National Broadcasting Day

In this era of electronic communication when news travels in the speed of light through what not, Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, etc has completely replaced even the Television which was a luxury in the earlier days. So when we talk about how this all started, we need to get back to the days of radio or to be more precise “Akashvani”. In India, radio broadcasting began during the British rule in 1923 under the imitative of the Radio Club of Bombay.” The first-ever radio broadcast in the country went on the air from the Bombay Station under the Indian Broadcasting Company in the year 1927 on 23rd July. The station was then owned by a private company called the Indian Broadcasting Company. 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. Later it permanently came under government control in 1932. On 8th of June, 1936, the Indian State Broadcasting Service became All India Radio. Currently, AIR is one of the largest public broadcasting organizations in the world. It is largest in terms of the spectrum of socio-economic, the number of languages of broadcasts and cultural diversity it serves.

AIR service now comprises around 414 stations located across the country with reach to the 99.19 per cent of the total population and 92 per cent of the country’s area in 23 languages and 146 dialects.

Hence, to mark the most important event in the history National Broadcasting Day is observed on 23rd July all over India.