[IRCA] Rise of Christian radio

   When people talk about the hot radio formats today, contemporary Christian radio isn't usually part of the conversation.
   Maybe it ought to be. Though emerging from a small listener share, contemporary Christian is one of the fastest growing formats in radio.
   From 2002 to 2004 the contemporary Christian listener share for adults ages 25-54 grew 57 percent, from a .7 percent share to 1.1 percent, according to Arbitron data.
"It's just a format that hasn't gotten a lot of attention in the past, but it really is an exploding format. It is becoming a significant player across the radio spectrum," says Augie Ruckdeschel, research analyst for Interep, the radio and internet rep firm.
   Interep's most recent analysis of format trends reports that contemporary Christian radio reaches 7 million listeners each week. The number of stations programming the format has also grown over the last decade, up from 367 in 1993 to more than 580.
   "It's popping up in more and more cities, and it’s growing in audience appeal," says Tom Durney, vice president and marketing manager for the Entercom radio cluster in Greeneville, S.C.
   One might think contemporary Christian would appeal to a largely rural audience nestled in the Bible belt of the South and in the West. Actually, it's quite urban. Contemporary Christian stations rank among the top stations for more adults 25-54 markets than you would expect, like Dallas and Atlanta, as well as in those you wouldn't, like Seattle and Portland, Ore.
   Durney's company switched one of its stations to the contemporary Christian format about a year and a half ago. He attributes the growth to an ongoing nationwide polarization of values.
   "I really do expect this whole Christian fundamentalist movement to continue to grow, and I see it as a counterbalance or reaction to the cultural pollution that television and movies are doing to our culture," he explains.
   The majority--65 percent--of contemporary Christian listeners are females over 18, and 61 percent of the format's audience is aged 25 to 44. These listeners are mostly white, at 82 percent. Another 10 percent are Hispanic.
   Christian Contemporary listeners have moderate incomes, with 57 percent living in households with incomes over $50,000 a year. The median income is $61,693.
   But they spend what they make. They are 36 percent more likely than the average consumer to have eaten out at three or more family restaurants in the past month, 32 percent more likely to have taken three or more domestic trips in the past year, and 21 percent more likely to own a foreign SUV.
Contemporary Christian radio listeners are also family people. They are 22 percent more likely than the average consumer to be married, 79 percent more likely to live in a household of six or more people, and 51 percent more likely to have children.
   And Contemporary Christian radio listeners tend to be highly loyal to the format.
   "I would have expected more of a crossover among other formats," says Ruckdeschel. "But it does seem to have a more loyal exclusive audience. They turn to Contemporary Christian radio and not other radio stations as much as expected."
   Further, they are not big consumers of other media. According to Interep's analysis, 43 percent of this audience does not subscribe to cable, and 60 percent does not subscribe to satellite television. Thirty-one percent report that they are light users of television, while 34 percent of those surveyed say they had not used the internet within the past week.
   Durney estimates that around 40 percent of Entercom's contemporary Christian radio audience listens almost exclusively to the format, while 60 percent tune into to other radio stations, including country and adult contemporary.
   "It's not like their whole lives are Christian focused. It's just part of their lives and part of their media choices," he says.
   Contemporary Christian radio advertisers tend to fall into two groups, Durney says. They are either affinity advertisers targeting listeners leading active Christian lifestyles or mainstream advertisers targeting the format's largely female, middle-class audience. Christian bookstores, events, concerts and churches fall into the first category, while fast-food chains, department stores and home improvement retailers dominate the second.
   And surprising as it may seem, some advertisers are cautious when to comes to advertising on these stations.
   "What's interesting is that there are some advertisers that consider the format controversial and will not advertise on it, " says Durney.
   "They're obviously afraid that if they advertise on a Christian radio station they might offend some non-Christians, which is impossible because non-Christians are not listening to it."