started an interactive broadcasting service for providing News on phone. Through this service, listeners can access a capsule of the latest news highlights.
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