When it comes to the American radio dial, there’s are quite a bit of contemporary Christian music mixed in with a little fire-and-brimstone these days.
A new study from the Pew Research Center revealed that about one in four radio stations in the country air faith-based or religious music and content.
More than 4,000 religious stations, in total, operate nationwide.
The report, “Religious Radio Across America,” extrapolated data from approximately 440,000 hours of programming, conducted last July, and a survey in June of more than 5,000 U.S. adults.
Pew identified FCC-licensed terrestrial AM and FM religious radio stations in the U.S. using Radio-Locator.
The report’s most significant takeaway may be the vast reach of such stations, as it indicated that religious outlets serve every population center in the country, and their combined broadcast range covers most of the U.S. landmass.
In fact, nearly 98% of U.S. adults live within listening range of at least one religious radio station, according to Pew.
It found “most U.S. adults can tune into several different religious radio stations on the FM or AM dial from their home address.”
And in terms of denomination, an overwhelming majority of those are Christian stations, but not all.
Contemporary Christian leads the way
According to the report, about 45% of U.S. adults indicated “they ever listen to religious audio programming,” with about three-quarters of those at least occasionally tuning in on the radio.
Seven-in-ten listeners indicated they use podcasts and streaming services to access religious programming, and nearly all of the most popular radio shows are also available on these platforms.
Music accounted for roughly half of all airtime on religious radio in the U.S., according to the report. About 37% of Americans said they listen to religious music. The contemporary Christian music format, in particular, has seen significant growth, according to observers.
Religious radio programming addressed a wide range of topics through a religious lens, according to the Pew Report, with stations on average spending several hours per day discussing topics like lifestyle and personal development, family and parenting and health and wellness.
The Pew report classified a station as “religious” if its primary genre was listed as religious, Christian contemporary, gospel music or Spanish Christian. An overwhelming majority of U.S. religious radio stations are Christian, approximately 63%, though a smaller share are affiliated with other religious traditions.
Smaller shares of listening are tied to specific denominations such as Baptist or Pentecostal traditions at 10%, and about 8% Catholic.
Stations that air primarily secular content but occasionally include religious material in their programming — such as local church services on Sunday mornings — were not included in their definition of a religious radio station.
Ownership
The Pew report showed around three-in-ten religious radio stations in the U.S. are independently owned. The other 72% belong to multi-station ownership groups of varying sizes, according to an analysis of FCC licensing information.
The report doesn’t name any of the largest ownership groups, but Educational Media Foundation is a large owner of more than 1,000 religious radio signals in the country. EMF operates contemporary Christian radio networks K-Love and Air1.
Most often religious stations within the same ownership group, according to the Pew report, share a single online feed and broadcast the same content. Certain talk shows and music artists also blanket the religious radio airwaves. The research showed that several popular shows are syndicated on as many as half of all religious radio stations nationwide.
And while political commentary makes up only a modest share of all broadcast content on many religious radio stations, it’s still a major focus for some stations and for some listeners.
According to the report, “on average, religious radio stations across the U.S. devote about half their broadcast time to music — which includes everything from recorded songs to program theme music and advertising jingles — and half to spoken content.”
The report found that overall, 81% of spoken content is voiced by a male speaker.
Other key findings from the Pew Research report:
- On average, U.S. religious radio stations air an even mix of music and talk, but that hides a lot of variation between individual stations, the report stated. About 37% primarily broadcast music, while 35% focus primarily on talk programming. Another 28% play an equal mix of the two.
- Musically, a relatively small playlist of popular, established artists is generally featured: 16% of all the songs examined over the month of July were from just 10 individuals or bands.
- Large majorities of white evangelical Protestants and Black Protestants reported listening to faith-based radio, while smaller shares of Catholics and non-evangelical Protestants said they listen to religious programming.
You can read the full Pew Research Center report on religious radio here.
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan, non-advocacy fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world.
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