Religious Radio Across America

The National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) hosted an online conversation taking a look at new findings from a Pew Research study on the reach and influence of religious radio in the United States. The session was moderated by NRB’s Vice President of Public Policy Nic Anderson and Pew Research Center Director of Data Labs Aaron Smith

This discussion attended by HisAir, and open to NRB members, offered a high-level overview of what the research reveals about audience habits and engagement today.

The project took place over the last year and analyzed 440k hours of radio broadcasts in July 2025 with over 5,000 adults in the survey. Those questioned were asked about their experience listening to Religious content on the radio. 

The headline figure of the study found that 98% of U.S population lives within range of at least 1 Religious station and on average there are 6 stations within range.

Key findings in the Pew study:
45% of Americans listen to Religious programming on a regular basis
Most religious radio stations describe evangelism as part of their mission
Most stations are part of larger syndicate

The survey revealed that adults ages 18–29 account for 87% of online religious audio streaming, while also demonstrates the format’s broad appeal across generations. Notably, 65% of adults aged 50–64 also listen to religious content online.

“This isn’t a future trend, this has become the current reality. Are you treating your digital presence the same priority as your AM and FM signal?”  Anderson asked. 

On average, religious radio stations across the U.S. dedicate roughly half of their airtime to music — including recorded songs, program theme music, and advertising jingles — and the other half to spoken-word content.

Spoken content on religious radio primarily consists of two main types: classic talk radio programming (such as host-led discussions, commentaries, guest interviews, and listener call-ins) and religious services or sermons. Other spoken elements, including ad reads, scripted audio dramas, news updates, traffic, and weather reports, make up a smaller portion of programming.

While the national average shows an even split between music and talk, there is significant variation among individual stations. Approximately 37% of religious stations focus primarily on music, 35% emphasize talk programming, and 28% maintain a more balanced mix of the two.

According to our survey of U.S. adults, most listeners do not cite news and politics as a primary reason for tuning into religious audio programming. Only 14% of listeners say keeping up with current events is a major reason they listen, though 40% say it is at least a minor reason.

These findings may appear to contrast with the fact that religious radio stations devote an average of two hours per day to discussions of politics, current events, and social issues. However, this average masks significant variation from station to station.

To better understand how religious radio stations discuss current issues, we analyzed approximately 440,000 hours of programming recorded in July 2025. We examined how frequently stations mentioned one of 11 specific topics, entities, or individuals:

• The economy, crime, and immigration — issues that consistently rank among the most important concerns in national surveys of Americans.
• Two social and cultural issues: abortion and LGBTQ rights.
• President Donald Trump, former President Joe Biden, the Republican Party, and the Democratic Party.
• Modern-day Israel and the Palestinian territories, including references to the war in Gaza.

Read the full Pew report HERE.