World Radio Day is celebrated every year on February 13 to mark the important role that radio plays in our lives and in society. Radio might be the oldest form of mass media. 

The radio was invented in 1895 by Italian physicist and inventor Guglielmo Marconi.  

The day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012. February 13 was chosen as World Radio Day as it was the day of the establishment of the United Nations Radio in 1946.

Radio is a powerful medium for celebrating humanity in all its diversity and constitutes a platform for democratic discourse. 

At the global level, radio remains the most widely consumed medium. This unique ability to reach out the widest audience means radio can shape a society’s experience of diversity. Radio has the power in both fuelling and de-escalating conflict.

That is the reason for independent radio. The World Radio Day 2023 underscores the need for independent radio as a pillar for conflict prevention and peacebuilding.

Theme of World Radio Day 2023
World Radio Day 2023 celebrates the theme of 'Radio and Peace'

Key Takeaways

On August 31, 1920 the first radio news program was broadcast by station 8MK in Detroit in the US. 

The first ever radio broadcast in India happened in June 1923 by Radio Club of Bombay.

India has around 479 radio stations making All India Radio one of the biggest broadcasters in the world. It covers around 99.19% of the Indian population.