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January 2025: Top Three Research Headlines for 2025 (Teaching and Hybrid Stations)

Today, a coming together of three pieces of research plus one big takeaway:

Research Finding #1 – From our Why Listen Survey: “A Word from Scripture and how it applies to your life today.” Ninety-one percent (91%) of Teaching station/program respondents and 88% of Hybrid station respondents indicate “very interested.” Easily the  no. 1 topic among the many topics we tested.

Research Finding #2 – From Listener Advisory Panels (picture Focus Groups done with P1’s): An overwhelming desire for and awareness of Scripture on air. Our listeners don’t just want you to talk about Scripture. They want the actual words of Scripture on air.

Research Finding #3 – From both the Why Listen Survey and Listener Advisory Panels: Your listener’s tolerance for length is low. If you want them to stay (and come back), you must get to the point. If you’re meandering to the point (a lot of Christian radio does), she will leave. To grow audience, you must edit well.

One Big Takeaway: Scripture plus Concise is genius. This is true for All-music stations, Hybrid stations and Teaching stations. If you include Scripture . . . and get to the point quickly, your listener will more likely stay and come back . . . and tell a friend!

Finney Media does music research every year on hundreds of songs in multiple markets across North America and every year, the numbers on which songs from the past are the most popular with Christian Music Radio listeners changes. From our research during the past year, here are the Top Five Testing Songs released during each of the past 10 years:

 

2024

  1. Seph Schlueter/Counting My Blessings
  2. Tasha Layton/Never
  3. Leanna Crawford/Still Waters (Psalm 23)
  4. Megan Woods/The Truth
  5. Tasha Layton/Worship Through It
 2023

  1. Jon Reddick/I Believe It
  2. Katy Nichole/Hold On
  3. Elevation Worship/Trust In God
  4. Chris Tomlin/Holy Forever
  5. Ben Fuller/If I Got Jesus
2022

  1. Katy Nichole/God Is In This Story
  2. Casting Crowns/All Because Of Mercy
  3. Ben Fuller/Who I Am
  4. Lauren Daigle/Thank God I Do
  5. Jordan St. Cyr/No Matter What
 2021

  1. Phil Wickham/House Of The Lord
  2. Zach Williams/Less Like Me
  3. Casting Crowns/Scars In Heaven
  4. Cece Winans/Believe For It
  5. Needtobreathe/I Am Yours
2020

  1. Brandon Lake/Gratitude
  2. Elevation Worship/Graves Into Gardens
  3. Jeremy Camp/Keep Me In The Moment
  4. Cain/Rise Up
  5. Phil Wickham/Battle Belongs
 2019

  1. Jonathan & Melissa Helser/Raise A Hallelujah
  2. Zach Williams/Rescue Story
  3. Jenn Johnson/Goodness Of God
  4. Matthew West/The God Who Stays
  5. Big Daddy Weave/Alive
2018

  1. Hillsong Worship/Who You Say I Am
  2. Lauren Daigle/You Say
  3. Cory Asbury/Reckless Love
  4. Sanctus Real/Confidence
  5. For King & Country/God Only Knows
 2017

  1. Tenth Avenue North/Con
  2. Lauren Daigle/O’Lord
  3. Crowder/All My Hope
  4. Tauren Wells/Known
  5. Passion/Glorious Day
2016

  1. Ryan Stevenson/Eye Of The Storm
  2. Mercy Me/Even If
  3. Hillsong/What A Beautiful Name
  4. Casting Crowns/Oh My Soul
  5. Zach Williams/Old Church Choir
 2015

  1. One Sonic Society/Great Are You Lord
  2. Kristian Stanfill/Even So Come
  3. Big Daddy Weave/My Story
  4. Jeremy Camp/Same Power
  5. Bethel Music/No Longer Slaves

Check out which titles are on this list that you may have taken out over the years . . . and consider if they should be a part of your station now.

Coming in March: The latest on the most popular artists with CCM listeners across the United States.

“. . . gospel clarity is the antidote to the rampant confusion.”

Dean Inserra, The Unsaved Christian/Reaching Cultural Christianity with the Gospel

The Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey saw almost 15,000 respondents from three different formats – Music stations, Music/Teaching stations, and All-Teaching stations and programs.

One of the challenges we face and opportunities we have, unlike a church which is focused on one particular denomination, is that our radio stations and programs are multi-denominational. They are heard by people from many denominations. In our nationwide Finney Media Why Listen® Survey, we asked about denomination affiliation. Among respondents from Hybrid (Music & Teaching) stations and all-Teaching stations and programs, here are the Top Five Denominations:

Hybrid

1. Non-denominational/Bible/Community 34%
2. Baptist 30%
3. Pentecostal/Charismatic 8%
4. Reformed 5%
5. Presbyterian 5%

All-Teaching

1. Baptist 46%
2. Non-denominational/Bible/Community 27%
3. Pentecostal/Charismatic 7%
4. Lutheran 4%
5. Methodist 4%

The first two denominations total 60 percent to 70 percent. The other 30 percent to 40 percent are led by Pentecostals and include mainline Protestant. Many denominations with different ways of worship and different words they use in their worship and ways they communicate with each other.

For us to reach them and perhaps many who haven’t even given us a listen yet, in particular among Bible-believing mainline denominations, we’ll need to focus on using words and concepts that many or most understand.

A Word Illustration

Should we share testimonies – stories of how God has worked in people’s lives – on our stations and programs? Most definitely. Do listeners from mainline Protestant churches use the word testimony to describe their God Story? It’s likely they think that “testimony” is what happens in a courtroom. If we want more listeners from Bible-believing mainline churches to listen, using the words “testimony” is a challenge.

If we’re going to be clear in our communication, we’ll need to consider what our multi-denominational listener – people of all nations . . . and denominations – understand. Clarity and understanding of the Truth is at stake.

Coming in January: The Top Five Topics Hybrid and Teaching Listeners want to hear.

“. . . gospel clarity is the antidote to the rampant confusion.”
Dean Inserra, The Unsaved Christian/Reaching Cultural Christianity with the Gospel

The Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey saw almost 15,000 respondents from three different formats: Music stations, Music/Teaching stations, and All-Teaching stations and programs.

One of the challenges we face and opportunities we have, unlike a church which is focused on one particular denomination, is that our radio stations and programs are multi-denominational. They are heard by people from many denominations. In our nationwide Finney Media Why Listen® Survey, we asked about denomination affiliation. Among respondents from CCM stations, here are the Top Five Denominations:

1. Non-denominational/Bible/Community 30%
2. Baptist 30%
3. Lutheran 10%
4. Pentecostal/Charismatic 10%
5. Catholic 7%

The first two denominations total 60 percent. The other 40 percent are led by Lutherans at 10 percent and include Catholics at 7 percent. Many denominations with different ways of worship and different words they use in their worship and ways they communicate with each other.

For us to reach them and perhaps many who haven’t even given us a listen yet, we’ll need to focus on using words and concepts that many or most understand.

A Word Illustration

Should we share testimonies – stories of how God has worked in people’s lives – on our stations and programs? Most definitely. Do listeners from mainline Protestant churches use the word testimony to describe their God Story? It’s likely they think that “testimony” is what happens in a courtroom. If we want more listeners from mainline Protestant churches to listen, using the words “testimony” is a challenge.

If we’re going to be clear in our communication, we’ll need to consider what our multi-denominational listener – people of all nations . . . and denominations – understand. Clarity and understanding of the Truth is at stake.

Coming in February: From our nationwide research conducted in the past six months: The Top Five Testing Songs released in each of the past ten years.

The Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey has almost 15,000 respondents with over a million data points from three different formats: Hybrid (Music/Teaching) stations, All-Teaching stations and programs, and CCM Stations.

We asked our respondents about whether or not they give to the ministry that sent them the survey. And to those who do give, we asked about what moved them to make a call, go online or write a check to make a gift. The Top Five responses from Hybrid (Teaching and Music) and all-Teaching listeners are below. These are the percentage who said that reason is “very important” to their decision . . . an “inspiration” for their move from listening to giving.

Hybrid

1. Feeling called by God to give      83%
2. I believe in the mission and vision of the ministry 83%
3. Knowing God tells us to support those who ministry to us 63%
4. An emergency need at the ministry 33%
5. A story about someone’s life that was changed through the ministry 31%

Teaching

1. Feeling called by God to give 83%
2. I believe in the mission and vision of the ministry 83%
3. Knowing God tells us to support those who ministry to us 67%
4. An emergency need at the ministry 28%
5. A story about someone’s life that was changed through the ministry 27%

 

The no. 1 and no. 2 responses, “Feeling called by God to give” and “I believe in the mission and vision of the ministry” show how crucial it is that you communicate clearly and often your mission and vision. This includes both on air and off air, and especially through listener stories.

Your listener/donor is passionate about listening, passionate about helping. Making sure that theme is at the center of your giving communication is crucial. Help your team understand your why and be able to articulate it quickly.

Coming in December: The Top Five Denominations represented among Hybrid and Teaching respondents to the 2023 Why Listen? Survey. If you believe making your message multi-denominationally accessible is key, get ready to tackle how to talk to all five in ways all of those listeners can understand.

The Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey has almost 15,000 respondents with over a million data points from three different formats: Music stations, Music/Teaching stations, All-Teaching stations, and programs.

We asked our respondents about whether or not they give to the ministry that sent them the survey. And to those who give, we asked about what moved them to make a call, go online or write a check to make a gift. The Top Five responses from CCM listeners are below. These are the percentage who said that reason is “very important” to their decision . . . an “inspiration” for their move from listening to giving.

1. Feeling called by God to give 87%
2. I believe in the mission and vision of the ministry 85%
3. Knowing God tells us to support those who ministry to us 64%
4. An emergency need at the ministry 38%
5. A story about someone’s life that was changed through the ministry 36%

The no. 1 and no. 2 responses, “Feeling called by God to give” and “I believe in the mission and vision of the ministry” show how crucial it is that you communicate clearly and often your mission and vision both on air and off air, and especially through listener stories.

Your listener/donor is passionate about listening, passionate about helping. Making sure that theme is at the center of your giving communication is crucial. Help your team understand your why and be able to articulate it quickly.

Coming in January: The Top Five Denominations Represented among CCM respondents to the Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey. If you believe making your message multi-denominationally accessible is key, get ready to tackle how to talk to all five in ways all of those listeners can understand.

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

The Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey has almost 15,000 respondents with over a million data points from three different formats: Music stations, Music/Teaching stations, and All-Teaching stations/programs.

There’s much discussion about focusing our radio stations on people beyond the nuclear family. In a snapshot from our 2023 nationwide survey, more friends are listening than just men and women who are married for the first time. Here are the Top Five Marital Statuses for CCM listeners ranked in our most recent nationwide survey:

Top Five Marital Statuses among CCM Listeners from the 2023 Why Listen Survey

1. Married First Time 46%
2. Re-married 21%
3. Divorced 14%
4. Single/Never Married 10%
5. Widowed 8%

Here’s a way to think about this: If you’re talking to your listener as if she is married for the first time, you’re talking to less than half of your listeners. And if you assume she is married for the first time more often, you’re still talking to only 7 in 10. One-third of the CCM listeners in the Finney Media Why Listen® Survey are not currently married.

We’re coming up on the holidays, and for many of your listeners, that means blended family craziness (35% are re-married or divorced) or some form of alone (almost 20% are never married or widowed). It’s time to empathize with how complicated it is and tailor breaks, transitions and the like accordingly.

Coming in December: The Top Five Reasons Listeners Give to your CCM Radio Station

The Finney Media 2023 Why Listen?® Survey surveyed almost 15,000 respondents from three different formats:  Music stations, Music and Teaching stations, and all-Teaching stations and programs. It uncovered  enlightening information on our listeners!

One of our big questions is about tuneouts: things your listener perceives you might do that would cause her to turn off the radio. The list below is focused on the respondents who came from Hybrid and Teaching stations. The percentages are the total of “very likely to turn off” and “somewhat likely to turn off”:

Hybrid Stations

1. They have a negative, angry, judgmental tone 75%
2. They talk about a topic you’re not interested in 52%
3. They play songs you don’t like 48%
4. An announcer talks too much 42%
5. They play commercials 41%

 

Teaching Stations

1. They have a negative, angry, judgmental tone 70%
2. They talk about a topic you’re not interested in 56%
3. They play songs you don’t like 58%
4. An announcer talks too much 45%
5. They play commercials 42%

 

We discussed in this column the last couple months (see the link below) how the main listener reasons for listening to Hybrid and Teaching Christian radio could be summed up in two words:spiritual growth. Our top tuneout confirms this. The no. 1 tuneout – and it isn’t even close – is a negative, angry, judgmental tone.

Your listener is looking for spiritual growth without negativity, without anger, without judgment.

We believe that doesn’t just mean we take out things that are negative, angry, judgmental, but also that we’re proactive about including “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control*.”

The other tuneouts are important 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:  The Top Five Marital Statuses for Christian radio listeners. Sneak peek: A significant portion are not currently married. Taking that into account as you craft your sound is crucial to growing your audience.

*”The Fruits Of The Spirit” – Galatians 5:22

May 2024: Main Reason Teaching and Hybrid Listeners Listen link

The Finney Media 2023 Why Listen?® Survey surveyed almost 15,000 respondents from three different formats:  Music stations, Music and Teaching stations, and all-Teaching stations and programs. It uncovered  fascinating information on our listeners!

One of our big questions is about tuneouts:,things your listener perceives you might do that would cause her to turn off the radio. The list below is focused on just the respondents who came from Music stations. The percentages are the total of “very likely to turn off” and “somewhat likely to turn off”.

Top Five Reasons CCM Listeners Leave

1. They have a negative, angry, judgmental tone 84%
2. They play songs you don’t like 44%
3. An announcer talks too much 42%
4. They play commercials 40%
5. They talk about a topic you’re not interested in 40%

 

We discussed in this column the last couple months (see link below) how the main listener reasons for listening to Christian radio could be summed up in two words:spiritual encouragement. Our top tuneout confirms this. The no.1 tuneout – and it isn’t even close – is a negative, angry, judgmental tone.

Your listener is looking for spiritual encouragement without negativity, without anger, without judgment.

We believe that doesn’t just mean we take out things that are negative, angry, judgmental, but also that we’re proactive about including “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control*.”

The other tuneouts are important 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 November: The Top Five Marital Statuses of your listeners. Sneak peek: many are not currently married, and it’s important for us to talk to them in a way that doesn’t sound condescending/disrespectful.

*”The Fruits Of The Spirit” – Galatians 5:22

September 2024: Top Five Reasons CCM Listeners Listen by gender and age (Link)

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