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April 2024: Your Listeners Marital Status (Teaching/Hybrid)

…and why it matters

. . . he who marries . . . does right, but he who does not marry . . . does better. 1 Corinthians 7:38

In the most recent Finney Media Why Listen® Survey, less than half of respondents are married for the first time. Forty-seven percent among respondents to all three radio formats Teaching, Teaching/Talk and All Music.

Among respondents from all-Teaching stations and programs, the percentages of first-time marrieds are even lower: 42 percent with more respondents widowed, divorced or re-married.

Here’s the truth about Christian radio listeners: about half are not currently married for the first time.

How should affect your on air approach?

Be careful that you don’t sound condescending to those who are not married for the first time. If you’re married for the first time it’s easy to slip into that on-air attitude. But, try to put yourself in the shoes of friends who aren’t there.

“My life is challenging. I love it when the announcers help me feel more connected to God. I sure need that.”

We often hear such comments in face-to-face interviews during Listener Advisory Panels*. And we see it in the numbers in the Finney Media Why Listen® Survey.

Among Christian Teaching listeners:

Eighty one percent (81%) say that “help with worshipping God throughout the day” is a Main Reason they listen. It’s among the biggest Main Reasons Christian listeners listen. We ask listeners questions for a living, and the size of these numbers surprises us!

Here’s a challenge. Listen to your station or program and ask.

Are you spending a big part of your time helping our listener worship?

  • By actually worshipping, praising God.
  • By praying on the air.
  • By talking about living a worshipful life and how to do that. (Hint: The world is an instruction manual on worshipping self, not God. You may be the only place she hears otherwise.)
  • By speaking Scripture, especially verses that bring God praise.
  • By helping show your listener what worship is.

We have a friend who has challenged his announcers to be, on the air, worshippers. And not preachers.

We have another friend who has challenged his announcers to make Scripture a part of their live breaks at least hourly. To speak Scripture rather than vaguely talking about Scripture.

We agree with both of them. And this kind of thing will help better accomplish your Biblical mission and make your listeners smile.

How can your station or podcast lean in a more worshipful direction?

Ask us. We can help.

*Listener Advisory Panels are are a lot less expensive than you might think through the power of Zoom video conferencing.

Missed last month’s article?

FEBRUARY 2024

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Many of us will gather in the coming days in Nashville at the 2024 NRB Convention. The following week, many will do the same in Dallas/Fort Worth at the CMB Gold Member get-together.

To meet new and old friends, to network, to discuss and put together “deals”.

May I suggest some different priorities?

  • Pray as you head into each meeting. For Jesus’ ways and thoughts in that meeting.
  • Bless and Love the people you’re with. Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:39)
  • Be fully present. Resist the temptation to look over the person’s shoulder.
  • That He will provide. That he will give you the strength to walk the Gaylord Opryland Hotel Nashville and Gateway Church Dallas/Fort Worth from morning til night with vigor. 😊
  • Rejoice! Can you believe we get to do this?!? Our jobs are to tell people about the King of the Universe? How amazing is that!!!
  • If, when, you see me and our Finney Media team, please ask us about and hold us accountable to these.

We look forward to seeing you, blessing you, listening to you, loving you. And rejoicing with you!

Top Five Reasons Hybrid and Teaching Listeners Listen 

The Finney Media Why Listen® Survey has uncovered listener perceptions of Christian radio stations nationwide for almost ten years. In our latest survey, almost 15,000 listeners to Christian radio responded. Today, we unpack responses from the past three Why Listen surveys to see the Main Reasons listeners say their listening has changed. 

Here’s how we asked the question:  

“There may be several reasons why you listen to Christian radio. For each of the reasons below, please indicate whether for you it is a Main Reason, Secondary Reason or Not A Reason At All to listen.  

We presented our respondents with about 20 different reasons they might listen. 

Here are the Top Five Reasons from the past three surveys, ranked by percentage who indicated Main Reason:

Hybrid (Music & Teaching)

Reason 2018 2021 2023
1. It helps you grow spiritually 86% 85% 85%
2. It helps you worship God throughout the day 83% 86% 84%
3. You want to be encouraged 70% 76% 73%
4. You like worshipful Christian music 63% 80% 71%
5. It helps you understand the Bible better 74% 68% 71%

Teaching

Reason 2018 2021 2023
1. It helps you grow spiritually 89% 87% 92%
2. It helps you understand the Bible better 80% 79% 85%
3. It helps you worship God throughout the day 81% 81% 81%
4. You want to hear sermons 58% 65% 77%
5. You want to be encouraged 67% 70% 71%

It’s helpful to see how listeners don’t identify Worship with just music. “It helps you worship God throughout the day” is one of the top Main Reasons for Teaching stations that play no songs. 

Look at how strongly “grow spiritually” is a Top Reason in both formats, especially in Teaching, now more than 90 percent saying that’s a Main Reason they listen. 

News? Not of high interest or expectation among these listeners. It’s now under 25 percent saying it’s a Main Reason they listen for both formats. 

as seen in the 2023 Finney Media Why Listen® Survey

The 2023 Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey included almost 15,000 respondents from three different formats: Music/Teaching (Hybrid) stations, All-Teaching stations and Programs, and all-Music stations (CCM).

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 survey, we asked about denominational affiliation. Among respondents from Hybrid and Teaching stations, here are the Top Five Denominations:

Top Five Denominations (Hybrid Listeners)

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

Top Five Denominations (Teaching Listeners)

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

The first two denominations on both rankers comprise about 2/3rd of all the respondents. The other 1/3rd are led by Pentecostals.  We can see that many denominations have 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 pre-set yet, we’ll need to focus on using words and concepts that many or most understand.

A story to help illustrate: Recently a friend from our Bible Study group pulled me aside after class. She grew up Catholic and is now Baptist. She leads a Bible Study Fellowship class. She reads her Bible and pays attention. She was curious about a word that had come up in our group that morning that she didn’t know the meaning of, “liturgy.” I know. I was surprised too. She grew up Catholic but didn’t know the meaning.

But I shouldn’t be surprised, because we do research with believers who listen to Christian radio. Many don’t know the meaning of a lot of words/phrases/concepts, even things you would expect that they know.

 

The 2023 Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey consists of almost 15,000 respondents and 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 gave 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 Hybrid (Teaching and Music) and all-Teaching listeners are below. These are the percentage who said that the 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 are “Feeling called by God to give” and “I believe in the mission and vision of the ministry”. It is so crucial 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.

And finally, help your team understand your why and be able to articulate it quickly and clearly.

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 crucial, get ready to tackle how to talk to all five in ways all of those listeners can understand.

In 2023’s Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey, there were almost 15,000 respondents from three different formats – Music/Teaching (Hybrid) stations, all-Teaching stations & programs, and CCM stations.  

The centerpiece of the survey is the reasons Christian radio listeners listen. It turns out that listeners who came to Music/Teaching (Hybrid) stations and all-Teaching stations and programs listen for reasons similar to CCM station listeners. But there are a few reasons that are different. Here are the percentages, by format, of respondents who said that’s a Main Reason they listen. 

Music/Teaching (Hybrid) Station Respondents 

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%

All-Teaching Station Respondents 

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%

CCM Station Respondents 

1. You like 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 your family to listen to 67%

The answers in bold are the ones not common to all three formats. The ones not in bold made the Top Five Main Reasons for each of the formats. A few observations: 

  • It makes sense that “I like the worshipful Christian music” would not show up as a top Main Reason for Teaching Station/Program respondents since those stations don’t play any music. 
  • A more Bible-focused and evangelism reason shows up higher for the stations that lean toward Teaching programs. “It helps you understand the Bible better” shows up much more strongly than that reason did with music listeners. 
  • We believe that the biggest headlines are: When you look at the Main Reasons that are common to all three formats “It helps me worship God throughout the day”, “It helps me grow spiritually” and “I want to be encouraged” for our Hybrid and Teaching station and program listener, it’s Spiritual Growth. For the all-Music listener, it’s Spiritual Encouragement.

Coming in December: The Top Five Reasons Christian Radio Listeners Give. 

The 2023 Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey included almost 15,000 respondents andover 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; a husband/wife both married for the first time with natural born children. In 2023, there are more people listening than just men and women who are married for the first time. Here are the Top Five Marital Statuses for Hybrid (Music + Teaching) and all-Teaching listeners ranked in our recent nationwide survey:

Hybrid

1. Married First Time 50%
2. Re-married 18%
3. Divorced 13%
4. Single/Never Married 10%
5. Widowed 9%

Teaching

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 she is married for the first time, you’re talking to half of your listeners. And if you assume she is married  for the first time or more often you’re still talking to under 7 in 10. Almost one-third of Hybrid listeners and almost 40 percent of Teaching listeners are not currently married.

We’re coming up on the holidays and for many of your listeners, that means blended families sharing time (30 to 35 percent are either re-married or divorced) or some form of spending it alone (about 20 percent are either never married or widowed). It’s time to be empathetic to how complicated it is.

The 2023 Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey. There were 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, heard by people from many denominations. In our nationwide Finney Media Why Listen® Survey, we asked about this affiliation. Among respondents from Hybrid (Music & Teaching) 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%

Teaching

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

The first two denominations in both formats total over 60 percent. The other 40 percent are other faith traditions. All these many denominations have different ways of worship and different words they use in their worship and way of communication.

For us to reach them and others who haven’t even given us a pre-set yet, we’ll need to focus on using words and concepts that most understand.

A story to help illustrate

Heard this on the radio from a prominent Christian broadcaster – “we need to exhort fellow believers.” I asked friends from a CCM station to tell me the meaning of the word exhort. One thought it meant to exercise. A friend pointed out that that is to exert. Another thought that exhort is what you do when you know something damaging about someone and you expect payment to keep it quiet – to extort. These were smart broadcasters focused on a Biblical mission, but they didn’t know that exhort means to “strongly encourage or urge”. And if the national broadcaster had said “urge” instead of “exhort”, he would have been clearer.

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 October: The Top Five Marital Statuses represented among Hybrid and Teaching respondents in the 2023 Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey. You already know not all are married. We’ll break down how different the respondents are in relation to marriage/life situations.

The 2023 Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey is complete. Almost 15,000 respondents from three different formats – Music stations, Music and Teaching stations, and all-Teaching stations and programs participated and provided fascinating information about 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 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 I’m 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 I’m not interested in 56%
3. They play songs you don’t like 56%
4. An announcer talks too much 45%
5. They play commercials 42%

Over the last couple of months, we discussed in this column (links here) how the main listener’s reasons for listening to Hybrid and Teaching Christian radio are summed up in two words – spiritual growth. Our top tune out confirms this. The no. 1 tune out – 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 have a negative, angry, judgmental tone, but also that we’re proactive about including “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control*.” 

The others 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 September: Top Five Denominations among Teaching & Hybrid Listeners.  

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

 

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