Which Fallout radio station reigns supreme?

One of the hallmarks of modern Fallout games is getting to listen to a radio while you trek around the Wasteland. The radio is, of course, full of sweet tunes to enjoy, but the radio hosts often take the mic in order to share some fun world-building facts and keep the player company on the road. Many of these songs show up in the Amazon Prime Fallout series — but which radio station is the best listen?

For obvious reasons, we’re only counting radio stations with hosts and music — so no mysterious broadcasts or tragic monologues.

7. Agatha’s Station (Fallout 3)

Agatha comes from a long line of talented musicians, and she wants to share her beautiful classical music with the whole Wasteland. She’s lovely — and it’s very nice that she will shout out her friends, like the player, or a guy called Crazy Wolfgang. Unfortunately, her station is kind of a snore. Classical stations return in Fallout 76 and Fallout 4, which is nice for the cultured among us.

6. Enclave Radio (Fallout 3)

One of the first signals that the player picks up is Enclave Radio, where President John Henry Eden gives calming chats to the Wasteland populace. These long-winded speeches are spaced between patriotic songs to get the blood pumping. This is one of the great examples of the radio being used as world-building, but the novelty wears off once you get through all of Eden’s speeches.

5. Appalachian Radio (Fallout 76)

The primary radio station of Fallout 76, Appalachian Radio has some good listening. “Mr. Sandman,” “Mister Five by Five,” and “Take Me Home, Country Roads” are all absolute bangers. Appalachian Radio did get a host later on with the Wastelanders update, a polite young woman named Julie. It also includes a bunch of music from previous games, so it’s perfectly pleasant, but not breaking new ground.

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks

4. Radio Free Utobitha (Fallout: New Vegas)

This station shows up as Black Mountain Radio, but tuning in reveals a super mutant is at the microphone. Tabitha, the tyrant in charge of Utobitha, takes the role of a broken Mr. Handy robot called Rhonda and then fawningly interviews herself. You can get just the music from Radio Free Utobitha from Mojave Music Radio, if you’re a coward. Personally, I find the State of Utobitha to be one of the funniest parts of New Vegas, and I’ll listen to her thinly veiled propaganda for hours.

3. Radio New Vegas (Fallout: New Vegas)

Radio New Vegas is helmed by Mr. New Vegas, a host so chill and unshakeable that he seems too good to be true. In a fun wink to the game’s real-world inspiration, Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton voices Mr. New Vegas, sharing both news and music. The playlist is just as sharp, with classics like “Blue Moon,” “Big Iron,” “Heartaches by the Number,” and “Something’s Gotta Give.” It’d be nice to have more variety, but this is a solid choice.

2. Diamond City Radio (Fallout 4)

The Commonwealth is served by Diamond City Radio, which is hosted by the nervous and underappreciated Travis. There’s some solid music on this channel, with lots of rockabilly music and jaunty tunes. A quest later on in the game has the player helping Travis, and he can blossom into being a proper host with a show accent and some real confidence. Alternatively, if the player kills Travis, a kid from Diamond City takes over and uses it as an excuse to advertise his purified water business. Diamond City Radio feels the most reactive of all the stations, and it’s lovely to turn a downtrodden young man into the smooth Travis “Lonely” Miles on the airwaves.

1. Galaxy News Radio (Fallout 3)

This is the station that introduced the concept of radio channels to modern Fallout, and a big reason as to why the concept continually sticks around. The player starts to listen to DJ Three Dog shortly after emerging from their Vault, and eventually needs to find him to advance the quest to find the player’s dad. Three Dog is a chill dude — he even canonically inspired Travis from Fallout 4 — but if the player murders him, he gets replaced by the significantly more surly Margaret, who substitutes his cheerful updates with complaints about her boss getting murdered. Galaxy News Radio remains iconic, and it helped set the standard for the rest of these stations.