Tracing the evolution of radio advertising over the past century

When did you last listen to a proper radio broadcast? Not the FM station playing in your car when your Spotify fails to connect, but a genuine radio program where an RJ converses with a celebrity guest, where breaks are filled with classic melodies and advertisements for shopping malls or new residential complexes.

For those who grew up in the 1990s, this wasn't a nostalgic exercise, it was routine. Back then, families would adjust radio antennas to catch the clearest frequency. In many colonies, neighbors would gather around a single radio set, listening collectively to the evening broadcast. This was when brands discovered the true reach of radio, transforming it from a cultural platform into a commercial powerhouse.

As the world celebrated World Radio Day on February 13, it's worth examining the century-long journey of radio advertising, a journey marked by innovation, adaptation, and resilience.

What began as a ten-minute real estate pitch in 1922 has evolved into a sophisticated, data-driven ecosystem that continues to grow even in the digital age.

Recent data from TAM Media Research reveals that radio advertising grew 2% in 2025 compared with 2024, and over a longer period, average ad volumes per station rose 40% in 2025 compared with 2021.

How was this platform commercialised in the first place?

The first paid radio advertisement aired on August 28, 1922, in New York City. AT&T's station WEAF sold a slot to the Queensboro Realty Corporation for a ten-minute segment promoting apartments in Jackson Heights, Queens.

The concept was called ‘toll broadcasting’, AT&T treated the airwaves like a long-distance telephone line where speakers paid for their time on air. Ten minutes would be unthinkable today, but in 1922, radio was still a novelty. Listeners had patience for long-form content, and the ad was perceived as informative rather than intrusive. The format worked. Within months, other stations adopted the model, and by the 1930s, nearly 90% of American radio stations had embraced commercial advertising.

The breakthrough that would define radio advertising came in 1926 when a barbershop quartet in Minneapolis sang ‘Have You Tried Wheaties?’ on Christmas Eve. The jingle was set to the tune of ‘Jazz Baby,’ and its impact was immediate. Sales data showed that 40,000 of the brand's 53,000 annual cases were sold in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, the only region where the jingle aired regularly. This correlation saved Wheaties from discontinuation and established the jingle as a fundamental marketing tool.

In the parallel world, India's radio journey began differently and was shaped by its colonial history. The first broadcasts occurred in 1923 through private radio clubs in Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras. The Indian Broadcasting Company, established in 1927, struggled financially because radio sets were expensive and a commercial model hadn't yet developed.

In 1936, the Indian State Broadcasting Service was renamed All India Radio (AIR) and adopted a public service model similar to the BBC. For decades, AIR resisted commercial advertising, focusing instead on education, classical music preservation, and national integration.

Under Minister B.V. Keskar in the early 1950s, AIR even banned Hindi film music, viewing it as culturally corrupting. This ban, intended to protect Indian culture, inadvertently created one of the commercial radio phenomena in the country's history.

Radio Ceylon filled the void left by AIR's cultural conservatism. With short-wave transmitters reaching the entire Indian subcontinent, Radio Ceylon became the birthplace of India's commercial radio industry.

The iconic program was Binaca Geetmala, a weekly countdown of Hindi film songs hosted by Ameen Sayani and sponsored by oral hygiene brand Binaca (later Cibaca). The show ran for over four decades. People tuned in to catch Sayani's signature greeting: "Behnon aur bhaiyyon" (Sisters and brothers).

Advertisements weren't seen as intrusive but as part of a cherished weekly ritual. Recognising the competition, AIR launched Vividh Bharati in 1957, an entertainment-focused channel, and by 1967 finally introduced commercial advertising.

Meanwhile, the West was experiencing the Golden Age of Radio during the 1930s through the late 1940s.

Advertisements weren't interruptions, they were woven into the storytelling fabric of programs. Brands didn't just buy spots; they financed entire productions.

Shows like Lux Radio Theatre, the Colgate Comedy Hour, and the Pepsodent Show were named after their sponsors. Hosts integrated advertising messages into their dialogue, creating trust and emotional connection.

This era saw the rise of iconic jingles like Alka-Seltzer's ‘Plop Plop Fizz Fizz’ in 1951, which became so effective that it encouraged consumers to use two tablets instead of one, doubling sales volume.

The categories of brands advertising on radio evolved with the economy. In the early era of the 1920s through 1940s, advertisers were primarily those selling luxury goods, real estate companies, automobile dealers, and household staples like cereals and soaps.

Brands like Packard, Chrysler, and General Mills dominated the airwaves. By the middle era of the 1950s through 1990s, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods took over. McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Nike targeted youth globally, while in India, toothpaste brands like Binaca, soaps like Nirma and Liril, and tea brands like Taj Mahal ruled the airwaves.

The "Wah Taj!" jingle for Taj Mahal Tea and Nirma's "Washing Powder Nirma" with its "Doodh si safedi" (whiteness like milk) lyrics became etched in collective memory.

The rise of FM Radio

Television's rise in the 1950s and 1960s forced radio to reinvent itself. It shifted from a destination for long-form drama to a background medium for music, news, and talk shows.

FM radio provided superior sound quality necessary for music-heavy formats, and advertisers created shorter, more targeted campaigns. The 1970s and 1980s saw ads becoming more sophisticated with stereo sound, background scores, and professional voice-overs.

Coca-Cola's "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" in 1971 became such a cultural phenomenon that it was recorded as a full song by The New Seekers.

India's FM revolution arrived much later. The first FM service launched in Madras in 1977, but true transformation came with privatisation in 1993 and the 2001 Phase I licensing. Private players like Radio City, Radio Mirchi, and Red FM introduced the concept of the Radio Jockey (RJ) as a local celebrity and influencer.

This period also saw the emergence of sonic branding that transcended traditional radio. Airtel's AR Rahman-composed instrumental tune in 2002 was one of the popular ringtones in history, proving a wordless melody could build massive brand equity.

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Titan's adaptation of Mozart's Symphony No. 25 made the brand feel timeless and premium. Vodafone's ‘You & I In This Beautiful World’ featuring a boy and his dog shifted the brand's perception from utility to emotional companion.

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The digital age brought both challenges and opportunities. The transition to digital technology changed production and distribution, making it easier for brands to adapt television campaigns for radio.

The internet introduced new platforms, streaming services and podcasts, creating competition but also expanding the audio ecosystem.

McDonald's "I'm Lovin' It" by Justin Timberlake in 2003 became a its sonic logo, representing the modern era of sonic branding where a few notes represent an entire brand ecosystem. Radio advertising had to evolve beyond the 30-second recorded spot to remain relevant.

The resilience of radio is evident in recent advertising trends. TAM Media Research data shows quarterly trends with steady rises through 2025, with average daily ad volumes increasing 10% in the fourth quarter compared with the second quarter. The growth pattern demonstrates that radio remains a reliable platform for advertisers seeking to reach diverse audiences throughout the year.

The presence of over 9,500 active advertisers indicates that radio remains accessible to businesses of all sizes, from national automobile manufacturers to regional service providers.

The question of radio's relevance in the digital age has a clear answer in the data. In 2025, broadcast radio still accounts for 69% of all ad-supported audio listening time in the United States. While traditionally seen as a tool for brand awareness, 64% of performance marketers now use audio advertising for lower-funnel goals like direct sales and web traffic.

Studies show that adding radio to a media mix increases search activity by 29% and television recall by 83%. Shifting just 10% of a TV or digital budget to radio can increase total reach by 20% without increasing overall spend.

The integration of radio with digital platforms has created new possibilities. Indian stations like Red FM integrate on-air content with social media platforms, using hashtag campaigns and online engagement to expand reach beyond traditional airwaves.

From ten-minute real estate lectures in 1922 to six-second audio stings and 45-second RJ conversations in 2026, the fundamental mechanism remains unchanged: using the human voice to build a bridge between a brand and a listener.

In India, the evolution from state-controlled silence to commercial vibrancy represents the democratisation of the airwaves.

The enduring power of radio lies in what it offers that visual media cannot, intimacy without intrusion, companionship without demand for attention, and the ability to create the ‘theatre of the mind.’

In an https://share.google/Uf9cquGT11VJidy7yage of visual fatigue and digital clutter, the human voice of an RJ or a carefully crafted jingle cuts through the noise. As World Radio Day reminds us, the medium remains essential to India's advertising landscape.