May 2026 Religious Radio still a great opportunity for authors who get interviews: Part 1 on new Pew Research Center findings

There’s new data out on Christian radio, and it’s surprisingly good–and interesting–news. According to a new national study published by the Pew Research Center, almost 98% of American adults live in range of one or more what they call “religious radio stations” primarily Christian radio.

The statistics were recently presented in a members’ communication from NRB, the trade association for Christian media professionals, and also the same folks whose trade show you’ve heard about if you’ve been around here for more than five minutes.

NRB was reporting on the findings shared by the Pew Research Center, an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan research center, whose interest areas include religion and media in America.

NRB says the national study, called Religious Radio Across America, “offers one of the most comprehensive looks in years at the scale and influence religious radio in the United States, revealing a medium that remains both far-reaching and deeply woven into the fabric of American life.”

In addition, NRB writes: “Beyond sheer reach, the study reveals important patterns in listener motivation. It shows that audiences are not primarily drawn by headlines or partisan debate. Instead, they gravitate toward content that offers encouragement, spiritual nourishment, and practical insight for daily living.”

The implications for Christian authors is that although many people talk about podcasts like they are the only thing out there–or the only thing that matters–the truth is more nuanced.

At Buoyancy PR, we still focus a lot of our attention on traditional, or sometimes called, legacy media, and those of you who are our clients know you’ve been booked on many traditional radio programs.

Of course, traditional “terrestrial” (your car radio dial, so to speak) stations aren’t the only way Christian radio broadcasts today.

Most of those radio folks are also savvy enough to stream online, as well as produce podcast versions of those interviews they do, because consumers of podcasts can grab that info whenever it fits their schedule for listening.

And increasingly, more and more listeners are doing their listening in other ways.

There’s a lot more to unpack about this study, but if you are an author, be encouraged that your message is needed on Christian radio of all types, and there are still shows out there looking for authors to interview. We will come back to this topic as there’s more to learn and think about.

And one final note. I am so pleased to be back in your inbox today, back to providing information I think authors may want to know to help them in their journey in publicizing the messages God has given them to share.

Because I was gone for a while. It’s just fine if you didn’t notice, but for any of you who read this once in a while, today’s post may make you realize you haven’t seen anything from Buoyancy to end the week for a while. Just know it wasn’t a delivery failure; it was our shop stepping away to prioritize some family medical stuff that takes a lot of time.

Pleased to say we are starting to pick up a little speed again and have so much to share with you.