Radio X streams classic rock anthems and underground tracks online from Auckland, New Zealand, part of the Empire Media network, and you can hear it live and free on Radio Shuffle from anywhere in the world.
Built From a Failed Youth Brand
Radio X grew out of a station that spent years trying to find its footing. According to Wikipedia's history of Empire Media, the company's predecessor, TRUTH Group, launched TODAY FM, then phased it out in mid-2012 in favor of U FM, a station aimed at a slightly younger audience and marketed as "the home of remix." U FM never found the success the company hoped for, and TODAY FM returned in February 2013 to take its place. On May 19, Empire Media rebranded that same TODAY station one more time, this time as Radio X, blending the two earlier stations' catalogs into a single format built around rock.
Part of a Small Auckland and Tauranga Network
Empire Media itself was founded in 2012 as the successor to TRUTH Group, running out of central Auckland with a second base in Tauranga, according to Wikipedia. Radio X now sits alongside TRUTH FM and NZ Radio 1 as one of the company's three current stations, each aimed at a different corner of New Zealand's internet radio audience rather than competing head-on for the terrestrial FM licenses the country's bigger networks hold.
A Different Radio X Than the One Down the Road
New Zealand radio has seen more than one attempt at branding around the letter X. MediaWorks launched its own throwback station, Channel X, in May 2023 to replace Today FM, playing uninterrupted 1990s-to-2010s music without announcers, according to Wikipedia's entry on Channel X. That station is a separate operation entirely, owned by MediaWorks rather than Empire Media, a reminder of how crowded New Zealand's small radio market can get around a single evocative letter.
Why Tune In
Radio X carries the DNA of two earlier Empire Media stations into a single rock-focused format, built by a company that has spent over a decade rebranding and re-testing formats until something stuck. For listeners chasing classic rock anthems alongside newer underground cuts, without needing an FM aerial pointed at Auckland, it delivers exactly that.
Listen to Radio X free on Radio Shuffle, streaming live rock radio from Auckland, New Zealand.