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August 2023: Top Five Denominations among Teaching/Hybrid Listeners

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.

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

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

The 2023 Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey included 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, with varying traditions and practices. 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. This list includes many denominations with different ways of worship and different words used 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

This phrase was heard 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. That is 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 CCM 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 

 

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 provided fascinating information on 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 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”: 

1. They have a negative, angry, judgmental tone 84%
2. They play songs you don’t like 44%
3. An announcer talks too much 43%
4. They play commercials 40%
5. They talk about a topic I’m not interested in 40%

Over the last couple of months, we discussed in this column (links here) how the main listener’s reasons for listening to Christian radio could be summed up in two words – spiritual encouragement. Our top tune out confirms this. The #1 tune out – 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  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 CCM Denominations. How can knowing your audience enhance your programming?

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

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.

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?

…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.

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.

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