What Business is Christian Radio In?

Back in December, Kathleen Finch, the outgoing Chairman and CEO of Warner Bros Discovery's networks business, dropped a bombshell.

"Stop calling yourself 'Cable'," she chided:

"We should stop limiting ourselves to calling ourselves cable execs that make cable content. That’s going away at some point, so what we all are is creatives. You make content, then you put it on these different places and the audience chooses to watch [or listen to or experience] it whichever place they happen to prefer."

Warner Bros Discovery is, in other words, in the content creation business and the business of getting that content to consumers any which way consumers want.

Even if it's not Cable.

Can you imagine? A leading cable exec urging her constituents to stop calling themselves the only thing they have always believed themselves to be!?

So what about you?

What would you be if you couldn't call yourself "Christian radio?"

What content would you make? And where would you distribute it?

Would you add audio streams featuring types of Christian music your mothership doesn't play? Would you add online webinars to address depression, loneliness, coping with life's challenges, improving relationships, etc? Would you create an online Bible study? Would you create a faith-based story audio stream for kids? Would you air Church services or sermons live and on demand? Would you launch a Christmas music stream all year long?

These are just some of the things potential fans want from you based on the research I presented at the CMB Summit in Houston last week (and they may not involve or require listening to your station at all).

Where should they expect to get those things from? Well if you are a Christian media ministry rather than a Christian radio station alone, then maybe the answer is "you!"

After all, for most of you, the question isn't whether Nielsen users would listen to your content, the question is whether fans will pay for it.

And if you don't think the "fan pays" model is better, note that most online news sources are now paywalled, the music you subscribe to comes by paying Spotify, and the best shows on TV are via subscription to Netflix, Prime, etc. The answer is right before our eyes and ears and we are paying for it.

The "business" we think we're in can be a binding constraint when the world and our consumers change around us. Open your mind and ask yourself, what business are you really in?

The future of your brand is everywhere your current and potential fan wants it to be. But the content you make only begins with "radio."

Mark Ramsey Media does audience research for Christian Media - Perceptual research, digital studies, donor studies, music studies, etc. Learn more here. Call Mark at 858-414-4191 or email markramsey@mac.com.

And if you want a strategy to solicit major donors to pay for your research, look here and download this Listener Impact Study solicitation for donors from WAKW-FM.

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