Also known as: —
Frequency: 96.6FM Auckland; 95.3FM Christchurch; 96.6FM Dunedin; 96.8FM Queenstown; 95.2FM Nelson; 106.7FM Wellington; 107.3FM Hamilton (low-power); 107.4FM Tauranga (low-power); 107.1FM Palmerston North (low-power); Freeview channel 70
Coverage: National
Location: 105 Ponsonby Road, Auckland
Format: Dance / electronic / soul — house, breaks, drum and bass, dubstep, electro, downbeat, jazz, funk, hip-hop
Founded: 1998
Active: 1998–present
Website: georgefm.co.nz
History
George FM began in 1998 as a low-power FM (LPFM) station launched from a spare bedroom in Grey Lynn, Auckland, by brothers Thane Kirby and Richard Kirby. The signal reached only around five kilometres — covering much of Ponsonby and Grey Lynn — but it immediately found a loyal audience among Auckland’s dance and electronic music community. The station was run entirely by volunteers and operated without commercial backing, distinguishing itself from the start by putting actual DJs on air: people who arrived with crates of records and had full control over what they played and how they presented. There were no predetermined playlists, no high-rotation pop hits, and no tightly formatted programming clock. George FM was built around the music first.
Through its early years the station grew organically, attracting a community of presenters drawn from Auckland’s DJ and dance music scene. The mix was broad — house, breaks, drum and bass, soul, downbeat, jazz, funk and hip-hop — but the unifying thread was authenticity. Presenters were curators, not readers of playlists assembled by a music director. This model gave the station a distinctive identity and a reputation for credibility that commercial competitors struggled to match.
In 2001, George FM reached a turning point. A partnership with the Manukau Urban Māori Authority (MUMA) and the Waipareira Trust gave the station access to an Iwi frequency — 96.8FM — enabling it to broadcast across the whole of Auckland for the first time. The partnership was more than a technical arrangement. It brought a meaningful cultural dimension to the station’s programming. George FM began incorporating te reo Māori awareness into its output, running an overnight programme called Manu Tioriori and a daily Kupu of the day segment. The relationship with MUMA enriched the station’s identity at the same time as it extended its reach, and it became central to how George FM understood itself as a community broadcaster.
By 2003, the station had grown to the point where it converted to a commercial operation with paid staff, while retaining its core presenting philosophy. Around 70 to 75 regular presenters hosted live two-hour shows each week — an unusually large roster that kept the programming varied and gave the station a genuine connection to a wide cross-section of Auckland’s DJ scene. Commercial status brought financial stability but George FM was careful to preserve what had made it distinctive: the presenter-led, crate-based approach to music selection remained intact.
The station’s programming expanded well beyond the dance floor during these years. A Sunday afternoon jazz show became popular enough to spawn George Jazz, a dedicated online stream. A weekly Tuesday-evening programme devoted exclusively to 100% New Zealand music gave local artists a guaranteed platform at a time when NZ content on commercial radio remained contested. These were not token gestures — they reflected the genuine range of the presenters who made the station their home.
Several people who passed through George FM went on to significant careers elsewhere. Dave Gibson — vocalist and co-founder of Auckland pop-rock band Elemeno P — hosted the breakfast show in 2001. Dai Henwood, who later became a well-known television comedian, hosted the Sunday Arts show. Jacquie Brown, who served as Programme Director, had been active in Auckland’s indie scene — a member of Youth For A Price, Big Sideways, Freudian Slips, and 3 Voices — before moving into broadcasting and later becoming a prominent TV3 personality.
On 1 May 2008, George FM became available on the Freeview digital television platform as channel 70, extending its reach to hundreds of thousands of New Zealand households. That same year the station celebrated its tenth anniversary with a birthday ball at the Pontoon venue in Auckland, with Peter Urlich and a lineup of iconic George FM DJs performing.
In February 2009, MediaWorks Radio acquired George FM from MUMA and the Waipareira Trust. The station’s format and cultural commitments were retained, with its Māori language programming continuing under the new ownership.
The Christchurch 95.3FM signal has an indirect history. The frequency previously carried Mai FM, then from March 2022 was allocated to Today FM — a MediaWorks talk radio network. Today FM closed in 2023. MediaWorks reallocated its former frequencies across existing music brands, and 95.3FM in Christchurch became a George FM full-power relay, transmitting from the Sugarloaf site on the Port Hills.
Today George FM retains the unstructured presenting format that defined it from its earliest days in Grey Lynn. Around 75 regular presenters arrive with their own music selections and have full control over what goes to air — producing what the station estimates is a collective library of over one million tracks. The station targets listeners aged 20 to 39 and describes them as people who look to George FM presenters as cultural guides. More than twenty-five years after it began, George FM remains one of the few commercial radio stations in New Zealand where the DJ model — real selection, real mixing, real personality — is the defining feature rather than an exception to it.
George FM got a big break in 2001 thanks to a partnership with the Manukau Urban Maori Authority, which enabled George to spread its wings Auckland-wide with the use of an Iwi frequency, 96.8FM. This partnership grew over the years, with George FM developing a real commitment to promote and encourage the use of Te Reo and awareness of Māori issues in innovative ways.
Muzic.nz, 2008