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Radio broadcasting began in India in 1922. The Government owned radio station All India Radio dominated broadcasting since 1936 but through privatization and deregulation has allowed commercial privately owned talk and music stations to reach large audiences.
Radio Broadcasting began in June 1923 during the British Raj with programs by the Bombay Presidency Radio Club and other radio clubs. According to an agreement on 23 July 1927, the private Indian Broadcasting Company Ltd (IBC) was authorized to operate two radio stations: the Bombay station which began on 23 July 1927, and the Calcutta station which followed on 26 August 1927. The company went into liquidation on 1 March 1930. The government took over the broadcasting facilities and began the Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS) on 1 April 1930 on an experimental basis for two years, and permanently in May 1932 it then went on to become All India Radio on 8 June 1936. When India attained independence, there were six radio stations within Indian territory, at Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Tiruchirapalli and Lucknow. FM broadcasting began on 23 July 1977 in Chennai, then Madras . [1]
Currently, analog terrestrial radio broadcast in India is carried out in Short Wave(SW) (6–22 MHz), Medium Wave(MW) (526–1606 kHz)and Frequency Modulation (FM) (88–108 MHz). All India Radio the public service broadcaster – has established 467 radio stations encompassing 662 radio transmitters, which include 140 MW, 48 SW, and 474 FM transmitters for providing radio broadcasting services in India. Private sector radio broadcasters transmit in FM mode only.
All India Radio(AIR), officially known since 1956 as 'Akashvani' is the national public radio broadcaster of India. It was established in 1936. All India Radio is the largest radio network in the world, and one of the largest broadcasting organizations in the world in terms of the number of languages broadcast and the spectrum of socio-economic and cultural diversity it serves. AIR's home service comprises 420 stations located across the country, reaching nearly 92% of the country's area and 99.19% of the total population. AIR originates programming in 23 languages and 179 dialects. [2]
Private participation wasn't allowed until 1993 when the government experimented with a daily, two-hour private show slot on the FM channels in Delhi and Mumbai. In 2001 the first phase of private sector participation (FM Phase I) India's radio sector began and the government conducted open auctions r a radio licenses. Of the 108 licenses issued, only 22 became operational in 12 cities. [3] Radio City Bangalore, which started on July 3, 2001, is India's first private FM radio station. [4] The second development phase of radio privatization was in 2005(FM Phase II) with 338 FM slots up for auction. 245 frequencies were taken up in the auction and the government earned US$295 million in one-time entry fees. In 2019 the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India) had sought Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's recommendation on reserve prices for auctions of radio frequencies in 283 cities to expand private FM radio across the country. This includes 23 existing cities where the government has auctioned private FM radio frequencies in the previous batches, while 260 cities will see auctions of private FM radio for the first time. [5] In 2020 April TRAI had issued recommendations on reserve price for auction of FM radio channels under FM Phase III policy. [6]
The major private radio players 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), D B Corp Ltd. which hosts My FM & Sun Network which in turn hosts Red FM. Currently, there are 371 private FM stations operating across 107 cities in India. Out of these, 31 are operated by micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs). [7]
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 Dr. Sreedher Ramamurthy, the then Director of its Audio visual Research centre of the Anna University. He is regarded as the father of community radio in India.
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. First NGO operated community Radio in India was Sangham Radio licensed to Deccan Development Society which started broadcasting on 2008 in Pastapur village, Medak district, Andhra Pradesh. [8]
As of January 2024, there are 481 Community Radio Stations in India. [9] serving farmer, tribal, coastal communities, ethnic minorities and special interests. [10]
The first amateur radio operator was licensed in 1921, and by the mid-1930s, there were around 20 amateur radio operators in India. Amateur radio operators played an important part in the Indian independence movement with the establishment of illegal pro-independence radio stations in the 1940s. India has around 16,000 licensed users of Amateur radio in India. [11]
In April 2020, as per a survey by AZ Research PPL, commissioned by the Association of Radio Operators for India, radio listenership in India touched a peak of 51 million. [12]
According to a 2019 report by FICCI-EY, the radio industry grew 7.5% in 2018. It contributes 4.2% to the overall advertising revenues of the media and entertainment sector. [13] Radio advertising revenue in India is estimated to almost double in the next five years, to ₹ 3,900 crore from ₹ 2,000 crore in 2015, rating agency CRISIL said in a report released in March 2020.
India's telecommunication network is the second largest in the world by number of telephone users with 114.8 crore subscribers as on 07 February 2024. It has one of the lowest call tariffs in the world enabled by mega telecom operators and hyper-competition among them. India has the world's second-largest Internet user-base with 747.41 million broadband internet subscribers.
Modern telecommunications in Thailand began in 1875 with the deployment of the first telegraph service. Historically, the development of telecommunication networks in Thailand were in the hands of the public sector. Government organisations were established to provide telegraph, telephone, radio, and television services, and other government agencies, especially the military, still control a large estate of radio and television spectra. Private telecommunication operators initially acquired concession agreements with state enterprises. For mobile phone services, all the concessions have been amended by successive government to last 25 years have gradually ended in 2015. For other services, the concession terms and conditions vary, ranging from one to fifteen years. Nearly all of the concessions are build-operate-transfer (BTO) contracts. The private investor has to build all the required facilities and transfer them to the state before they can operate or offer services to public.
Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz ; above the medium frequency band (MF), to the bottom of the VHF band.
Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted high frequency (HF), and the next higher frequencies are known as ultra high frequency (UHF).
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio station, while in satellite radio the radio waves are broadcast by a satellite in Earth orbit. To receive the content the listener must have a broadcast radio receiver (radio). Stations are often affiliated with a radio network that provides content in a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast, or both. Radio stations broadcast with several different types of modulation: AM radio stations transmit in AM, FM radio stations transmit in FM, which are older analog audio standards, while newer digital radio stations transmit in several digital audio standards: DAB, HD radio, DRM. Television broadcasting is a separate service that also uses radio frequencies to broadcast television (video) signals.
The FM broadcast band is a range of radio frequencies used for FM broadcasting by radio stations. The range of frequencies used differs between different parts of the world. In Europe and Africa and in Australia and New Zealand, it spans from 87.5 to 108 megahertz (MHz) - also known as VHF Band II - while in the Americas it ranges from 88 to 108 MHz. The FM broadcast band in Japan uses 76 to 95 MHz, and in Brazil, 76 to 108 MHz. The International Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT) band in Eastern Europe is from 65.9 to 74.0 MHz, although these countries now primarily use the 87.5 to 108 MHz band, as in the case of Russia. Some other countries have already discontinued the OIRT band and have changed to the 87.5 to 108 MHz band.
Radio Mirchi, also known as 98.3 Mirchi, is a nationwide network of private FM radio stations in India. It is owned by the EntertainmentNetwork India Ltd (ENIL), which is one of the subsidiaries of The Times Group. The tagline of Radio Mirchi is "Mirchi Sunnewaale Always Khush!". It is the first privately owned radio station in India.
Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting.
Pirate radio stations have operated in various countries of Asia, often putting over political or nationalist points of view. Offshore stations have attempted to reach China or overseas Chinese residents. Citizens' Radio is an unlicensed Hong Kong pro-democracy station. In Taiwan, what are known as "underground radio" stations have broadcast both pro- and anti-government opinions. Large numbers of unlicensed stations have functioned in the Philippines, of which 107.9 U-Radio (2006–2013) is among the best known. Finally, Radio First Termer was briefly operated by and for U.S. troops in Vietnam in 1971.
FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting offers higher fidelity—more accurate reproduction of the original program sound—than other broadcasting techniques, such as AM broadcasting. It is also less susceptible to common forms of interference, having less static and popping sounds than are often heard on AM. Therefore, FM is used for most broadcasts of music and general audio. FM radio stations use the very high frequency range of radio frequencies.
A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which vary from band to band.
The FM broadcasting in India began in 1977, but boomed after 2001 when the privatisation of FM broadcasting began. AIR's FM LRS was inaugurated on 1 July 2000 at 06:00 hours in Kodaikanal relaying Madurai programs in the frequency 100.5 MHz. 100.5 was so popular that LRS was upgraded to an FM Channel in just two months. The channel covered a radius of about 200km due to its location at 2200 meters above MSL at Kodaikanal. KODAI FM is popularly known as it is the biggest individual FM channel in India, in both area coverage and listenership.
Media in Goa refers to the newspapers, magazines, radio stations, cable and television networks and online media in India's smallest state. Over the past two-and-half decades, the Goa-linked online media has also grown.
Gyan Vani is an educational FM radio station in several cities of India.
Band I is a range of radio frequencies within the very high frequency (VHF) part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The first time there was defined "for simplicity" in Annex 1 of "Final acts of the European Broadcasting Conference in the VHF and UHF bands - Stockholm, 1961". Band I ranges from 47 to 68 MHz for the European Broadcasting Area, and from 54 to 88 MHz for the Americas and it is primarily used for television broadcasting in compliance with ITU Radio Regulations. With the transition to digital TV, most Band I transmitters have already been switched off.
Red FM is a defunct Malaysian English language-private radio station that used to broadcast across Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. It was managed by Star Media Radio Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Star Publications (M) Bhd. Red FM began broadcasting on 1 September 2001 and was one of Malaysia's top five English radio stations.
In India, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) conducts auctions of licenses for electromagnetic spectrum. India was among the early adopters of spectrum auctions beginning auctions in 1994.
Direct-to-Home (DTH) television is a method of receiving satellite television by means of signals transmitted from direct-broadcast satellites. The Government of India (GoI) permitted the reception and distribution of satellite television signals in November 2000. The first DTH service in the country was launched by Dish TV on 2 October 2003. DD Free Dish, the first free DTH service in India, was launched by public broadcaster Prasar Bharati in December 2004.
Broadcasting in the city of Chennai began in 1924 by the Madras Presidency Radio Club. The service was operational till the government-run All India Radio started broadcasting in the city in 1938.
