attitudes and behaviors of christian adults towards christian radio rick dunham, president & ceo...

Attitudes and Behaviors of Christian AdultsTowards Christian Radio

Rick Dunham, President & CEODunham+Company


Attractiveness of Christian Radio

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• 46% of Christian adults—representing over 69 million people—tune in to Christian radio every year


• 28.6 million people listen to Christian radio every week


• 1.4 million people tune in to Christian radio every quarter hour



• For those who don't listen to Christian programming, nearly 1 in 4 (23%) say they are not interested in listening to Christian content while 1 in 5 (20%) say they prefer other content such as news and sports

• 11% (8.4 million) say they prefer to get their Christian content elsewhere

• 65% of those who listen to Christian radio do so at least several times per week

• Nearly 1 in 3 (29%) saying they tune in every day, which represents approximately 20 million people who listen to Christian radio every day



Profile of Those Who Tune in to Christian Programming



• Women 45-54 years of age

Profile of Typical Listener to Christian Programming

• Politically conservative

• An activist

• Pentecostal/Charismatic (with non-denominational and Baptists also highly represented)

• Living in the South (inclusive of Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida)

• 1 in 10 say they never attend church, representing nearly 7 million people (11%)

• 71% of listeners say they attend church frequently



Programming Preference



• The single greatest reason for tuning into Christian radio given by respondents was to listen to Christian music (56%), which represents over 38 million listeners

Programming Preference

• The second highest reason given was to listen to teaching/sermons (40%), or 27.6 million listeners . Nearly 50% of frequent listeners to Christian radio listen to teaching.

• 16% of respondents (11 million) said they listen to “Talk” programming


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All Christian radio listeners listen for music first, but the most frequent listeners also listen for sermons or religious services.

Q2: What format of Christian radio do you listen to?


Listener Profile by Programming Choice



Of critical importance is the difference in the profile between those who tune in to Christian radio in order to listen to Christian music and those who are tuning in to listen to teaching/sermons.


Those who are primarily driven to listen to Christian music are:

• Younger, predominately women 18-44


• More likely to attend church less frequently (although frequent church attendees do tune in)

• More likely to be single than those who listen to teaching programs

• Less likely to listen to Christian radio on a frequent basis



Those who tune in to Christian radio to listen to teaching/sermons are:

• An even split of older men and women (55+) with a very high incidence of those who are 65+


• Much more likely to be retirees

• Have a higher representation of those who attend church more frequently than those who seldom attend church

• Much more likely to be loyal listeners to Christian radio


Other Findings



Other Findings

• Christians want more variety and choice in Christian radio stations, particularly when it comes to music


• The core and most active audience of Christian radio listeners is demanding sermons and teaching

Wilson Research Strategies was commissioned by Dunham+Company to conduct a research study of 1000 Christian adults nationwide. A sample of n=1000 has a margin of error of ±3.1% at the 95% confidence level. The study was conducted by telephone May 27-29, 2008. This sampling represents 72% of the United States population which is equal to roughly 150.5 million people who call themselves Christians. Christians in this study were defined as people who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that by believing He died for their sins they have eternal life.

All respondents were contacted via Random Digit Dialing methodology. The sample was stratified by key demographics including age, gender, and area in order to representatively measure the United States’ Christian population at large.




Implications



Implications

• While there is a high demand for Christian music, it must not be seen as excluding the demand for teaching programs


• Among those who tune in to Christian radio most frequently, there is a very significant demand for teaching programs.

• Those who tune in to teaching programs are older and attend church more frequently. These are the most committed Christians and also the core donor demographic and are therefore much more likely to be supportive of ministry outreach.

• At any one time, 11% of your audience could be non-Christian


Final Thoughts



Final Thoughts

• We live in a time of great uncertainty, fear, and hopelessness. What an opportune time to reach people with the hope and love of Christ!


• We must become increasingly savvy at producing programs and products that are bringing God’s Truth to bear on the issues of our day… programs that are produced for radio, and not just the edited sermon.

• Listeners to Christian teaching programs are for the most part, the most dedicated Christians. They have the greatest potential for supporting your ministry if you will inspire them to do so.

• The death of teaching programs on Christian radio is greatly exaggerated.

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attitudes and behaviors of christian adults towards christian radio rick dunham, president & ceo...

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