National Radio Day in Indonesia Date in the current year: September 11, 2024

The first radio stations in Indonesia appeared in the mid-1920s. They were mostly Dutch, as Indonesia was a Dutch colony before World War II. After occupying Indonesia in 1942, Japan began to use Dutch radio stations for military and propaganda purposes.

Following the surrender of Japan and the declaration of Indonesian independence, people who used to operate Japanese radio stations in six cities held a meeting in Jakarta and decided to set up a national radio station that would work with the Indonesian government. They established Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) on September 11, 1945. In February 1946, the station became subordinate to the Department of Information; it was actively used by the national government during the Indonesian War of Independence.

In 1965, the central radio station in Jakarta was one of the key objects captured by members of the 30 September Movement during a coup attempt. They broadcast several announcements, but the coup was suppressed within a day, and the government regained control over RRI.

RRI had monopoly over radio broadcasting for over two decades. The monopoly ended in the late 1960s, and the first private radio stations began to emerge. However, Suharto’s New Order regime demanded that news programs produced by RRI be aired simulcast on all radio stations five hours a day. Due to government censorship during the New Order era, illegal radio stations began to appear; many of them were created and run by university students.

Despite the active development of television and the Internet, radio is still fairly popular in Indonesia. According to statistics, 50% to 80% of Indonesia listen to the radio on a regular basis; more than half of them are young people. On average, Indonesians listen to the radio about 16 hours a week.

Radio broadcasting in Indonesia is regulated by the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission and the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology; the latter is primarily responsible for frequency matters. There are about 3,000 live radio stations throughout the country, but only a few of them broadcast nationally; the rest are regional and local radio stations. Indonesia also has several digital and online radio stations.

The biggest private radio network owners in Indonesia are CPP Radionet, Elshinta Media, Kompas Gramedia, Mahaka Media, Masima Radio Network, MNC Radio Networks, MRA Media, Thomson Radio Network, and others.

National Radio Day in Indonesia was established to highlight the role of radio in the country’s media structure. In addition, Indonesia also celebrates National Television Day. It is observed on August 24 to commemorate the first broadcast of the country’s state television company Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI) in 1962.