About Community Radio Nelson

Your local voice for Nelson - bringing you music, news, and community connection 24/7

📻 24/7 Broadcasting

☀️ 100% Solar Powered

🎵 100% Kiwi Made

Our Story

Local resident Terence Blyth set up Community Radio Nelson as a community radio station and operated a low-powered FM service on 88.1 FM.

Our mission is to provide a local voice for Nelson with a format different from commercial radio—bringing you music, stories, and community news that matter to you.

We play an eclectic blend of contemporary music—everything from ABBA to Franz Ferdinand—along with plenty of Kiwi music and specialty programmes like The Seventies and The Eighties every evening.

Community Radio Nelson solar power system

Powered by the Sun

The station has been running continuously, 24 hours a day, thanks to solar power.

We're committed to sustainable broadcasting and hope to acquire a higher-power licence in the future to reach even more of the Nelson community.

What Makes Us Special

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Your Music, Your Choice

Anyone can sign up and select the music they want to hear. We'll schedule it and play it!

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100% Kiwi Made

All the station software has been written right here in New Zealand, by locals for locals.

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Community Powered

We're a small team bringing Nelson community news, events, and promoting local businesses.

Our Mission

Whether it's local journalism, storytelling, live events, music discovery, or the exploration of cultural nuance and meaning, Nelson Community Radio provides a nexus where community life and civic life meet and interact at the local level. Community media is people-powered, and it helps communities thrive.

Ready to Join Our Community?

Become part of Nelson's radio family and help shape what we play on air.

Join Now