Plains Media is your community access radio station and podcast hub for Canterbury. We’re more than just a radio station – we truly reflect our region. Every day we amplify the voices that make our community unique.  

We provide training and facilities to groups, organisations and individuals to make their own audio content by, for and about their community of interest to air their views, concerns, music, culture and ideas at no cost for children/youth and low cost for others.

Businesses often sponsor programming and we can tailor advertising campaigns to suit.

Part-funded by NZ On AIR and other local funders, we support the aspirations of local people to have a voice in the media, tell our stories, share knowledge and information, and reflect our regional character. 

Plains Media, named after the Canterbury Plains on which we are situated, broadcasts over 100 locally-made programmes in 15 different languages each month.

We specifically cater for under represented groups as defined in the Broadcasting Act 1989: women, children, youth, different cultures, minority and niche interest groups. We favour local music.

We broadcast from a transmitter at Sugarloaf over Christchurch, north to Cheviot, south to Selwyn, west to the Southern Alps, and into Lyttelton Harbour on Banks Peninsula. Since our birth in February 1988 our studios have been located on the Ara Institute of Technology campus in Christchurch's CBD.
Content is also live streamed and available on demand as podcasts via plains.org.nz and other popular platforms. 

Between programmes Plains provides a diverse ‘adult alternative’ playlist of new music encompassing swing, blues, acoustic/singer/songwriter, alt-country and NZ-made tracks. We also provide an array of programming sourced from our 11 other sister access stations from Auckland down to Invercargill and other independent broadcast entities, plus the BBC World Service overnight.  

Plains Media

Org chart

Teams

Offices

Plains Media

Org chart

Teams

Offices

Related companies