Contemporary Christian is One of the Fastest Growing Formats

Interep has released an analysis on the contemporary Christian radio format indicating a format growth trend and labeling it one of the fastest growing formats on the dial. The Interep Research report shows that in recent years contemporary Christian radio has made large gains in both the number of stations programming the format and the size of its audience. Citing figures from MStreet Research and Simmons, Interep reports the number of contemporary Christian radio stations grew from 367 to more than 580 since 1993, and that 7 million consumers tune in to Christian radio each week.

With most major radio metros now having at least one contemporary Christian radio station, Interep concludes that contemporary Christian stations rank among the top Adult 25-54 stations in several markets including Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle and Portland, Oregon. The Interep report highlights Arbitron numbers which show that contemporary Christian's format share among adults 25-54 grew 57% (from 0.7% to 1.1%) from 2002 to 2004.

The report provides additional information on an audience profile, citing research from Simmons Fall 2004 data. The profile shows that 6.5 out of every 10 listeners are female, 78% of the audience is 25-54, 28% are college graduates (12% above the U.S. norm) and 23% earn household incomes over $100,000. The contemporary Christian radio audience is 82% white, 10% Hispanic, 4% Asian and 4% black. Interep also reports that contemporary Christian radio listeners may be difficult to reach with other media, as 43% do not subscribe to cable, 60% do not subscribe to satellite, and 31% are light users of television.