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
