Forget “Formats,” Think: “Lanes”

Excellent chance your listener has no idea what format your station is, unless they’re industry nerds like most people who have eyes on this. They either like and connect with what you do, or they don’t, no matter what your format is labeled. Professionals like us (me included) have probably spent too much time sweating where our format lines are. Many have learned in recent years that lifestyle, “life-group,” and psychographics trump definitions of genre and format. I’ve come to see Contemporary Christian Music (at its full potential) as a universe of diverse styles, not all of which line up neatly with a mainstream equivalent. Let’s zoom WAY in. Picture a radio road in this CCM universe. I’d contend there are three main, viable lifestyle/format lanes: Christian AC, Gospel, and Hip Hop.

Before I make my case, please know I’m not dismissing other genres and formats. Across the country, there are all kinds of great Christian stations. Amazing Rock outlets. Country. Even AAA. Those stations and many that we don’t have time to list are part of that larger CCM universe mentioned above.

Looking strictly at what music gets streamed the most and what types of stations that occupy the most space on the FM dial/in the ratings, it’s Christian AC, Gospel, and Hip Hop that permeate. (Did I just type “permeate?” I can’t recall the last time I used that word IRL. It’s kind of an odd word! I dare you to work it in on your next show.)

There have been three lanes for at least a couple of generations, though not these three lanes. 20-years-ago, for example, the three lanes were AC, Gospel, and Rock. AC will probably always be the center lane as far as radio and consumption goes. Adult-oriented Pop has ruled Christian music since I was a middle schooler wearing Hammer Pants.

Let’s break it down (Hammer Time!): of the top 100 CCM projects of the 1990’s, anything that was NOT Christian AC was Christian Rock, or Gospel. (With less than a handful of exceptions, like the hip hop side of DC Talk and the occasional Country crossover, like LeAnn Rimes.) Kirk Franklin had three different albums in the decade’s Top 40. DC Talk had four. CeCe Winans, Trinitee 5:7, Take 6, Supertones, Audio Adrenaline (when they rocked too hard for AC), and similar artists took up almost all the rest of the decade’s most consumed Christian music that wasn’t AC. Other genres in the universe of CCM didn’t crack the Top 100. Not even Nitro Praise. (Early-comers to fusing EDM with Worship. I was a believer. Judge me.)

In the 2020’s, AC and Gospel have only grown stronger while Rock has been replaced by Hip Hop. Alpha Data’s consumption charts confirmed this over much of the past year. Almost every song that made the consumption chart’s Top 20 came from AC, Gospel, or Hip Hop. There were times when Alpha Data’s weekly Top 20 was split evenly between Hip Hop and AC. This, despite how little support Hip Hop has from Christian radio. As I type this, AC has reasserted its consumption chart dominance. Once the next noteworthy, big-name projects from Hip Hop and/or Gospel drop though, expect those numbers to even out again. Happens every time, and goes to show there are underserved audiences likely large enough to sustain new FM formats that aren’t AC.

So, how does this apply at the station level? Glad you didn’t ask! As you look at your market, your audience, your competitors, and how you’ve allocated your signals: are you squarely in one of these three lanes? If not, is it time to pick?

• Maybe you’re a Christian AC that leans CHR. Maybe you’d have more impact if you moved to the left, or right, instead of straddling two lanes. Be unapologetically AC, or go
• Hip Hop. (Christian CHR’s center IS Hip Hop. That’s a future article BTW. #CrossPromotion #Tease #FrontSelling)
• Maybe your AC couldn’t BE any stronger (used my Chandler from Friends voice when I typed “BE”), but you have a hunch your other signals could have more impact for the kingdom with other formats. Consider Gospel. The fans are there, and many Gospel stations have ratings that rival Christian AC’s.
• Are your promotions, your branding, your content between the songs, etc. aligned with the lane you’re in? (If nobody on your Christian CHR has an affinity for Hip Hop culture, you’re not optimized for your lane, for example.)

Just a few thought experiments of how this Three Lanes Theory might have real life applications.

Your listener already knows your lane, even if they can’t quantify it in radio-speak. Or, at worst, they know what lane they wish you were in. Now could be a great time to sync up your speed and direction to theirs. Go permeate your market.