Religion stations are by and large non-commercial (or mostly so) making their money from broker programming - which in turn is funded by donations from the faithful. That religious stations are growing as a category relative to other genres is actually a sign of the decline of radio as a commercially viable medium, rather than its success.

Religious radio stations are like weeds in that they are more likely to survive in a harsh environment than lush greenery. That's why they are the last holdouts on the otherwise barren shortwave band.

Last edited by Hansa (October 14, 2024 2:53 pm)

paterson1 wrote:

If you combine Contemporary Christain and Religion together, "faith" radio is by far the most popular in terms of the number of stations in the US.

Explains a lot, doesn't it.

Evuguy wrote:

Interesting though that when you look at the Buffalo market, Urban WBLK and Classic 97 Rock are at the top of the ratings. Urban doesn't even show up in that national list.
 
Regarding religious broadcasting moving towards the top of popular American radio formats, I'm not too surprised either.  The EMF has been buying up distressed radio properties, such as the former WTSS 102.5 from the troubled Audacy group.  One of EMF's main reasons was the quality signal the station puts into Ontario.  Crawford Broadcasting's religious WDCX (99.5 FM / 970 & 990 AM Buffalo/Rochester) doesn't have a good signal into the GTA, yet it solicits a lot of its advertising revenue from businesses in that area.  It goes to prove that you don't need a blowtorch of a signal to bring in an audience if you are providing what (the remaining) people listening to radio are looking for. 
 
If I had a crystal ball, I would predict that CFNY 102.1 will soon be acquired by a religious broadcaster.  As we know, it's parent company is in financial distress.  Aside from 102.1 giving a superior quality signal to the GTA, it would help repatriate advertising dollars that are now going south of the border and I think we all know how the CRTC feels about that.  Some detractors for CFNY are that its current alternative rock format is targeting a younger demographic that likes to stream music.  Also, CFNY's format is not unique to the market as it competes with Indie 88.  Even CFNY's sister station, Q107 is now taking on some of its playlist.  Another interesting fact is that the Canadian arm of religious broadcaster UCB keeps delaying the launch of its Scarborough LPFM operation.  UCB own a network of FM stations, including nearby markets Peterborough, Belleville and Cobourg and have been granted an extension to Oct 2025 to get Scarborough on air.  The Scarborough signal will only cover a small portion of Toronto due to its low power and antenna height, plus there is co-channel interference from CFCA and WEBR, plus 1st adjacent CHOQ.  Finally, there is Oakville's Joy 1250, which has apparently sold its AM broadcast site. 
 
Time will tell but I think the stars are beginning to align.
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Christian_Broadcasters
 

WDCX 99.5 and WBKV 102.5 are actually the locally strongest of all the Buffalo FM signals. On a slightly unrelated note, Star 102.5 was a favorite station of my computer studies teacher back in high school in Mississauga, especially around Christmas time. "Strongest" might be a relative term these days in the context of Buffalo radio stations in the GTA, but you should at least be able to get 99.5 and 102.5 in quite well on any good car radio that's working properly, at least anywhere in the Golden Horseshoe south of the Oak Ridges Moraine and away from the Kitchener-Waterloo area. 104.1 WHTT also has a decent signal.

I honestly think the idea of either Q107 or The Edge being sold is rather far fetched. I'm not really "in the loop" about this kind of inside happenings of broadcasters, but I'd imagine that both FM stations must still be quite profitable. I agree that the identities of both stations have been compromised, but I'm not sure if there's a single domestic religious broadcaster in Canada that can afford the overhead costs that CFNY is subject to, and Corus might still be able to insist on a price that UCB might not necessarily be able to afford, assuming the station is sold.

Evuguy wrote:

 
Regarding religious broadcasting moving towards the top of popular American radio formats, I'm not too surprised either.  
 

It's not at the top of the most popular, just the most signals - and that's a huge difference

Really not a matter of a religious broadcaster such as United Christain Broadcasters buying a station like The Edge and turning it into one of their faith stations.  With a change like this would likely require an application to the CRTC to change the format, so any change wouldn't be quick.  They could however ditch the alternative format immediately and go with something much mellower like a variation of Breeze. 

Corus radio stations have been for sale for years.  Still wonder if Quebecor were ever to purchase Corus, would they just want to buy the television and production side since radio is not currently part of their business.  If they had to buy the radio stations too, would they hold on to them?  I have my doubts.