World Radio Day 2021: The theme for this year is ‘New World, New Radio'

Today 13th February 2021 is a day to celebrate the glorious tunes from a traditional medium all over the world. This year, the theme for World Radio Day is  'New World, New Radio.' This significant theme was decided upon keeping in mind the services the medium provided during the COVID pandemic. Advertisers find this medium effective too as it is easy to reach out to consumers with its hyper-local approach. The theme this year is divided into three sub-parts: Evolution (The world changes, radio evolves), Innovation (The world changes, radio adapts and innovates), and Connection: The world changes, radio connects.

Let’s ponder on these three potent sub-themes of World Radio Day 2021: 1. Evolution that referring to the resilience of radio and its sustainability, 2. Innovation to new technologies to remain the go-to medium of mobility and accessibility and 3. Connection that the radio’s services have built-in our society during events like natural disasters, socio-economic crises, epidemics, etc.

Even during the pandemic environment the radio industry was persistent and found new forms to engage with their listeners. Many innovated and joined hands with OTT music platforms and some curated their own OTT streaming services. The potency of the day ‘World Radio Day’ is rooted in how dynamic and versatile the medium is. At a time, when digital media holds more preference over the traditional mediums. It becomes all the more relevant to understand why and how the medium reaches across all platforms having a global impact.

The day was celebrated as World Radio Day on February 13th, 1946 when on this day, the United Nations Radio was established. The day was officially proclaimed by the Member States of UNESCO and later adopted by the UN’s General Assembly in 2012 as an International Day. Every year, the day is marked with a distinctive theme.

The medium of Radio is admired by all generations from older generations who reminisce listening to their radio transistors as a family to the younger generation that has found the charm of radio on the go either in the car or on their mobile devices. In India, radio has developed a deep connection with rural listeners and it is the cheapest medium for entertainment. Due to this local connect and connect with consumers advertisers to find this medium a great media investment as the TG of the radio channels audience is well accounted for. RJ’s that stand as influencers too help in building a local connection as they speak the language of the region and help in bringing about a social change in that area the channel is present in.