FM Radio has flourished in last few years, as observed in quarterly growth in private

Radio and media industry is high on hopes that the Union Budget 2023 will be a harbinger of all good things for the industry after the hit it took following the Covid-19 pandemic. Radio remains the most affordable and popular medium of mass communication in India and acts as a tool that has consistently helped in the empowerment and social development of the people.

Along with public broadcasters, private commercial radio stations (FM Radio) and Community Radio Stations (CRS) also serve as platforms for a variety of programs.

FM Radio has flourished in the last few years, as observed in the quarterly growth in private FM Radio stations, with their number increasing from 243 in the quarter ending December 2015 to 388 in the quarter ending June 2022.

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The rising number of FM radio stations shows how radio as mass media has satisfactorily delivered on its mandate of public service and stood strong with the people during the time of the pandemic. While FM increased its outreach to even far-flung rural areas, CRS targeted local and well-defined communities.

The task of spreading awareness during the Covid-19 pandemic, and that too in vernacular, with innumerable dialects, was made possible, as CRS channelized the community partnerships. The radio waves traveled without interruption for the larger public cause during times when the reach of centralised media to every nook and corner of the country was considered a humongous task.

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They not only became a medium for information dissemination but also functioned as a channel for empowerment as virtual education also took the recourse of radio. With this, we see the radio as being significantly important through good and tough times. As we operate in a new normal and as things settle down with time, these small boxes requiring manual tuning may again find their place in some household cupboards. However, their identity will remain intact.