The Resurgence of Radio in India

World War I hampered public radio services to some extent, but at the end of the war, the business picked up momentum. Advertising on the radio started first in the US in 1920; this marked the beginning of commercial radio services. Radio broadcasting stations provided scheduled programs of lectures, news bulletins and other recreational and informative material. On account of the growing popularity of such radio programs, the demand for commercial airtime increased heavily by 1923, making radio broadcasting a profitable business. The far-reaching capability and immediacy of radio made it very popular across the world by the late 1920s (Refer Exhibit II for a brief note on the history of radio worldwide). In India, radio broadcasting started in 1927 at Mumbai and Kolkata with two privately owned transmission stations.

Commercial broadcasting was first introduced on Indian radio in 1967. In the mid-1970s, AIR started offering sponsored programs. Radio's commercials started during the early 1980s on its primary channel Vividh Bharati and were extended to other channels by the mid-1980s. All these initiatives increased the popularity of radio in the country and also generated huge revenues for AIR (from sponsorship fees and commercial advertisements). AIR also operated an External Services Division (ESD) that broadcasted programs in 24 languages (16 foreign and 8 Indian, languages). These programs generally consisted of commentaries on current affairs; review of Indian press coverage; news bulletins; talk shows on socio-economic, cultural, historical and political subjects; and classical, folk and popular music from all corners of the country...