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March 2024: Why Your Listener Listens (Teaching/Hybrid)

“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

Every year, Finney Media Research tests library songs from CCM artists with listeners across the United States. The listeners decide this ranking. 

We thought it would be fun for you to see the Top Five Male Artists from our recent research. If you’re playing them, terrific! If you’re not, perhaps it’s time for a discussion about playing them:

1. Chris Tomlin
2. Jeremy Camp
3. Zach Williams
4. Matthew West
5. Crowder

And as a bonus, because they are so close to the Top Five, here are the next five . . . 

6. Matt Maher
7. Phil Wickham
8. Toby Mac
9. Micah Tyler
10. Tauren Wells

Making the top of this list means you have lots of high testing songs. If you do music testing, you know that many of Chris Tomlin’s songs are still testing well! So are Jeremy Camp’s. And Zach Williams likewise. Matthew West is no surprise at no. 4. His latest songs have been especially strong. Crowder is our new entry in the Top 5!  

Coming in May: The Top Five Groups in nationwide CCM Music Research during 2023. Be sure you’re playing these artists to Grow your Audience. 

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!

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.

We thought it would be fun for you to see the Top Five Female Artists from our research recently. If you’re playing them, terrific! If you’re not, perhaps it’s time for a second look:

  1. Lauren Daigle
  2. Kari Jobe
  3. Tasha Layton
  4. Katy Nichole
  5. (tied) Anne Wilson & Francesca Battistelli

We’ve seen a resurgence of top testing songs by women in the past few years, including Katy Nichole’s debut. Francesca Battistelli and Kari Jobe continue to score well. But the real story in the Top Five is the dominance of Lauren Daigle. The way we do our Artist Scoring rewards artists with lots of high testing songs. Lauren scores are so much higher than the others that her score total – driven by lots of hit songs with high scores – is larger than all four of the artists behind her!

Coming in February: The Top Five Male Artists in nationwide CCM Music Research during 2023. There are changes this year in the list! Be sure you’re playing these artists and grow your listenership.

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. 

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 ten years: 

2023

1. Elevation Worship/Same God
2. Katy Nichole/God Is In This Story
3. Micah Tyler/I See Grace
4. Brandon Lake/Gratitude
5. MercyMe/Then Christ Came
 2022

1. We The Kingdom/Miracle Power
2. Katy Nichole/In Jesus’ Name (God of Possible)
3. Josh Baldwin/There Is Freedom
4. Matthew West/Me On Your Mind
5. Cece Winans/I’ve Got Joy
2021

1. Anne Wilson/My Jesus
2. Zach Williams/Less Like Me
3. Phil Wickham/House Of The Lord
4. Casting Crowns/Scars In Heaven
5. Lauren Daigle/Hold On To Me
 2020

1. Elevation Worship/Graves Into Gardens
2. Kari Jobe/The Blessing
3. Jordan St. Cyr/Fires
4. Phil Wickham/Battle Belongs
5. Jeremy Camp/Keep Me In The Moment
2019

1. Matthew West/The God Who Stays
2. We The Kingdom/Holy Water
3. Michael W. Smith/Waymaker (ft. Vanessa Campagna)
4. Zach Williams/There Was Jesus
5. Johnathan & Melissa Helser /Raise A Hallelujah
 2018

1. Lauren Daigle/You Say
2. Josh Baldwin/Stand In Your Love
3. For King & Country/God Only Knows
4. Cory Asbury/Reckless Love
5. Hillsong Worship/Who You Say I Am
2017

1. Crowder/All My Hope
2. Passion/Glorious Day
3.Tenth Avenue North/Control
4. Ryan Stevenson/The Gospel
5. Lauren Daigle/O’Lord
 2016

1. MercyMe/Even If
2. Ryan Stevenson f/Gabe Real/Eye Of The Storm
3. Hillsong/What A Beautiful Name
4. Chris Tomlin/Good Good Father
5. Big Daddy Weave/The Lion & The Lamb
2015

1. Bethel Music/No Longer Slaves
2. One Sonic Society/Great Are You Lord
3. Big Daddy Weave/My Story
4. Jeremy Camp/Same Power
5. Kristian Stanfill/Even So Come
 2014

1. MercyMe/Greater
2. Francesca Battistelli/Holy Spirit
3. Lincoln Brewster/There Is Power
4. MercyMe/Flawless
5. Citizen Way/Evidence

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.

as seen in the 2023 Finney Media Why Listen® Survey

The 2023 Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey included amost 15,000 respondents from three different formats: Music stations, Music/Teaching stations, 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 survey, we asked about denominational affiliation. Among respondents from CCM stations, here are the Top Five Denominations:

Top Five Denominations among CCM Listeners

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

The first four denominations comprise 80 percent. The other 20 percent are led by Catholics at 7 percent  which reminds us thatmany 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’s 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 of the words.

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 . . . things you would expect that they know. 

If we’re going to be clear in our communication, we’ll need to consider what our multi-denominational listener, people of all nationsand denominations understands. We need to be Bible-focused and obvious. Clarity and understanding of the Truth is at stake.]

Coming in February: The Top Five Testing Songs from our nationwide research over the past few months from each of the past ten years. You’ll want to be sure to include these songs in your testing and consideration for your library!

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.

The 2023 Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey consists of almost 15,000 respondents and 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 gave to the ministry that sent them the survey. And to those who give, we asked 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%

Note the no. 1 and no. 2 responses, “Feeling called by God to give” and “I believe in the mission and vision of the ministry”. It’s 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 and helping. Making sure that theme is at the center of your giving communication is crucial.

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

Coming in January: The Top Five Denominations represented among CCM respondents in 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 those listeners can understand.

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