Radio: A Comprehensive Overview

12.0 Introduction

The evolution of media is intertwined with technological advancements. Media adapts and reinvents itself based on societal demands and technological advancements.
This unit explores the historical growth and development of radio in both Indian and international contexts, emphasizing the integration of technology in its journey.

12.1 Learning Outcomes

Understand the historical development of radio as both a technology and a medium.
Describe the historiography of radio.
Explain the underlying philosophy that shaped radio in India.
Analyze the political economy influencing radio's growth in India.

12.2 History of Radio

12.2.1 International Perspective

Radio gained prominence during World War II for military communication between bases, facilitating orders and commands.
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, a German scientist, demonstrated the transmission of electromagnetic waves in 1887; the unit of radio frequencies is named after him.
Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian engineer, achieved the first transatlantic wireless signal transmission from England to Newfoundland in 1901.
Lee de Forest conducted a live radio broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York in 1910. This event marked a significant milestone in wireless voice and music transmission.
Commercial broadcasting and public service broadcasting developed in tandem in the West. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) of England is a key example of public service broadcasting.
Public service broadcasting is still relevant in Third World countries, but sometimes it is reduced to being a mouthpiece for the state.
The UN's Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) project has increased radio's importance in the globalized world. Radio needs to adapt to the changing conditions.

12.2.2 National Perspective

Radio in India began as an amateur experiment during British rule. Giachand Motwane established the Bombay Presidency Radio Club in 1920.
Motwane is credited with recording and broadcasting the first radio program in India.
The British government approved the launch of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for public service programming across Britain in January 1927.
The state became involved later, and upon India's independence, the control of radio was transferred from one government to another.
The 1990s brought new developments and expectations for radio, but a critical review presents a mixed picture.

12.3 Radio in Colonial Time

12.3.1 Amateur Radio

Radio in India started as an amateur endeavor. Motwane's venture, with the call sign 2KC, lasted only one day.
The 'Times of India' and the Post and Telegraph office jointly launched a station in Bombay the following year. Its signals reached up to 100 miles away in Pune.
A third station, 2FV, with 750 kHz and a 1.5 kW transmitter, was established in Bombay two years later.
The Walter Rogers Company started a fourth station in Bombay, 2AX, primarily an Adventist church venture.
The Marconi Company of England conducted test broadcasts in Calcutta. The Calcutta Radio Club, with a transmitter loaned from Marconi Company, launched its station in November 1923 with call sign 2BZ.
The West Bengal government also launched a station with the call sign 5AF with the help of a transmitter from Marconi Company.
The Madras Presidency Radio Club, 2GR, started operating in 1924, with the Governor of Madras as its patron. It closed in 1927 due to financial problems, and its transmitter was donated to the Corporation of Madras, operating under the international call sign VUM.
Other stations existed in Madras and Bangalore, operated by the Crompton Electric Company, both operational in 1926.
A postal official established a 1-watt station at home in Hyderabad in 1933.

12.3.2 State Involvement

The Government of India signed a contract with the Indian Broadcasting Company (IBC) Ltd. in 1927 to begin experimental broadcasting in Bombay and Calcutta.
This coincided with the launch of the non-commercial, crown-chartered British Broadcasting Corporation following the Crawford Report (March 2, 1926) and launched on January 1, 1927.
By 1926, discussions were underway in the government to formalize broadcasting systems and structures.
IBC ended the Radio Clubs' rules to increase revenue through radio license sales. The Madras Presidency Radio Club closed in October 1927.
Setting up the first operational transmitters in Bombay and Calcutta took a year and incurred significant costs.
The company was underfinanced with only $42,000$ pounds. Only 3,594 licenses were issued by the end of 1927 due to India’s vast geography and lack of electricity.
IBC felt that the realities of Britain were not to be found in India. BBC, which operated on a similar commercial monopoly agreement between 1922 and 1926, was expanding rapidly in Britain.
By 1930, IBC had opened only two small transmitters and issued fewer than 8,000 licenses. Most programs were in English.
Lord Birkenhead advised IBC to cater to the “English Speaking Population, that is to say Europeans and the educated Indians of the cities”, ignoring the masses.
IBC was a financial failure and went into liquidation in 1930 before completing its fourth year.
Speculative business was occurring in shipping radio sets and transmitters. Pressure from businesses, programmers, and the public led the government to take over the Bombay and Madras stations in April 1930.
The government purchased IBC's assets and placed them under the Department of Industry and Labour.
In 1930, during the Civil Disobedience Movement, the government recognized the potential of the Indian State Broadcasting Services (ISBS) for consolidating the Indian state and political unity.
Financial difficulties and lack of enthusiasm led to the closure of IBC in October 1931.
Concerns in Britain arose that the Bombay and Calcutta radio stations might be sold to American commercial interests. The Federation of British Industry lobbied against the sale.
Representations and agitations led the government to reverse its orders on November 23, 1931, doubling the cess on radio sets.
In 1932, the British Broadcasting Corporation started an Empire Service, doubling the sale of receiving sets in less than two years, which increased government revenue through license fees and import duties.
Though the number of listeners increased, it remained confined to the elite.
The government's decision to start a radio station in Delhi was driven by financial viability. The Delhi station went on air on January 1, 1936.
Radio started being used as a medium of propaganda against the Congress-led independence movement and Germany, as directed by the Empire Intelligence Service (1940).
Radio was linked to intelligence gathering, with All India Radio's cooperation deemed essential.
John Reith, the first Director General of BBC, expressed interest in Indian Broadcasting. In 1934, Willingdon sought Reith's help to find someone for a five-year contract. Reith considered the assignment but was turned down by higher authorities.
Lionel Fielding from BBC was selected to shape AIR in the style of BBC. But Reith and Fielding’s vision to build up broadcasting in India in the line of BBC remained a distant dream.
AIR was designated to remain within the Industries and Labour Department, unlike the self-governing style of BBC.
Fielding renamed ISBS to All India Radio (AIR) in 1936 after persuading Viceroy Linlithgow.
Fielding recruited young people and, with Chief Engineer Goyder, started short-wave transmission in 1938, expanding AIR’s coverage.
Lucknow station started on April 2, 1938, and Madras station on June 16, the same year. In 1939, the Trichur station went on air, and external services also started.
Fielden left Indian soil permanently by 1940.
Frank Lugard Brayne and others advocated radio for rural community uplift, leading to rural radio stations in areas near Lahore, Delhi, Peshawar, Madras, Midnapore, and Hyderabad. These stations were incorporated into the All India Radio network after 1937.
Indian Nationalist groups explored ‘illegal’ counter broadcasting. From 1940, amateur radio operators set up pro-Congress stations such as Azad Hind Radio.
Azad Hind Radio began operating on August 26, 1942, after the arrest of Mahatma Gandhi. It broadcast on 41.78 meters and was shifted multiple times to avoid detection.
Historian Gautam Chatterjee says, Vitthal Rao Radio Patvardhan brought broadcasting equipment of the Congress Radio to Nasik and was kept in Sankaracharya Math from where the Azad Radio went on air
Ram Manohar Lohia and Vithaldas Madhavji Khakar were given the responsibility to organize broadcasting messages and programmes during the movement.
Two amateur radio broadcasters ‘Bob” Tanna and Nariman Abarbad Printer played a key role in setting up Congress radio.
Owen Williamson says Congress radio's signal was audible throughout the Indian subcontinent, and as far away as Japanese-occupied Burma
The first Indian administrator of AIR was A. S. Bokhari, who was the Director General during the war years, the independence movement, and the partition.
A new broadcasting house was built on Parliament Street, New Delhi. On June 3, 1947, Lord Mountbatten, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Mohd. Ali Jinnah gave their historical speeches through AIR.

12.4 Radio After Independence

After the British left, India had six stations in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Lucknow, and Tiruchirapalli with 18 transmitters. The coverage area was 2.5% and 11% of the population. Radio listening on MW was confined to urban areas.
Communication was recognized as important for national development before India's independence. The Indian National Congress formed a Sub-committee on Communication under the National Planning Committee.
The report of the National Planning committee cited the dissemination of news and useful information, adult education, fighting rural ignorance, propaganda by the State and entertainment as the target of broadcasting for independent India (NPC: section 13).
After independence, the Indian government announced a development-oriented agenda dedicated to improving economic, educational, and health conditions.
The government adopted the recommendations of the National Planning Committee as the foundation of its communication policies for Development Communication.
J.R.D. Tata and G.D. Birla drafted the Bombay Plan also called A Plan for Economic Development of India., which supported private enterprise and protectionist politics in support of indigenous capital. However, the state remained the nodal agency in the area of economic growth.
In 1955, the Industrial Policy Statement was adopted, in which basic and strategic industries were reserved for development in the public sector. Similarly, in the Industrial Policy resolution of 1956, telecommunication, broadcasting and defence equipment was also reserved for the public sector.

12.4.1 Post Colonial Period

In the First Five Year plan, no financial allotment was done for the broadcasting sector neither any mention was made on it. But investment to the tune of $4.94$ crores was done and by 1956, most of the region was covered by AIR.
Second Five Year plan envisaged wider coverage and spoke about setting up a television station with an allocation of $40$ lakh. Of the entire plan allocation of $9$ crores the maximum amount i.e. $267.81$ lakh was earmarked for studio installation and additional office accommodation.
By 1960, 56% of the population and 37% of the country’s area was covered by medium wave services.
Even in 1984 a reliable medium-wave service could reach only 90% of the population and 75% of the geographical area.
A person with a radio set was required to deposit a fee amount at the local post office to ensure continuing reception of signals.
The system of collecting licence fee was eventually abolished in the 1970s.
After 1968 the annual rate of increase in licenses has fallen steadily and the numbers of household with radio sets were only about 25 million.
During the Green Revolution in India, AIR had been a close companion of the revolution. It was naturally expected that the demand will increase for the sets. But it did not happen as expected.
In 1962 India fought a war with China in the North- Eastern front. the government constituted a committee on broadcasting and Information media, popularly known as the Chanda Committee, on the 14th of December, 1964.
The committee reviewed the operation of various media units under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and submitted a report on Radio and Television on 18 April 1966.
The committee felt that it was not possible in the Indian context for a creative medium like broadcasting to flourish under the regimentation of departmental rules and regulations. Therefore it recommended the constitution of a separate corporation for radio and television.
Another recommendation was for the starting of a commercial service which was started from Vividh Bharati in 1967.
The Lok Sabha was informed by the government that it was not the opportune time to consider the conversion of AIR into an autonomous corporation. But, a major structural change was accepted i.e. to separate Radio and Television and Doordarshan came into existence on April 1, 1976 under the I&B Ministry.
A white paper on the misuse of the mass media during the emergency was presented to the parliament in August 1977.
After the new Janata Party government took charge, the working group on Autonomy for AIR and DD was constituted by the Ministry of I&B by a gazette notification dated August 17, 1977, under the Chairmanship of B. G. Verghese with 11 members.
Verghese Committee recommended setting up of an independent public corporation acting impartially, as Trustee in the public interest referred to as Akash Bharati in the tune of National Broadcasting Trust.
India hosted the Asian Games in 1982 and television received a major boost.
In 1984, Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister of India and he was very keen on the medium. There was a general apathy in the government to rejuvenate the medium.

12.4.2 Time of Free Airwaves

1990s was a very critical period for India both politically and economically suffering from internal political instability and the fragile National Front coalition faced a nationwide crisis in the summer of 1990 over its affirmative action policies.
By autumn, a campaign by the BJP to build a Hindu temple at the site of a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya resulted in widespread communal violence. The government collapsed when the BJP pulled out. Anew minority government failed to pass the scheduled budget in February 1991 when it lost the Congress Party’s external support.
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in May 1991.
Foreign exchange reserves fell to $1.2$ billion in January 1991. By the time a new government took over in June, reserves could cover only two weeks of imports. India was close to defaulting on its sovereign debt.
Thus India negotiated a $1.8$ billion loan from IMF with conditions resulting in the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) which pre-empted the involvement of the state in state expenditures in many welfare sectors including health and education.
PRASAR BHARATI: Prasar Bharati Broadcasting Corporation of India (BCI) Act was enacted with the objective to confer autonomy on Akashvani and Doordarshan, thereby ensuring that they function in a fair, objective and creative manner.
The Prasar Bharati Bill of 1989 is largely based on the Verghese Report (1978) and the Prasar Bharati Bill (1979) that was introduced by the Janata regime in Parliament in May, 1979.
The bill manages to sneak in a representative of MIB as a part time governor. This is not the ‘full autonomy’ the Verghese Committee had in mind.
The bill of 1979 became an Act in 1990 with approval by all political parties in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
The first step the ruling Congress Government took in response to the ‘invasion’ by cross-border satellite television was to set up the Varadam Committee (1991) to re-examine the Prasar Bharati Act of 1990.
Some of the recommendations were incorporated in the Broadcasting Bill introduced in Parliament in May, 1997.
The Nitish Sengupta Committee (1996) was constituted in 1996 to have another look at the Prasar Bharati Act and to suggest amendments.
The government is more interested in revenue but without proper service condition or focused programme presentation earning revenue can only remain a dream and Prasar Bharati a mirage.
The Supreme Court of India gave a ruling declaring airwaves as public property in 1995 which translated into the radio sector being opened up to private players.
The then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had announced the licensing of 295 more radio stations in 2013-14.
Private FM channels are mainly urban centric and plays 24X7 film songs and News is not allowed to be broadcast yet.
Another offshoot of Supreme Court order was the opening up of the airwaves for Community Radio.
The Bangalore-based communication campaign group, ‘VOICES’ convened a gathering of radio broadcasters, policy planners, media professionals and not- for- profit associations in September 1996 to study how community radio could be relevant to India, and to deliberate on policies appropriate for such an action.
A Declaration calling for the establishment of community broadcasting was signed.
A UNESCO sponsored workshop, hosted by an Andhra Pradesh NGO, Deccan Development Society (DDS) from July 17-20, 2000 in Hyderabad issued the ‘Pastapur Initiative’ on community radio that urged the government to take its intentions of freeing broadcasting from state monopoly to its logical conclusion, by making media space available not only to private players but also to communities.
intense advocacy efforts and passionate debates about community radio broadcasting for the social sector finally capitulated into an inclusive community radio policy approved by the Union Cabinet in November 2006.
As of 2012 there are 125 functioning Community Radio Stations in India and By the end of March 2018, there were 238 functioning community radio stations in India.
The most important feature of this time as far as media is concerned is the growing presence of the private sector in media, where state’s role has been diminished to being an ‘enabler’.

12.5 Looking at the Future

The future of radio in India seems uncertain. State-owned AIR is struggling with governmental neglect, while private FM channels are flourishing. Community Radio faces challenges due to governmental control.
With increasing digitization and internet access, the next generation is drawn to satellite radio.
A serious political will is necessary to catapult the medium from the fake inertia that it is suffering from at present.

12.6 Let Us Sum Up

Radio in India has evolved from amateur beginnings to a governmental project, experiencing numerous fluctuations.
The growing politicization of radio has led to it being used as a state propaganda tool by the ruling party.
The space for private radio has been opened up without the independence of broadcasting news, and Radio has survived and will survive as India remains a class divided country.