The sales unit of All India Radio (AIR), Central Sales Unit (CSU) – which books commercials for all AIR channels nationwide, is preparing to celebrate its golden jubilee on October 1, 2018. 

CSU was set up 10 years after Vividh Bharati started in 1957 to bring revenue through that popular music channel. There were no ads on Vividh Bharati before that.

Today, AIR charges as little as (6.30 (Rs 400) for 10 seconds on its primary network while the costs of print and television commercials continue to rise. And it offers the advantage of having the largest reach of any broadcaster in the world.

All India Radio has 201 primary channels and local radio stations, 41 Vividh Bharati stations, 25 FM Rainbow and five FM Gold channels.

Festivities began on Wednesday at the AIR auditorium near Churchgate in Mumbai.

A show called 'Lok Dhara' featured bhangra dancer Nirmal Sidhu, lavni artiste Surekha Punekar and Rajasthani Langa-Manganiyar folk musician Bundu Khan.

In March, CSU will host a Hasya Kavi Sammelan (Comedy Poets’ Festival) followed by a ghazal concert in June culminating with a grand finale in October involving leading artistes of Hindi cinema, and stand-up comedians.

According to CSU head Ravindra Khasnis:“For 50 years we have impacted the daily lives of billions of people but maintained a low profile. Now we realise that not many citizens are even aware of the role of CSU. For the first time we are reaching out to members of the public by organising cultural programmes for them in this landmark year.”