This is a good question and one we wish we had the answer for in every city in which we've ever had to rent a vehicle. We can't help you with Albuquerque, Boise, or Chicago, but we can at least offer some useful tips for navigating the Las Vegas airwaves, with personal observations, where we have any to make. Print it out and keep it handy for your next trip.
It goes without saying that, as a general rule, we recommend you try to avoid all morning drive-time co-hosted shows, unless you've recently undergone a lobotomy. And be warned that playlists here seem to be not only limited, but strangely imitative: We've actually flicked through our pre-tuned stations to find three out of six playing the same tune at the same time. (Not as bad as Tahoe, however, where we recently discovered that there must be some local by-law that dictates every other song played must be by Stevie Nicks, with or without Fleetwood Mac.) And they generally take their commercial breaks at the same time, resulting in inevitable periods of synchronized musical absence.
FM Stations
A publicly funded community radio station established in 1974, POWER 88 plays contemporary hits in the soul, R&B, hip hop, disco, and gospel groove, and broadcasts NPR news 24/7.
Nevada Public Radio broadcasts a range of local-interest shows, plus cultural, political, and economic features, and national and international news coverage, including from the BBC World Service.
Christian radio
Nevada Public Radio classical music station
Christian radio
Monday to Friday features classic jazz, while weekends feature an eclectic assortment of Hawaiian, Latin, reggae, blues, folk, world, and specialty music programs. Commercial-free.
A rock station delivering all you'd expect from a rock station: rock music, in all its incarnations -- old, new, classic, and alternative -- presented by DJs who range from the hilariously irreverent to the cringingly crass.
Spanish pop (Shakira, Juanes etc.)
Greatest hits of the '60s & '70s
Top 40 hits/alternative (from Chili Peppers to Gnarls Barkley via KT Tunstall and Nickelback)
New and old-time classic country music hits
Classic rock
Classic and soft rock. Usually has a decent playlist.
Hip hop/R&B
R&B/hip hop (too much of the former for our taste)
Spanish radio
The supposed novelty here is the lack of DJs, although this excellent concept is somewhat undermined by the constant smug interjections of the pre-recorded anti-DJ. Boasts an unrivaled and eclectic playlist, which generally holds true: While every other station only plays "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" by the Clash, for example, JACK sometimes opts, radically, for "London's Calling." Or even "Singin' in the Rain" (not by the Clash, obviously). No news, no traffic.
Spanish adult hits (José Feliciano, La Maquina)
'80s pop music, including heaps of U.K. bands
Mexican regional radio
Today's country music
Oldies and crooners (Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra)
More Mexican regional radio
Smooth jazz/easy listening, i.e., ranges from the seriously funky to elevator music. It's a lucky dip.
Soft (to the point of mushy) rock and tearjerker phone-ins
Contemporary alternative rock/heavy metal (think Tool, Audioslave, Godsmack, Muse)
Alternative rock/indie/reggae/punk
