The Executive Board of UNESCO recommended first to the General Conference regarding the proclamation of World Radio Day. On the proposal of the Director-General of UNESCO, Radio was established in 1946. Thereafter, the 36th session of UNESCO’s General Conference proclaimed February 13 as World Radio Day. The United Nations (UN) General Assembly endorsed UNESCO’s proclamation of World Radio Day on 14 January in 2013. Following this, the 67th session of the UN General Assembly, a resolution was adopted for proclaiming 13 February as World Radio Day.
Radio Stations In India
FM broadcasting began on 23 July 1977 in Chennai, then Madras, and was expanded during the 1990s, nearly 50 years after it mushroomed in the US. The country first experimented with private FM broadcasts in the small tourist destination of Goa and the large metropolitan areas of Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai. These were followed by private stations in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Lucknow.
Until 1993, All India Radio, a government undertaking, was the only radio broadcaster in India. The government then decided to privatise the radio broadcasting sector.It sold airtime blocks on its FM channels in Indore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Vizag and Goa to private operators, who developed their own program content. The Times Group operated its brand, Times FM, till June 1998. After that, the government decided not to renew contracts given to private operators. Instead, in 2000, the government announced the auction of 108 FM frequencies across India, opening up the FM broadcasting industry to private competition.
Radio City Bangalore, started on July 3, 2001, is India’s first private FM radio station. It launched with presenters such as Vera, Rohit Barker, Seetal Iyer, Jonzie Kurian, Geeta Modgil, Suresh Venkat, and Chaitanya Hegde and Priya Ganapathy on the weekends. The Times Group rebranded their radio operations, establishing the Radio Mirchi brand. The first Radio Mirchi station began broadcasting on October 4, 2001 in Indore.
Radio Stations In Kerala
In Kerala, Radio had a very vital role in communication. All India Radio, the national radio service, reaches much of Kerala via its Thiruvananthapuram ‘A’ Malayalam-language broadcaster. After AIR Malayalee audiences. Radio Alakal, the first Community radio in the state, started narrowcasting from Trivandrum on 1 May 2006. Kerala’s First private FM station, Radio Mango 91.9, was launched on 29th, November 2007 in Calicut, sparking off the FM revolution in the state. Today, Kerala has a host of private FM channels that are fast gaining influence among its population. Currently Club fm is the latest fm network in kerala with 5 radio station..
The theme of this year’s World Radio Day is ‘Radio and Diversity’. It brings the focus on diversity, linguistic tolerance and plurilingualism. Radio is a crucial medium to celebrate humanity, intercultural competence and democratic citizenship. On February 13, UNESCO will call on radio stations to uphold the matters of diversity, both inside a newsroom and on the airwaves.
