Radio Bosom is an institution, a pillar of Auckland's culture that has been around for decades. And…read moreI shit you not, that's what the B stands for. This is officially the student radio station, but it's good enough and has been around long enough that their audience is far wider than that. I regularly hear a friend's dad call up to win prizes. Because of their alternative, student status, bFM makes an effort to play things that you wouldn't hear on the mainstream stations. This is a double-edged sword, as not everything they play will be to everyone's taste. But this gamble pays off when you hear new songs and new artists that you simply wouldn't get exposed to otherwise. Another bonus of their rejection of mainstream radio is that they do their own ads in-house rather than play the same crap everyone else does. This is good because a: mainstream radio ads are everything that is wrong with society, and b: bFM ads are really pretty good. Some of them are very, very funny, and half the time you remember the ad without even remembering what it was for. Not so great for the advertiser, but pretty great for you.

Even if I couldn't make a particularly positive case for bfm, I would still recommend it on the…read moregrounds that almost every other radio station in Auckland is unlistenable. How honestly terrible are 95 percent of Auckland's radio stations. Bfm is the only station I ever bother listening to. Even in its current slightly more professional conformation, bfm's student radio origins are well represented. I like that bfm is slightly unpolished, that there is no cohesive vision to the programming - a haphazardly genre specific play list on the best of days. Bfm has a terrestrial charm which sometimes gives it a higher priority than my mp3 player - talk about high praise.

I have been driving around the North Island for three weeks in a Prius which is a Japanese import…read moreand seems to lack access to all the FM stations available on the van. The result is that I have been listening to the same obnoxious and Miley Cyrus song for some stupid song about riding shotgun for almost 3 weeks. I arrived in Auckland today and landed on George FM - I'm not even a fan of electron a dance music but what they've been playing all day makes me want to move and seems to be extracting earworms - and - I feel like dancing!

George FM seems to be the station that is suitable for most activities. Whether stuck in traffic,…read moreplaying volleyball, or looking back into your reflection in the mirror with a 20 dollar note in your hand, George provides a pretty good backing track. George has a core of DJ's over the weekdays, with a revolving lineup in the night time ranging from tech house, to hip hop. On Sundays they play a great mix of relaxed tunes, starting from jazz and easing into funky soul soothers. I have to admit, I don't like Nick D. There's something about his boundless energy that really irritates me in the morning - but he does play some good tracks. Chuck 96.6 on your car stereo and see if you like it.

If you like top 20 music you will like The Edge radio station…read more You can tune in on 94.2 FM in Auckland, or stream it live from their website. They have award winning announcers including a crazy popular breakfast show of Jay Jay, Mike and Dom. I especially enjoy their Drive show hosts Fletch and Vaughan. These guys are crack up. Google 'this is what crazy sounds like' and find it on their Soundcloud / website to see what I mean. Their show is on the air from 3pm to 7 weekdays and they also do daily podcasts available from the station website or on iTunes. I think overall this station has awesome announcers, with a good mix of humour, music knowledge and passion.

I am a definite fan of any music remotely reggae, dub, and funky. Known to me there is only one…read moreRadio station in Auckland that mixes up the beats and proves that they rule in these genres. K Fm pride themselves on playing music that is socially conscious and not alike that of other over commercialised stations. They cut out the crap so to speak and play honest music to get you hip hopping along. The base of the stations foundations are the many DJ's that volunteer their time and talents on air. I enjoy personally DJ Lanz show at 10-12 on a Thursday morning, and the Reggae Rewind Show with DJ Ska Rob from 10-12 midnight on a Friday night .. boo yah! Tune in and feel that rhythm

This is the best station to tune into for a variety of cultures, languages and topics…read more Not only does this non profit organisation provide you with the facilities to make radio yourself, they also mentor and help mold your perfect genre and unique program. The majority of the substance of this station reflects the diverse cultures that make up our beautiful city; perhaps tune in for Russian hour at 8 am on a Monday, or the Kiribati voice at 11:35 am? I enjoy listening in to Green Planet, a show which airs live at 9:05 am every Monday, questioning all aspects of green living and how we can better care for and greenly prepare our future in the world.

I'd never really listened to Newstalk ZB until earthquakes started hitting my hometown of…read moreChristchurch. Either FM stations would automatically transfer to ZB or I began to flick to that station in my car / at home, as they had the most current information and excellent broadcasting. Newstalk ZB would go on to get a gold radio award in New York for their coverage of the Christchurch Earthquake. Now I still occasionally will listen to their station using my iphone, for the news in the morning (so I don't get totally out of date with what is going on)! So I might catch a bit of the award winning Mike Hosking breakfast show. I particularly enjoy when I am able to tune in on a Friday morning around 8:15 and Mike Hosking, Wendyll Nissen and Jeremy Wells discuss the week in a (often) humorous way.