We surveyed nationwide for a snapshot on Christian radio listeners. The Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey is almost 15,000 respondents with over a million data points from three different formats: Music stations, Music/Teaching (Hybrid) stations, and All-Teaching stations/programs.
There’s much discussion about focusing our radio stations and ministries on people beyond the nuclear family. In our most recent survey, there are more folks listening than just men and women who are married for the first time.
Here are the Top Five Marital Statuses for Hybrid and Teaching listeners ranked in our nationwide survey:
Hybrid Stations
| 1. Married First Time | 50% |
| 2. Re-married | 18% |
| 3. Divorced | 13% |
| 4. Single/Never Married | 10% |
| 5. Widowed | 9% |
Teaching Stations
| 1. Married First Time | 42% |
| 2. Re-married | 20% |
| 3. Divorced | 15% |
| 4. Widowed | 13% |
| 5. Single/Never Married | 9% |
Here’s a way to think about this: If you’re talking to your listener as if he or she is married for the first time, you’re talking to half of your listeners. And if you assume he or she is married – for the first time or more often – you’re still only talking to two-thirds or so. One third of the listeners in the Finney Media Why Listen® Survey are not currently married.
We’re coming up on the holidays and for many of our listeners that means blended family craziness (over 30% are either re-married or divorced) or some form of alone (about 20% are either never married or widowed). It’s time to be empathetic to how complicated it is and tailor breaks, transitions and the like accordingly.
Coming in December: The Top Five Reasons Listeners Give to your Radio Station or Program
