– Daryl Pierce, Program Director, Hope 100.7/93.7 The Light

The post CMB Industry Shout-out – Beth Bacall first appeared on CMB.

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The no. 1 tuneout is a negative, angry, or judgmental tone, with 86 percent saying they are at least somewhat likely to tune out. That’s a powerful reminder that CCM listeners expect an encouraging, uplifting listening environment.

The remaining Top 5 are remarkably practical: commercials (46%), songs you don’t like (45%), an announcer who talks too much (44%), and topics you’re not interested in (42%).

For CCM, these findings point to a simple strategy: protect the listening experience. Keep the tone positive, respect the music, make breaks concise, and make content matter. Every element should answer the listener’s unspoken question: “Why should I keep listening?”

The goal isn’t simply to avoid tuneouts—it’s to create a station experience listeners want to stay with.

The post The Top 5 Tuneouts first appeared on CMB.

The post The Top 5 Tuneouts appeared first on CMB.

– Chris Hauser, Owner/President, Chris Hauser Promotions

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While their formatics may sometimes be weak by major market standards, they often MEAN more to listeners. The reason is simple: they can be local. So, they can reflect more easily what the majority of their listeners really care about and identify with – and that’s the whole Content ballgame.

If you’re in a small market, you should touch on the most important “big” stories. But even then, make an effort to be as local as possible – or you can easily LOCALIZE that big story. Ask yourself: what does it have to do with you, and your neighbors?

Relevance is King. “Items to talk about” are blah-blah. To connect with your listeners, put yourself in their shoes, see what they see, and reflect their emotions. In the process, share yours – serious or not-so-serious.

These thoughts apply to the most successful personalities in ANY size market, and in any format.

Link to Original Source

The post Smaller Market Coaching Thoughts first appeared on CMB.

The post Smaller Market Coaching Thoughts appeared first on CMB.

Prefer to read? Here’s a summary:

Congratulations to Troy West of K-LOVE & Air1 and Randy Fox of KSBJ/Hope Media Group for being named among Radio Ink’s Best Program Directors in America, and to Justin Brown of WDJC for his recent CMB Industry Shout-Out. These recognitions are a great reminder of the talented people faithfully serving listeners and making an impact across Christian radio.

For more than a decade, CMB has partnered with Jacobs Media to help stations better understand their listeners and listening habits. Last year, Christian radio maintained an impressive Net Promoter Score of 82, compared with 55 for the next-closest format, while 86% of respondents reported listening to AM/FM radio for more than an hour each day.

The research also reveals a significant shift in how audiences are listening. At the current rate, we may be only five years away from more listeners consuming their station digitally than terrestrially. Paul Jacobs will unpack the complete 2026 findings at CMB Summit this November, offering valuable insight into what these changes could mean for the future of Christian radio.

The post CMB Update – August 2026 first appeared on CMB.

The post CMB Update – August 2026 appeared first on CMB.

– Adam Hannan, Station Manager, Life 88.5

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According to Nielsen, AM/FM radio reaches 87% of adults in the US every week, and Americans still spend nearly four hours a day with audio. In the car, AM/FM accounts for 55% of listening time. 

But radio is more than numbers. It’s about connection. It’s the familiar voice joining you in the morning. The song that plays at just the right moment. The stories of hope that fill your tank. 

Technology will continue to change. Radio will change with it. But there will always be something powerful about one person behind a microphone connecting with one person on the other side. 

That’s what makes radio special.

In honor of National Radio Day, here are a few thoughts from our own CMB Insiders and a few other names you’ll recognize…

“Anytime in radio that you can reach somebody on an emotional level, you’re really connecting.” – Casey Kasem

“I am reframing the ‘have to’s’ of this job, like support drive into the  ‘get to’s.’  I get to hear people’s stories and I get to see God move in their lives. That subtle shift actually helps me enjoy support drives so much more.” – Wally 

“You can get a song in 74 places. Apple’s got it, Spotify’s got it, but radio is your friend.” – Bobby Bones

“Radio is the only medium that never asks you to stop living to enjoy it.” – Troy West

“I love laughing with our listeners, hearing their stories, and being part of their daily lives.” – Ryan Seacrest

“Radio is super special because it’s powerful and personal at the same time. Reaching a crowd, while remaining an intimate conversation with one.”  – Cari Kates

“We are in the friendship business.” – Elvis Duran

“There’s nothing better than talking to one of my radio friends and hearing a story about a song I’m working, and the power of that song on a listener’s life. That’s powerful.” – Grant Hubbard

The post The Power of Radio first appeared on CMB.

The post The Power of Radio appeared first on CMB.

At the time, Amazon Prime execs sang the praises of “verticality,” especially among young people. In fact, the fascinating conclusion of the post was that many Gen Zs would rather watch shortform promo videos than the actual full-length content.

Now, just one quarter later and we’re seeing the vertical boom showing up virtually everywhere. HBO Max now has new video feeds in beta for select iPhone owners in the U.S. The appropriately named “HBO Max Shorts” takes an interesting approach. Rather than using any old Game Of Thrones scenes to promote the lengthy multi-year television series, the streamer utilizes AI to find the catchiest clips from a show. Viewers can start watching the series. Thus, this tool specializes in content discovery, something HBO Max programmers are excited about.

And a key component is the use of the vertical video format. As a story in Yahoo! Tech points out, “Vertical video has gone from a social media oddity to the dominant format for mobile viewing. Apps like TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts trained users to expect full-screen videos that fill a smartphone display without requiring them to rotate the device.”

A new story in The Verge, “The vertical video takeover is here” has an interesting subhead: “How TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube copied their way to victory.”

Editor-at-large David Pierce credits this trend to Snapchat, the first platform to successfully embrace the vertical format, based almost entirely on how we use our smartphones. Parent company, Snap, launched this viewing consumption trend way back in 2013, and now virtually every social platform—not to mention companies like Amazon and HBO Max have flipped their content vertically.

It turns out Mark Zuckerberg may have been the first copycat, cloning Snap’s format for Instagram “Stories.” It wasn’t long before the vertical format started making appearances on platforms that include Tinder, LinkedIn, Medium, Facebook, and YouTube.

Pierce, however, credits TikTok with being the catalyst that has made vertical video nearly ubiquitous. Time spent scrolling on video platforms like “Reels” (Meta), “Shorts” (YouTube), and of course, TikTok are consuming a minimum of 50% of time spent on these platforms.

Obviously, cloning is an art form on the web. Pierce notes Disney built their version on ESPN and another for Disney Plus, both branded “Verts.” And Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Paramount Plus all call their versions “Clips.”

Pierce also notes the advertising world has figured out the popularity of vertical videos, converting most ads to this format that can be converted to any length of time desirable. Combined with AI to zero in on target consumers, verticality is everywhere and showing no signs of running out of steam.

It’s a reminder that standards can change very quickly on the web (although Pierce quotes a New York Times story way back in 2015 that made the case that “The future of video, it turns out, just may be vertical.”

In the light of today, it is essential for content creators to adopt what has become the vertical standard. Not only is it everywhere, but it is the format that millions (billions?) have become comfortable watching.

And if you’re going to repurpose those clever morning show videos you shoot on social media (and of course, that makes sense), you’ve got to use the format that now defines how we stream video content on the web.

All that said, going horizontal has its advantages, especially for YouTube and also capturing a widescreen look for a vast space like an air studio. So, how do you shoot both horizontal and vertical, without using two cameras. I ran into this handy video from Jay Wilson Media that offers some helpful advice.

One final note on the power of video for virtually any digital content brand. Reddit—a decidedly non-video platform—told TechCrunch last week they’re experimenting with a new concept aptly named “video Reddit” that will let users watch video. But here’s a twist—Reddit fans will also be able to listen to the posts in the background while doing other things.

Even LinkedIn has a beta of a TikTok-esque short-form video feed. A new “Video” tab takes you to a feed of short videos users can swipe through.

TechCrunch refers to the phenomenon as “the TikTok-ification of the web at scale.”

For radio—the original audio medium—it begs the question of how video can be used the most sensibly, to both enhance the experience and to also create another source of revenue. Both would be welcome additions.

Link to Original Source

The post The Holy Grail Of Verticality first appeared on CMB.

The post The Holy Grail Of Verticality appeared first on CMB.

– Jonathan Unthank, Assistant Director of Programming & Content, The Light FM

The post CMB Industry Shout-out – Justin Brown first appeared on CMB.

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The top reason? It helps listeners feel closer to God. That’s a pretty incredible playlist perk. 

Next, listeners say CCM Radio offers hope and encouragement, giving them a lift when life gets heavy. 

Third, it’s all about positive, uplifting lyrics—because who couldn’t use more of those? 

Coming in fourth, listeners appreciate that CCM Radio is family-friendly, making it easy to enjoy together without reaching for the skip button. 

And rounding out the top five, people simply love the music—the artists, the melodies, and the sound itself.

The takeaway? CCM is doing far more than filling speakers. It’s strengthening faith, brightening days, bringing families together, and delivering songs people genuinely enjoy. That’s a greatest hits list worth celebrating!

The post The Secret Sauce of CCM Radio: 5 Big Reasons They Listen first appeared on CMB.

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