The Finney Media 2021 Why Listen?® Survey! Almost 11,000 respondents from three different formats – Music stations, Music and Teaching stations, and all-Teaching stations and programs. Lots of fascinating information on our listeners!
One of our big questions is about tune-outs – things your listener perceives you might do that would cause her to tune away or turn off the radio. The list below is focused on just the respondents who came from Music stations. The percentages are the totals of “very likely to turn off” and “somewhat likely to turn off”:
| 1. They have a negative, angry, judgmental tone | 85% |
| 2. An announcer talks too much | 45% |
| 3. They play commercials | 44% |
| 4. They talk about a topic the listener is not interested in | 41% |
| 5. They play songs the listener is tired of | 36% |
How do you keep listeners from leaving?
We discussed in LAST MONTH’S ARTICLE how the main reasons for listening to Christian radio could be summed up in two words – spiritual encouragement. Our top tune-out confirms this. The no. 1 reason listeners leave – and it isn’t even close – is a negative, angry judgmental tone.
Your listener is looking for spiritual encouragement without a tone of negativity, anger or judgment.
We believe that doesn’t just mean taking out things that are negative, angry, or judgmental. We recommend proactively including “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control*.”
The other reasons listeners leave are important (“talking too much about something that’s not interesting” comes to mind), but none quite as important as your station or program being the loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, self-controlled channel in an otherwise negative, angry, judgmental world.
Coming in October: Another look at the Top Five Main Reasons Christian Radio listeners listen. This time, we review the Main Reasons in the whole survey – all formats – and discover how listeners to Music Stations are similar to – and different from – listeners to Hybrid Stations and Teaching stations and programs.
*”The Fruits of the Spirit” – Galatians 5:22
