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January 2026: Top Five Denominations among CCM Listeners

Rank/Denomination % of CCM Respondents
1. Non-denominational/Bible/Community Church 34%
2. Baptist 25%
3. Lutheran 11%
4. Catholic 10%
5. Pentecostal 7%

The 2025 Finney Media Why Listen® Survey includes almost 12,000 Christian radio listeners nationwide—5,470 of them from Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) stations. And I’ll bet the denominations they identify with don’t surprise you. The top five are dominated with Evangelical Protestant denominations (no. 1, no. 2 and no. 5 total to 66 percent).

What might surprise you is how different this top five is from the actual denominational composition of the United States. According to the PEW RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE STUDY from 2023-2024, 62 percent of Americans identify as Christian. Of that 62 percent, here are the Top Five Denominations:

Rank/Denomination % of the US Population
1. Evangelical Protestant 37%
2. Catholic 31%
3. Mainline Protestant 18%
4. Historically Black Protestant 8%
5. Latter Day Saint (Mormon) 3%

Geography makes a huge difference in these nationwide population numbers (for example, Christians in Dallas-Fort Worth are 44 percent Evangelical Protestant versus. Chicago’s 17 percent), but it appears that there could be opportunity to help our stations reach beyond the Evangelical Protestant core.

What are the ways, without compromising the bold Biblical message, that we might attract listeners from other Christian denominations to worship God through our stations the other six days of the week?

Coming in January: From the 2025 Why Listen Survey, The Top Five Marital Statuses represented among the respondents. Hint: Not all of your listeners are married!

 

 

Rank/Motivation for Giving

% Very Important
1. (tie) You believe in the mission and vision of the ministry 84%
1. (tie) Feeling called by God to give 84%
3. Knowing God tells us to support those who minister to us 61%
4. A story about someone’s life that was changed through the ministry 36%
5. An emergency need at the ministry 33%

The 2025 Finney Media Why Listen®  Survey, which included almost 12,000 Christian radio listeners nationwide—5,470 of them from Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) stations—reveals clear motivations for respondents’ giving to your radio ministry.

Among those who indicated recent giving, we asked this question: While there are many general reasons for donating to a radio ministry, there are often special circumstances that move you from just thinking about giving to actually making a call, going online, or writing a check to make a gift. Thinking of the last few times you made a gift, how important were each of the following in inspiring your decision to donate?

You can see their answers above. Both of the top two answers are a call to communication clarity. Are you clear (obvious, concise and often) about your mission and vision in ways your listener can relate to? If you were brand new to Christian radio (and the faith), would you understand and be motivated by the words you’re using? This often means listening to listeners about why they give and then incorporating those words into your appeals.

Listener stories (no. 4 on this list above) are an excellent way of communicating the emotions from the top three responses. Do you have ways of capturing those stories, editing them to a snack-sized length and airing/re-airing them?

Coming in January: From the 2025 Why Listen Survey, The Top Five Denominations represented among the respondents.Get ready to hear about an opportunity to grow your audience.

 

Hybrid

Rank/Motivation for Giving % Very Important
  1. You believe in the mission and vision of the ministry
 85%
2. Feeling called by God to give 84%
3. Knowing God tells us to support those who minister to us 67%
4. An emergency need at the ministry 36%
5. A story about someone’s life that was changed through the ministry 32%

Teaching

Rank/Motivation for Giving % Very Important
1. You believe in the mission and vision of the ministry 85%
2. Feeling called by God to give 83%
3. Knowing God tells us to support those who minister to us 63%
4. A story about someone’s life that was changed through the ministry 27%
5. An emergency need at the ministry 27%

The 2025 Finney Media Why Listen® Survey, which included almost 12,000 Christian radio listeners nationwide—almost 3,000 from Music and Teaching (Hybrid stations) and over 3,000 from all-Teaching stations and programs—reveals clear motivations for respondents’ giving to your radio ministry.

Among those who indicated recent giving, we asked this question: While there are many general reasons for donating to a radio ministry, there are often special circumstances that move you from just thinking about giving to actually making a call, going online, or writing a check to make a gift. Thinking of the last few times you made a gift, how important were each of the following in inspiring your decision to donate?

You can see their answers above. Both of the top two answers are a call to communication clarity. Are you clear (obvious, concise and often) about your mission and vision in ways your listener can relate to? If you were a brand new to Christian radio (and the faith), would you understand and be motivated by the words you’re using? This often means listening to listeners about why they give and then incorporating those words into your appeals.

Listener stories (no.4 or no.5 on the lists above) are an excellent way of communicating the emotions from the top three responses. Do you have ways of capturing those stories, editing them to a snack-sized length and airing/re-airing them?

Coming in January: From the 2025 Why Listen Survey 2025, The Top Five Denominations represented among Hybrid and Teaching the respondents. Get ready to hear about an opportunity to grow your audience.

On-Air Topic

% Very Interested
1. A word from Scripture and how it might apply to your life today 81%
2. Information on a local Christian concert 53%
3. Bible studies on topics such as prophecy, spiritual gifts, and marriage 37%
4. Ideas for free, fun activities with your family next weekend 36%
5. Weather forecasts 33%

The 2025 Finney Media Why Listen® Survey reveals clear priorities among CCM audiences regarding on-air content. The survey conducted earlier this year included almost 12,000 Christian radio listeners nationwide, of whom 5,470 were from Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) stations.

Leading by a wide margin, A word from Scripture and how it might apply to your life today (81%) demonstrates that spiritual encouragement is the heart of CCM radio. Listeners are not simply tuning in for music but for messages that connect biblical truth to daily living, affirming your role as a spiritual companion.

At 53 percent, information on a local Christian concert ranks second, highlighting the importance of community connection and shared worship experiences. CCM listeners value opportunities to gather in faith-centered environments where the music they love is brought to life.

The third topic, Bible studies on subjects such as prophecy, spiritual gifts, and marriage (37%), indicates interest in deeper biblical engagement and ongoing discipleship. Meanwhile, ideas for free, fun family activities (36%) reveal that listeners also seek practical, family-oriented inspiration rooted in Christian values.

Finally, weather forecasts (33%) round out the top five—an indicator that listeners trust you for both faith and everyday reliability. Overall, these findings illustrate that CCM radio functions as more than entertainment: it is a daily blend of Scripture, community, learning, and life guidance grounded in faith.

Coming in December: From the 2025 Why Listen Survey, The Top Five Motivations for Giving to your ministry, directly from your donors.

Hybrid

On-Air Topic

% Very Interested
1. A word from Scripture and how it might apply to your life today 87%
2. Bible studies on topics such as prophecy, spiritual gifts, and marriage 58%
3. A series on an entire book of the Bible 58%
4. Three ways to improve your marriage or other relationships 35%
5. Information on a local Christian concert 26%

Teaching

On-Air Topic

% Very Interested
1. A word from Scripture and how it might apply to your life today 89%
2. Bible studies on topics such as prophecy, spiritual gifts, and marriage 76%
3. A series on an entire book of the Bible 73%
4. Three ways to improve your marriage or other relationships 40%
5. Regular news updates 33%

The 2025 Finney Media Why Listen® 2025 Survey reveals clear priorities among Hybrid and Teaching audiences regarding on-air content. The survey conducted earlier this year included almost 12,000 Christian radio listeners nationwide, of whom almost 3,000 were Music & Teaching (Hybrid) stations and over 3,000 were Teaching stations and programs.

Leading by a wide margin, A word from Scripture and how it might apply to your life today demonstrates that spiritual growth is the heart of Hybrid and Teaching radio. Listeners are tuning in for messages that connect biblical truth to daily living, affirming your role as a spiritual companion.

At no. 2 for each format, Bible Study echoes what we heard at no. 1. We see the same things with the no. 3 topic, studying an entire book of the Bible.

We have to go all the way to topic no. 4 to find ways to improve your marriage and topic no. 5, either Christian concerts or news as the first topics aren’t specifically about the Bible.

Almost like your listeners are saying, “Please give me more Jesus, more Bible,” and reduce everything else.

Coming in December: From the 2025 Why Listen Survey, The Top Five Motivations for Giving to your ministry, directly from your donors.

The 2025 Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey gathered data from more than 11,000 Christian radio respondents from three different formats: Music stations, Music and Teaching stations, and Teaching stations and programs. The findings are fascinating!

We presented respondents with 16 different reasons they might listen to their Christian radio station. Two months ago, we looked at the TOP FIVE MAIN REASONS CCM LISTENERS LISTEN. And, last month, the BOTTOM FIVE MAIN REASONS – Reasons no. 12 through no. 16. This month, we present the Top Five Reasons broken out by Gender and Age. The numbers are the percentage of respondents who indicated that’s a Main Reason they listen:

Younger Women (Ages 54 and under)

Older Women (Ages 55+)
1. It helps you worship God 93%   1. You like worshipful Christian music 95%
2. You like worshipful Christian music 92% 2. It helps you worship God 93%
3. You want to be encouraged 82% 3. You want to be encouraged 85%
4. It’s safe for you and your family 77% 4. It helps you grow spiritually 80%
5. It helps you grow spiritually 76% 5. Get away from negativity 68%

Younger Men (Ages 54 and under)

Older Men (Ages 55+)
1. It helps you worship God 89%   1. You like worshipful Christian music 92%
2. You like worshipful Christian music 88% 2. It helps you worship God 86%
3. You want to be encouraged 74% 3. You want to be encouraged 73%
4. It’s safe for you and your family 71% 4. It helps you grow spiritually 70%
5. It helps you grow spiritually 70% 5. It’s safe for you and your family 61%
5. Get away from negativity 61%

Keep in mind that the respondents to our survey come from station databases – the most loyal, most interested, likely P1 superfans. Both genders and age groups give the highest marks to worshipful Christian music and help with worshipping God throughout the day – in numbers higher in all four demo breakouts than the next closest reason – encouragement. Two headlines out of this:

  1. Worship music and worship content score very high among P1’s. These days, the highest rated CCM stations are more intentional about worshipful content. They are leaning more spiritual.
  2. You could boil down the top reasons to two words – Spiritual Encouragement. If we’re doing breaks that are neither spiritual nor encouraging or both, why? And what might change if you did?

Coming next month: From the 2025 Why Listen? Survey, we presented our respondents with a number of topics we might talk about on the air. We’ll show you the Top Five Show Topics.

The 2025 Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey gathered data from more than 11,000 Christian radio respondents from three different formats: Music stations, Music and Teaching stations, and Teaching stations and programs. Fascinating findings!

We presented respondents with 16 different reasons they might listen to their Christian radio station. Two months ago, we looked at the TOP FIVE MAIN REASONS CCM LISTENERS LISTEN. And, last month, the BOTTOM FIVE MAIN REASONS – Reasons no. 12 through no. 16. This month, we present the Top Five Reasons broken out by Gender and Age. The numbers are the percentage of respondents who indicated that’s a Main Reason they listen:

HYBRID

Younger Women (Ages 54 and under)

Older Women (Ages 55+)
1. It helps you worship God 91%   1. It helps you worship God 92%
2. You like worshipful Christian music 89% 2. You like worshipful Christian music 91%
3. It helps you grow spiritually 85% 3. It helps you grow spiritually 85%
4. You want to be encouraged 83% 4. You want to be encouraged 81%
5. It’s safe for you and your family 68% 5. The presentation is calming 63%

Younger Men (Ages 54 and under)

Older Men (Ages 55+)
1. It helps you worship God 90%   1. It helps you worship God 82%
2. You like worshipful Christian music 86% 2. You like worshipful Christian music 80%
3. It helps you grow spiritually 85% 3. It helps you grow spiritually 76%
4. You want to be encouraged 72% 4. You want to be encouraged 67%
5. It’s safe for you and your family 71% 5. Understand the Bible better 63%

TEACHING

Younger Women (Ages 54 and under)

Older Women (Ages 55+)
1. It helps you grow spiritually 98%   1. It helps you grow spiritually 93%
2. Understand the Bible better 92% 2. Understand the Bible better 85%
3. It helps you worship God 89% 3. It helps you worship God 84%
4. You want to hear sermons 83% 4. You want to hear sermons 77%
5. You want to be encouraged 71% 5. You want to be encouraged 75%

Younger Men (Ages 54 and under)

Older Men (Ages 55+)
1. It helps you grow spiritually 90%   1. It helps you grow spiritually 90%
2. You want to hear sermons 86% 2. Understand the Bible better 84%
3. Understand the Bible better 85% 3. It helps you worship God 80%
4. It helps you worship God 84% 4. You want to hear sermons 78%
5. You want to help spread Truth 65% 5. You want to be encouraged 67%

Keep in mind that the respondents to our survey come from station databases – the most loyal, most interested, likely P1 superfans.

Women and Men. Younger and Older. Very similar . . . with one exception. “Safe for you and your family” scores with younger, not with older.

Hybrid listeners respond in a manner similar to CCM listeners. High scores on worshipful Christian music and help with worshipping God throughout the day. Two key words for Hybrid listeners: Spiritual Encouragement.

Teaching listeners answer differently, Growing spiritually is their no. 1 reason. Note how strongly sermons score. Worship still high. And a much stronger response to “you want to understand the Bible better.” Two key words for Teaching listeners: Spiritual Growth.

Coming next month: From the 2025 Why Listen? Survey, we presented our respondents with a number of topics we might talk about on the air. We’ll show you the Top Five Show Topics for Hybrid and Teaching listeners.

The Finney Media 2025 Why Listen®) Survey gathered responses from more than 11,000 Christian radio respondents from three different formats: Music stations, Music and Teaching stations and Teaching stations and programs. The findings are fascinating!

We presented listeners 16 different reasons they might listen to their Christian radio station or program. Last month, we looked at the TOP FIVE MAIN REASONS HYBRID AND TEACHING LISTENERS LISTEN. Here are the Bottom Five Main Reasons for those same respondents; reasons no. 12 through no. 16. The numbers are the percentage of respondents who indicated that’s a Main Reason they listen.

Hybrid Stations

12. Practical advice on family relationships, personal finances and topics that help you improve your life 38%
13. It gives you a Christian perspective on the news 35%
14. You like to hear interviews with key Christian leaders and authors 29%
15. You want to be informed about possible threats to your Christian faith 26%
16. You want to hear regular news updates 13%

Teaching Stations

12. Practical advice on family relationships, personal finances and topics that help you improve your life 51%
13. You like to hear interviews with key Christian leaders and authors 41%
14. You like it when the speakers pray 39%
15. You want to be informed about possible threats to your Christian faith 38%
16. You want to hear regular news updates 27%

Let’s start at the bottom with news.  For both formats, it ranks last among the Main Reasons listeners tune in. Do these listeners want news? Perhaps. Just not from you. They have other channels for that. If you still do newscasts, consider reducing or eliminating them.

The top main reasons they listen are all about hope. That seems to be why threats to faith, even relationship and financial advice, score lower. They’re just not about the hope these listeners are looking for.

Interviews: These are the backbone of many Hybrid and Teaching stations. But they are likely holding back your ministry’s audience growth. We have ideas on what you might do instead and would love to discuss. CONTACT US today.

Coming next month: From the 2025 Why Listen? Survey, we take a look at the highest Main Reasons by Age and Gender. How are men and women, younger and older Hybrid and Teaching listeners the same or different?

The 2025 Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey gathered responses from more than 11,000 Christian radio respondents from three different formats: Music stations, Music and Teaching stations and Teaching stations and programs. The findings are fascinating!

We presented listeners 16 different reasons they might listen to their Christian radio station. Last month, we looked at the TOP FIVE MAIN REASONS CCM LISTENERS LISTEN. Here are the Bottom Five Main Reasons for Music Station respondents; reasons no. 12 through no. 16. The numbers are the percentage of respondents who indicated that’s a Main Reason they listen.

Bottom Five Reasons CCM Listeners Listen

12. Practical advice on family relationships, personal finances and topics that help you improve your life 24%
13. You like to hear interviews with key Christian leaders and authors 20%
14. You want to be informed about possible threats to your Christian faith 17%
15. You want to hear sermons 11%
16. You want to hear regular news updates 10%

Starting at the bottom . . .

Reason no. 16 News, no. 15 Sermons, no. 14 Threats to your faith: Do they want them? Likely. Just not from your CCM station. They likely leave if you do them . . . and they don’t necessarily come back.

Reason no. 13 Interviews: If you do them, don’t do them live. Live interviews are a recipe for a way-too-long talk segment on your station. Better to record and edit. The most successful CCM stations have either cut way back or eliminated them.

Relationship or financial advice: Should take a backseat to spiritual encouragement content. And if you do relationship or financial advice – make it Biblical and concise.

Coming next month: From the 2025 Why Listen? Survey, we take a look at the highest Main Reasons by Age and Gender. How are men and women, younger and older CCM listeners the same or different.

The 2025 Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey is out! More than 11,000 respondents from three different formats, including Music stations, Music and Teaching stations, and Teaching stations and programs. The findings are fascinating!

We presented listeners with 16 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:

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. 77%
5. It’s safe for you and your family to listen to. 68%

The no. 1 and no. 2 reasons are roughly equal, and are a powerful reason 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 worshipful focus on your station.

Laser beam your vision onto the first four reasons. Those are the ones over 75 percent 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 feel encouraged.
  3. Then play a song she loves.

Coming next month: From the 2025 Why Listen? Survey, we take a look at the lowest Main Reasons, things we do that aren’t the reasons she listens.

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