We, as Radios and Televisions, play a vital role in keeping India connected. And the inventors, designers and engineers, amongst you,play the more critical role in defining us. This is our journey.

We were invented and patented in 1896 by Italian engineer Guglielmo Marconi.

Scientist Jagdish Chandra Bose had demonstrated the use of electromagnetic waves, in 1894. Inventing an Iron-Mercury Coherer that was employed by Marconi to receive the world’s first transatlantic radio signals.

In 1922, the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) was founded and independently, the Radio Club of Bombay relayed India’s first programme in 1923, followed by the Radio Club of Madras in 1924.

The government-backed Indian Broadcast Company was established in 1927, later nationalised and renamed All India Radio (AIR). Today, AIR is the world’s largest broadcasting centre, allowing us to reach 99.18% of you.

In the early decades of Independent India, we were available as valve-based radios that although large, expensive and bulky, were popular through foreign brands like Emerson, Grundig, Murphy, and Bush.

The arrival of semi-conductor technology in the subcontinent allowed for our portability and economy. We, as transistor radios, eventually became indispensible to the common man. Television broadcasting began in 1959, by AIR. Our box, was first developed by CEERI in Pilaini. At the governments behest, this know-how was shared with private players like J.K Electronics who were our first licensed manufacturers. Our infiltration began with metros, through private and state-owned brands like Telerad, Weston Electronics, Televista and EC TV, Dyanora.

Our initial forms were set in wooden cabinets, much like an item of your furniture – and the controls, as knobs on the main unit.

Our uptake was gradual. In the mid-1970s, we moved to solid-state technology, eliminating vacuum tubes and valves, which improved picture quality and sound.

From 1973 to 1978, we grew from 70,000 units to 4,10,000. The number of our manufacturers grew from 12 to 72.

India witnessed the Asian Games, through our newly introduced coloured screens in 1982.

Doordarshan, then separated from AIR and expanded its network of transmitters, reaching a count of 400 plusby the 1990s.

In 1991, the relaxation of economic policies, allowed foreign players such as STAR TV, programming rights in India. Up until then, the choice of channels was limited. We enjoyed increasing viewership in the cable-ready TV market, with brands like BPL, Onida and Videocon, which were made iconic through advertising and you.

With the invention of our flat screen, display based on Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT) was replaced by plasma screens, which were replaced by Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD). The recent switch from analog cable to digital systems, which deliver improved transmission, through a set-top box or satellite dish – has provided superior resolution and rendered us fashionably slim, with screens down to just a few inches. LED televisions in large formats like the luxury brand VU TV, have renewed our pride of place in your homes.