Three-tier Broadcasting System AIR has a three-tier system of broadcasting, namely, national,regional and local. National channel of All India Radio started functioning on May 18, 1988. It caters to the information, education and entertainment needs of the people, through its transmitters at Nagpur, Mogra and Delhi beaming from dusk to dawn. It transmits centrally originated news bulletins in Hindi and English, plays, sports, music, newsreel, spoken word and other topical programmes, to nearly 76% of the country's population fully reflecting the broad spectrum of national life. The Regional Stations in different States form the middle tier of the broadcasting. Including North-Eastern Service at Shillong disseminates the vibrant and radiant cultural heritage of the North-Eastern region of the country. Local Radio is comparatively a new concept of broadcasting in India. Each of the station serving a small area provides utility services and reaches right into the heart of the community, which uses the microphone to reflect and enrich its life.

What distinguishes Local Radio from the regional network is its down to earth, intimate and uninhibited approach. The programmes of the local radio are area specific. They are flexible and spontaneous enough to enable the station to function as the mouth piece of the local community.