Deccan Radio (Nizams Era)
Deccan Radio is a first radio station of Hyderabad State (now Hyderabad, India) went live on air on 3 February 1935, initially it was launched as a private broadcasting station with transmitting power of 200 Watts. The programs were broadcast in Urdu. It was located at chirag ali lane, Abids, Hyderabad State.[1]
Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII took over The Deccan Radio and nationalized it on 3 February 1935. A new radio station was set up at Khairatabad, and a new transmitter of 500 Watts with 730 KHz was installed which was purchased from Marconi Company, England. During Second World War a special broadcast studio was set up at Saroornagar to live updated news programs.[1] In the same year the new radio station was started at Aurangabad (then the Nizams domain) where the previous 200 Watt transmitter was shifted from Hyderabad. It was a district level radio station to broadcast the programs in Urdu and Marathi as most of the population speak Marathi.
On 1 December 1948, the Nizams inaugurated an upgraded 800 Watts unit, a shortwave transmitter which was installed with the mediumwave station and operated with 3335 and 6210 kHz. The World Radio Handbook had consecutively listed the editions of this station.[1] Though, in the early 1919 the British cantonment of Secunderabad established the early communication station in the Hyderabad State and in 1924 a unknown spark station was operated from same region to which the Australian radio magazine in the same year named as VWT station.[1]
It serves as an official broadcaster of erstwhile Nizams's of Hyderabad,[1] on 1 April 1950 Deccan Radio was taken over by Indian Government and in 1956 it was merged with All India Radio (AIR) and since then it is known as AIR-Hyderabad (100 kW).[2]
