
Jacobs Media and Christian Music Broadcasters (CMB) are inviting all Christian music-based radio stations to participate in our eighth annual CMB Techsurvey. On the heels of our previous seventeen annual all-format Techsurveys, the unique needs and interests of Christian Music listeners have led us to create this stand-alone study.
“For the past eight years, Christian Music Broadcasters has partnered with Jacobs Media to provide one of the best research opportunities for radio, the CMB Techsurvey,” notes Michelle Younkman, CMB Executive Director. “The stations who have participated every year really have an advantage in seeing the trends and growth of digital platforms and other audience engagement, and the impact of their station over time. CMB Techsurvey 2021 is a cost-effective way to use in-depth research to make strategic decisions based on how listeners are engaging with your station along with using other technologies and platforms.”
Our goal in working with CMB is to create a survey that helps enlighten and inform Christian music broadcasters about how their audience is using technology to interact with friends, family and with radio. And with the disruption caused by COVID, it has never been more important to identify the opportunities that exist in the digital space for growth, membership development, and better communication with your key listeners, to help you decide where to invest time, resources, and personnel.
In last year’s CMB Techsurvey 2020, fielded during last year’s COVID summer, 19 radio stations and three networks participated, generating more than 6,000 responses. We hope to garner even more participation this year. It’s important to emphasize that the success of this project depends on the inclusion of a wide range of stakeholder stations. The more diversity of stations and the larger the sample, the more impactful the results will be for your station.
We need your station’s commitment no later than Friday, July 2.
There will be a stakeholder webinar presentation with CMB in September as we deep-dive into the Christian music format by generation, gender and other important factors. We will also be presenting results at the Music & Programming Momentum Summit in October.
Each participating station will receive its local results, along with its Media Usage Pyramid. This is information that every programmer and manager needs to develop smart strategies that can capitalize on the opportunities presented by new media and technology.
While gaining a greater understanding of the pandemic’s impact and how things are quickly resuming back to “normal,” research topics will include tracking traditional media usage (radio and TV), including by location and looking at shifting usage patterns, as well as the impact of social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, etc.). The goal is to help stations build their individual “Social Media Footprints” – the platforms most important to Christian radio audiences, and how to best connect with and engage with listeners in these important spaces.
We’ll also continue to dig deeply into smart speaker penetration, usage, and impact as well as podcasting/on-demand programming, in addition to looking closely at all things technology (the digital dashboard, smartphones, tablets, etc.).
Additional key components of this survey are the format and value specific questions asked that help programmers better learn about some of the key issues facing Christian music radio and what listeners think and value.
Jacobs Media is inviting participating programmers to submit questions for possible inclusion, thus providing even more actionable information for your stations from this survey. What are the big questions you have for your Christian music radio station specifically? Feel free to send your submissions to Jacobs Media’s Research Director, Jason Hollins at jason@jacobsmedia.com.
The Media Usage Pyramid (below) is a comprehensive way to understand some of the key findings of our studies. The Christian AC and CHR formats are contrasted in this graphic – one of the many ways in which we depict the data and help make it easy to understand and apply to your strategies.
Below are details about how stations, networks, and companies can participate in CMB Techsurvey 2021:
- It will be fielded in July 2021. We must have commitments for the survey no later than June 25, 2021. Jacobs Media handles all details of the study and provides email copy and all technical aspects of participation. We will give you copy and a link that you email to your listeners – that’s it!
- A small participation fee. We will survey your database (up to 700 completed interviews). You’ll receive your local market data, the total survey data, your format data, and your station’s media usage pyramid. You will also be able to participate in a participants-only webinar that reviews the key findings this Fall. Anyone from your station is eligible to attend. These rates are for CMB members and are the same as we charged last year. However, because this is a special survey, we are not allowing any stations to participate at no charge:
Market Size Cost
Large Markets (1-40) $500
Smaller Markets (41+) $400
The prices above are for CMB members only. Non-CMB members pay an additional $250 for the survey.
- Networks: priced on an individual basis. Please contact us with questions.
Stations can register by clicking the link on the form below to sign-up and fill it out for each radio station you would like to have participate. If you have a large number of stations (more than 5) you would like to register, please contact Lisa Riker directly via email (lisa@jacobsmedia.com) or call her at 248-353-9030 for discount information.
We’re very excited about continuing to grow this annual survey specifically for Christian music broadcasters. We look forward to working with you and analyzing the current digital space, as well as creating the opportunity to track these changes over time.
For more information, please contact Paul Jacobs at pauljacobs@jacobsmedia.com or Michelle Younkman at michelle@cmbonline.org.