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July 2023: Top Five Reasons CCM Listeners Listen

Gender and Age Breakdown

The 2023 Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey is out! Almost 15,000 respondents from three different formats, including Music stations, Music and Teaching stations and Teaching stations and programs. The findings are fascinating!

We presented listeners about twenty different reasons they might listen to their Christian radio station. Last month, we showed you the Top Five Main Reasons for Music Station respondents. This month, we show you those same numbers, split into Women Under 55, Men Under 55, Women 55+ and Men 55+. The numbers are the percentage of respondents who indicated that’s a Main Reason they listen:

Women under 55 Women 55+ Men under 55 Men 55+
1. You like worshipful Christian music 93% 95% 90% 90%
2. It helps you worship God throughout the day  93% 93% 87% 83%
3. You want to be encouraged 85% 85% 76% 71%
4. It helps you grow spiritually 77% 78% 71% 70%
5. It’s safe for you and your family to listen to 76% 63% 71% 57%

We’ve highlighted in bold the Main Reasons above 80 percent. If you were to try to isolate the most motivating reasons for listening among these superfans, it comes down to worshipful encouragement. Food for thought as you and your team discuss just how spiritually focused and encouraging your music selection and the breaks between songs should be.

Coming next month: From the 2023 Why Listen? Survey we present the Top Five Reasons Listeners Tune Out.

A harried dad is at the airline counter with a busy two-year-old by his side and got unexpected, less-than-upbeat news. He thought his daughter could sit on his lap, but since she is now over two, she has to have her own seat. And it’s going to cost almost a thousand dollars! He tells the agent he needs to make a few calls and will be back. A woman nearby overhears the conversation and, after the dad leaves, tells the gate agent she’d like to pay for the little girl’s ticket . . . and she doesn’t want dad to know who paid. Matthew said it this way: But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. (Matthew 6 3 ESV) 

We played that story recently for a group of Christian Music Radio listeners, and they LOVED it! And we hear comments like, “That’s the kind of story I need to face my day.”  

Why? 

Surrounded by negative, painful stories elsewhere, our listeners love uplifting, heartwarming stories. 

My friend Erica Parkerson at KCMS Seattle sent me this recently:

Seeing stories of kindness may counteract the negative effects of consuming bad news | Nieman Journalism Lab (niemanlab.org) 

From that article:

“…research has shown that witnessing others’ acts of moral beauty, such as kindness or heroism, triggers “elevation” — a positive and uplifting feeling which experts theorize acts as an emotional reset button, replacing feelings of cynicism with hope, love and optimism.” 

Finding and telling good, uplifting, loving, kind stories in a negative, chaotic, angry, judgmental world grows ministry impact. 

Put another way, finding and telling GOD stories—stories that show the heart of God—works! 

Gender and Age Breakdown

The 2023 Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey is out! Almost 15,000 respondents from three different formats, including Music stations, Music and Teaching stations and Teaching stations and programs. The findings are enlightening.

In the survey, we presented respondents with almost twenty different reasons they might listen to their Christian radio station or program. Here are the Top Five Main Reasons broken out by age: Under 55s (Younger) and Over 55s (Older) and by gender for Hybrid and Teaching Station/Program respondents. The numbers are the percentage of respondents who indicated that’s a Main Reason they listen:

Top Five Main Reasons (Hybrid)

 Women under 55 Women 55+ Men under 55 Men 55+
1. It helps you grow spiritually 89% 89% 85% 83%
2. It helps you worship God throughout the day  87% 86% 81% 76%
3. It helps you understand the Bible better 72% 77% 77% 73%
4. You want to be encouraged 76% 76% 66% 64%
5. You like worshipful Christian music 66% 64% 52% 52%

Top Five Main Reasons (Teaching)

 Women under 55 Women 55+ Men under 55 Men 55+
1. It helps you grow spiritually 91% 93% 81% 88%
2. It helps you worship God throughout the day  80% 85% 84% 81%
3. It helps you understand the Bible better 84% 88% 83% 76%
4. You want to be encouraged 77% 69% 81% 72%
5. You like worshipful Christian music 79% 76% 64% 64%

Please note: Almost all age/gender respondents agreed on the bolded Main Reasons over 80 percent.

Two headlines:

  1. The differences between Younger and Older are negligible. The biggest differences are between Women and Men – the scores for Women are generally higher.
  2. Secondly, your listener is coming to you for Spiritual Growth. The more you deliver on this and less on other things, the deeper your ministry impact. This includes Worship for Teaching Stations and Programs.

Coming next month: From the 2023 Why Listen? Survey, we focus on the reasons respondents tune away or turn off. Do less of these things and grow your ministry impact.

The 2023 Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey is out! Almost 15,000 respondents from three different formats – Music and Teaching (Hybrid) stations, Teaching stations and programs and All-Music stations. The findings are fascinating.

This month, we begin a series of presentations of the findings from the large nationwide survey, specifically designed for Hybrid and Teaching broadcasters.

In the survey, we presented respondents about twenty different reasons they might listen to their Christian radio station. Here are the Top Five Main Reasons for Hybrid Station respondents. The numbers are the percentage of respondents who indicated that’s a Main Reason they listen:

Top Five Main Reasons to Listen (Hybrid)

1. It helps you grow spiritually 85%
2. It helps you worship God throughout the day 84%
3. You want to be encouraged 73%
4. You like worshipful Christian music 71%
5. It helps you understand the Bible better 71%

Now check out the Top Five Main Reasons for All-Teaching Station and Program respondents. Again, the numbers are the percentage of respondents who indicated that’s a Main Reason they listen:

Top Five Main Reasons to Listen (Teaching)

1. It helps you grow spiritually 92%
2. It helps you understand the Bible better 85%
3. It helps you worship God throughout the day 81%
4. You want to hear sermons 77%
5. You want to be encouraged 71%

Please note the Main Reasons in bold, the ones over 80 percent of our respondents agreed on.

We believe there are at least two headlines to zero in on. First, your listener is coming to you for Spiritual Growth. The more you deliver on this and less on other things, the more she will keep coming to you.

Secondly, listeners want help from you with worshipping God . . . and they don’t necessarily identify worship with songs. It’s the #3 reason they come to Teaching Stations and Programs, who generally don’t play songs.

Coming next month: From the 2023 Why Listen? Survey, we re-examine the Main Reasons, focusing on the differences between Women and Men, Younger and Older.

The 2023 Finney Media Why Listen® Survey is out! Almost 15,000 respondents from three different formats: Music stations, Music and Teaching stations and Teaching stations and programs. The findings are fascinating.

We presented listeners about twenty different reasons they might listen to their Christian radio station. Here are the Top Five Main Reasons for Music Station respondents. The numbers are the percentage of respondents who indicated that’s a Main Reason they listen.

Top Five Reasons CCM Listeners Listen (2023):

1. You like the worshipful Christian music. 93%
2. It helps you worship God throughout the day. 91%
3. You want to be encouraged. 82%
4. It helps you grow spiritually. 76%
5. It’s safe for you and my family to listen to. 67%

The no. 1 and no. 2 reasons are roughly equal, and a powerful impetus for us to consider the spiritual temperature of our stations. It appears that our biggest fans – the folks who took the time to complete the survey – continue to want an overtly spiritual focus to our sound.

Laser beam your vision onto the first four reasons. Those are the ones over 75% indicating it’s a main reason they listen. You could boil those four reasons down to two words: Spiritual Encouragement.

It leads us to our Action Points for CCM Stations:

  1. Talk just long enough. Don’t fill. 
  2. Help her grow spiritually. 
  3. Help her feel encouraged.

Coming next month: From the 2023 Why Listen? Survey, we take a look at the Top Reasons split out by gender and by age. Do women rate the reasons differently from men? Do younger listeners rate the reasons differently from older listeners?

Chuck here.

A friend of mine a few years ago at a convention said this “I don’t think listeners want prayer on (Christian) radio.”

Me: “Have you ever asked them?”

Friend: “No . . . but I’m guessing from your question that you think we should.”

Me: “Thinking you might be surprised by their answer.”

We all might be surprised by a lot of answers from our listeners . . . if we just ask.

Like the listener who was annoyed by a music bed because it made the announcer “hard to hear.”

Or the woman who, with tears in her eyes, explained how “life-giving” her Christian station is. All of us listening to her in a focus group choked up and were motivated by her story.

We’re consistently surprised by the answers we hear from actual listeners. Their comments often defy conventional wisdom and have the power to help our media friends who desire to reach more hearts, more deeply.

Think about it this way: You can guess what songs your listeners know and want or how long your breaks should be, or which voices are the most appealing to your listeners. You can guess on dozens of other questions/decisions about your content.

Or you can ask. And serve your listener better than you ever have by knowing and acting on their answers.

This month, Finney Media releases the results of our fourth nationwide Finney Media Why Listen® Survey. Almost 15,000 Christian radio listeners with sometimes surprising answers.

I’ll be presenting findings at both the NRB Convention and CMB Momentum. Why they listen. Why they give. Why they leave. How habits have altered. And much more.

We’ll also be hosting two free webinars on the results on July 11th and September 12th. For more information about all the places and times to learn more about your listener, visit our EVENTS PAGE.

And if you’d like to have a conversation about how your organization might ask your listener, I’d love to meet and talk in Orlando at NRB Convention or at CMB Momentum. To arrange a meeting, email us at info@finneymedia.com.

…and the next five, too!

Every year, Finney Media Research tests library songs from CCM artists with listeners across the United States. Listeners decide this ranking from research we’ve gathered across North America.

In February, we showed you the TOP FIVE FEMALE ARTISTS. In March, the TOP FIVE MALE ARTISTS. In April, the TOP FIVE GROUPS.

Now, we reveal the Top Five CCM Artists – Male, Female and Group – from our recent research. And, we include the second five. All CCM, all in one list:

  1. MercyMe
  2. Chris Tomlin
  3. Casting Crowns
  4. Jeremy Camp
  5. Zach Williams
  6. Lauren Daigle
  7. Third Day
  8. Matthew West
  9. Phil Wickham
  10. Big Daddy Weave (tie) & Crowder (tie)

To make this list, you must have 1.) a lot of songs that 2.) test well. And MercyMe sure fits that description. Their older material tests well. Their newer material tests well. Enough that they take over the top spot in our list. In fact, each of our Top Four Artists have great testing materials that spans 20 years.

Zach Williams continues to bring out great testing song after great testing song. Same with Lauren Daigle. Both of them have been making great CCM songs for less than 10 years.

We’ve seen Matthew West come on strong lately, with a number of great testing songs in the past five years.

Coming in June: We’ve completed the 2023 Finney Media Why Listen® Survey. We’ll begin to reveal key findings next month.

Seen in our newsfeed recently…

America Pulls Back From Values That Once Defined It 

  • Interested in Religion ↓
  • Patriotism ↓
  • Having Children ↓
  • Community Involvement ↓↓
  • Money ↑

How about encouraging news:

Contemporary Christian Radio ↑↑

The fastest growing format since 2011. See the chart in this column:
MUSIC RADIO: A KINGDOM OF GOLD – RADIO LINK

We’re just wrapping up our 2023 Finney Media Why Listen® nationwide survey of Christian radio listeners. The survey took place from January to March and the news is great! Are listeners wanting Biblical content? Yes! Are they looking for encouraging, Jesus-focused stories? Yes! Are they very, very positive on our format? Yes! You’ll see more in our presentations at this year’s NRB conference and CMB Momentum.

Should we be encouraged? Yes!

Should we be challenged? Yes!

Not just because listeners are flocking to CCM radio, but also because of this from our friends at Blackaby Ministries:

If . . . you notice the world . . . becoming darker and darker, don’t blame the darkness! It is simply doing what darkness does. The only remedy for darkness is light. If the world is becoming darker, the problem is not with the darkness. The problem is with the light.
YOU ARE THE LIGHT – BLACKABY MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL

So, here’s the question: What’s the next step your ministry – and you – can take to be the light?

We’d love to be part of your conversation. Visit our CONTACT US page and let’s get started.

Every year, Finney Media Research tests library songs from CCM artists with listeners across the United States. Listeners decide this ranking, from research we’ve gathered across the country.

In February, we showed you the TOP FIVE FEMALE ARTISTS. In March, the TOP FIVE MALE ARTISTS. Now, we reveal the Top Five CCM Groups from our recent research. If you’re playing them, terrific! If you’re not, perhaps it’s time for a discussion about playing them:

Top Five CCM Groups

1. MercyMe
2. Casting Crowns
3. Third Day
4. Big Daddy Weave
5. Elevation Worship

With over 20 years of chart success, and songs from both of the last two decades testing well, MercyMe tops our list. Casting Crowns is a close second and, like MercyMe, have continued to have songs from recently and from more than 10 years ago continue to test well. Third Day continues to score well with CCM listeners therefore it’s likely not time to retire their songs from your library. Big Daddy Weave, with their long history and lots of great testing songs, pulls in at no.4. Worship songs and artists continue to test strongly, and you see that with our now no.5 group Elevation Worship.

Coming in April: We bring it all together and look at The Top Five Artists – Male, Female and Groups – all in one ranker.

By Beth Bacall, Sr. Talent Coach

Before starting our 9 a.m. practice, yoga instructor Amanda (30-something, married, 2 kids, dog and cat mom) says, “I was in my car parked at the ball field until 10:15 p.m. last night, reading, listening to the radio, and waiting for my sons to finish baseball practice.” I processed what time she was able to get her sons home and estimated what followed: the kids would need to eat, get ready for bed, finish any homework, maybe play a video game, and eventually fall asleep. So after a late practice and drive home, she would be feeding, directing, winding her own day down and realizing how many hours she would not have for sleep. And here we are together, so early in the morning. A different kind of practice and perspective for sure.

My kids are already graduated and past school, so this story is helpful for me to connect with our demo when I’m on-air or working with a coaching client. For example, I had no idea baseball practice had already started! I wondered what radio station she was listening to, then assumed it was my station so I could keep her picture in my prep.

This is one of my favorite content strategies: stay curious about others and their schedule. This allows insight and offers lifestyle pictures to paint on air. Every waiting room, sporting event, shopping experience and playground offers scenes to observe from real life that you can use as inspiration for relatable content.

Keying into what ‘she’ could be doing specifically during that day and time is another vital tactic, because how else will you be ready to speak to her? At 7 a.m. the Friday after Christmas is a lot different than the following Monday at 7 a.m. It’s not a 9 to 5 o’clock world any longer. At 1:00 p.m. she could be hopping on a Zoom call, filling her gas tank, picking up kids from school, taking her son to the orthodontist or a counselor, even planning a family member’s funeral. She might be waiting in a drive thru lane to pick up a prescription, or dry cleaning, or library books.

When prepping specifically for that day and on-air time, we might ask, “what are the top three things on my listeners mind, and mine?” Start your prep there and really consider that day and time.  Your stories will come from these answers.

Listeners have the best stories. Sharing their encouraging stories, preferably local, matters all day long. Ask for them on the air and social media. Stories also come from the people on your team, whether they are on-air talent or not. When I do monthly planning calibrations with stations I’m coaching, I always ask that everyone at the station comes to the Zoom call, because it’s eye opening to hear their different views on life and content. On a recent call, my clients collected insight ranging from what the area farmers are dealing with, to the local ice cream shop that will open soon. Some staff members went to that ice cream store as little kids, others had never been. But they all have a sweet picture in their heads about what she might be looking forward to, too.

It’s all about life lived, then talked about in story form.

Read PART 1 in our series, The Importance of Listening to Your Listener.

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