Contemporary Christian Radio Surpasses Other Stations in Expansion, Report Finds

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Contemporary Christian radio (CCM) has shown the most growth among top formats, adding new stations every month over the past year.

According to a report by Inside Radio, CCM Radio was ranked fourth overall in the top 10 of Inside Radio/PrecisionTrak’s monthly counts behind News/Talk, Religion, and Country. Despite its placement, contemporary Christian is the only format in the top 10 list to consistently add new stations every month since September 2024, with about 50 stations (a 3.5% increase).

Additionally, CCM continued its growth streak, adding one more station in that month and maintaining its status as the fourth-largest format by station count.

The broader “religion” format (including religious teaching, hymns, etc.), the second-ranked religion-formatted stations, also showed growth with 58 additional stations over the year, representing a ~2.7% increase. Other formats experienced a moderate increase, including news/talk (+12), classic hits (+3), and classic rock (+2), while some saw declines in the double digits (Top 40 down 23 stations and Country down 18 stations).

CCM was also ranked fourth overall on Inside Radio’s list in April 2024, NRB reported.

“While the data is good news for Christian radio, it is not entirely surprising for those of us working in the industry day to day,” said Mandy Young, Vice President of Radio for the Educational Media Foundation (EMF). “People are desperately searching for community and connection in 2024, two things that Christian radio is all about.”

“I’ve felt a strong shift in how people use Christian radio since 2020,” she added. “You don’t have to look far to find research indicating that loneliness leads to greater symptoms of anxiety and depression. Christian radio offers people a place to belong with songs that point them to the One who can bring hope, peace, or even a changed life.”

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Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.