NATIONWIDE RESEARCH AT A GLANCE
The 2021 Finney Media Why Listen?®Survey is out! Almost 11,000 respondents from three different formats – Music stations, Music and Teaching stations, and Teaching stations and programs– participated and the findings are fascinating!
This month’s Finney’s Fast Five is the first in a limited series where we focus on those findings. We presented listeners about 20 different reasons they might listen to their Christian radio station. Here are the Top Five Main Reasons for Music Station respondents . . . plus the next five. The following numbers are the percentage of respondents who indicated that’s a Main Reason they listen:
1) | I like the worshipful Christian music. | 92% |
2) | It helps me worship God throughout the day. | 91% |
3) | I want to be encouraged. | 83% |
4) | It helps me grow spiritually. | 78% |
5) | I want to get away from negativity on other stations. | 67% |
6) | It’s safe for me and my family to listen to. | 65% |
7) | The presentation is calming. | 55% |
8) | I want to help spread Truth. | 53% |
9) | I feel the speakers care when they pray on-air for someone in need. | 45% |
10) | The hosts sometimes add light-hearted humor that’s family-friendly. | 44% |
Our Action Point for CCM Stations
The no. 1 and no. 2 reasons are roughly equal, and really a powerful reason for us to consider the spiritual temperature of our stations. It appears that our biggest fans – the folks who took the 20 minutes or so to complete the survey – continue to want an overtly spiritual focus to our stations.
Laser beam your vision onto the first four reasons. Those are the ones over 75% indicating they are powerful reasons they listen. You could boil those four reasons down to two words – Spiritual Encouragement. It leads us to our Action Point for CCM Stations – Talk just enough, with Spiritual Encouragement, about something interesting to your listener . . . and then play a song she loves.
Coming in September…From the Why Listen? 2021 Survey – The Top 5 Listener Tune-outs.
Chuck Finney’s had radio playing in his head since he was just a boy. Over the course of his career, he’s worked in programming, radio research, and audience connection. Chuck’s passion for words and communication is widely recognized and he’s won several industry awards.
If you ask Chuck how he’s doing, he’ll either say “Blessed, thank you,” or “I really get to do this for a living?!” He’s the President of Finney Media, a speaker and author who loves telling stories and helping you do the same. Chuck is married and has two adult daughters. He lives with his wife, Lynda, in the Dallas area. For more information, read about Chuck at finneymedia.com.