Religious Radio, what drives it in PGH?

[SkyWarrior54]

I was listening to John and Stephanie which are a talk show team in the afternoon on WORD-FM here in Pittsburgh and it was my first time really listening to it and it is really laid back, almost like your listening to a morning radio show on a lite rock station. But I was just wondering in contrast how different they are to Marty Minto who used to be on WORD FM in their timeslot couple years ago. For those of you who remember him, he was anything but calm, a fierce religious conservative talkshow host who was anything but laid back.

Nevertheless, I was wondering if any of you knew how this John and Stephanie duo are doing rating wise compared to old Minto. Do you think more Christians listened to hear fire and brimstone on the radio rather than a laid back talk show where they talk about feel good stories, etc? What propels religious talk radio?

Sorry, I just had to mention something other than ‘The Zone’ which by the way, rating wise, I think will have an advantage over 1047 because a lot of the talk shows are being pushed aside for pirates baseball and a lot of people rather hear talk.

 

[Sahisko]

I too always wondered how John and Stephanie were doing compared to minto. I have caught them several times and they are laid back with things like advice tips or good Christian movies to see, etc., not the fire and brimstone of Minto. But I have no idea, good question.

 

[radio--refugee]

The Holy Spirit.

 

[Radio_Realist]

The Holy Spirit.

As powerful as the Holy Spirit is at inspiring people to bear witness to God, Christians are also called upon by Scripture to be good stewards of God's resources. That means investing some of the revenue generated by the sale of commercials on WORD-FM for some publicity to let potential listeners know what's on the air to encourage them to tune in.

What real difference does it make if John and Stephanie do a different show than Marty Minto if the only people who even know they're on the air are those who already agree with them?

Ever hear of "preaching to the choir"?

 

[Parttimer]

Billboards....

 

[Radio_Realist]

Billboards....

Not an appropriate medium in this case. They work well for mass appeal, drive-time shows. For niche marketing programs, other media would generate a bigger bang for the buck. And WORD-FM is about programs, not programming.

 

[Johnny Morgan]

WORD-FM already has billboards, that advertise their individual programs.

They advertise in the Pittsburgh area religious publications.

If you're looking for newspaper ads, good luck: Salem doesn't run them in most markets.

 

[radiopeas]

A few years back I saw a couple of WORD-FM billboards on the major highways but it was short lived and never anything since.
I've listened to the John and Stephanie show and found it funny and a little quirky.
All things considered it's a major step forward over the self rightous Minto.

 

[Pratte4Life]

Billy Sol Hargis.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Having worked for Salem for almost three years, not long after they came to town, here's what drives this company:

They buy fixer-upper stations...50,000 watt FM signals or AM signals at 5,000 watts or more at low dial positions. Usually, they're suburban facilities that are little more than dumps but with signals that have large market penetration.

Most of the stations are programmed in the same fashion marketwide...with the same line of evangelists (or Bible teachers, as they like to call them) at each one. They're very selective about whom they have on the air...D. James Kennedy, J. Vernon McGee (his estate, anyway), James Dobson, Charles Stanley, etc. They have a corporate programmer based in New York (Carl Miller) who puts all the programs and scripts in place...more or less telling the on-site Ops manager (in Pittsburgh's case, Kenny Woods) what to do. It's set up very simply so that someone with little to no radio experience can come in and do a shift, and much of it involves engineering and recording a particular program at a set time. It's a pretty good setup.

The only real local programming is that 3 to 6 slot in the afternoon. I think Salem tries to follow trends as much as they can and change with their target audience. This new team in the afternoon is a little different than the norm, but Pittsburgh has always been a very lucrative market for Salem. They try to go after markets with a more conservative audience base, which Pittsburgh has had for many years.

They do have a small sales force dedicated to selling the afternoons, and their advertising rates are competitive with most small market stations, which, because of the high-powered signal, makes them attractive to local buyers...especially the Christian bookstores and family-friendly clients (buffet restaurants, Christian counselors, investment firms) such as those that Salem is after. And of course, they do the amusement park trade every year like all the other stations.

But what these clients don't know are the downsides to Christian radio: The core audience does not really have a spendable income per se. In a typical Christian family household in this area, you have a larger family than what's typical...three to five children, and a stay-at-home mom. Meaning, there's only one paycheck coming into the household. With a family that large and only one paycheck coming in, the father is the sole source of income, and unless he has a college degree and a high paying job, there's not much money to go around. Soooo...guess where they're shopping? I'm willing to bet that it's at that ONE retailer that DOESN'T advertise on local radio.

Salem stations generally do very little to no advertising. They figure that if they build the station, the listeners will come. They often do. They don't do a great deal of promotions, so there's no need to have a promotions manager. Usually they delegate that responsibility to the receptionist/sales assistant or the Operations Manager.

 

[RadioMoo]

unless he has a college degree and a high paying job

You don't see much of that around the ol' trailer park. If these people have to be so crass as to try to make a buck from what they call Christianity, they need to at least know their demo. They should be hitting up the race tracks, rodeos, fishing lakes and yes - mobile home parks and mobile home manufacturers.

 

[Radio_Realist]

Did you ever notice that if you say anything negative about Blacks, Hispanics, or any other ethnic group, or say anything bad about Jews or Moslems, then you're a racist and/or a bigot. But Christians, especially Caucasian Christian, seem to be fair game for everyone.

 

[RadioMoo]

Did you ever notice that if you say anything negative about Blacks, Hispanics, or any other ethnic group, or say anything bad about Jews or Moslems, then you're a racist and/or a bigot. But Christians, especially Caucasian Christian, seem to be fair game for everyone.

If you're talking to me, I wasn't saying anything negative about Christians; stations like WORD-FM are so far off the mark about Christ's message that it's not only hard to take them seriously, but it's also next to impossible to call it "Christian" without gagging.

And BTW, I've heard more than a few uncomplimentary remarks about Jews and "Moslems" from the "Christian" media.

And as for you, just about any topic on this board seems to be fair game for your trolling.

 

[Radio_Realist]

And as for you, just about any topic on this board seems to be fair game for your trolling.

You've been a member for two weeks and a day, and you've judged me already!?!?

it's also next to impossible to call it "Christian" without gagging.

What credentials do you have to judge whether or not the programming on WORD-FM is Christian or not? Are you a member of the clergy or trained in theology, or do you work in radio, or both.

And how you can claim to not have said anything negative about Christians after characterizing them as all living in trailer parks it beyond me.

 

[kenhawk1160]

OK...Realist and Moo...put your swords away! Let's not start a Holy War on this board!

As I had mentioned in my earlier post, Salem is very selective about the Bible teachers they have on their air. They're smart enough to know the difference between a Bible teacher who makes a reasonable plea to stay on the air and live up to the image they claim to stand for, and some huckster farce who tells his listeners that God is gonna call him home unless he raises $8 million or the like. The difference between the two is integrity.

The Bible teachers I just mentioned that are heard on WORD-FM do have standards by which they operate. When Salem took over WPIT, a lot of the so-called "ministries" that WPIT was carrying were dropped...because they didn't meet the standards that Salem embraces.

Yes, Salem is a for-profit corporation. But Ed Atsinger and Stu Epperson didn't just wake up one day and say "Hey, there's money in this." They were raised as fundamentalist Christians (both attended Bob Jones University) who genuinely understood what this niche audience wanted and how to appeal to them. More than that, Salem is one of the most respected broadcasting corporations in the country, because of the stellar efforts of those two men.

 

[RadioMoo]

As I had mentioned in my earlier post, Salem is very selective about the Bible teachers they have on their air. They're smart enough to know the difference between a Bible teacher who makes a reasonable plea to stay on the air and live up to the image they claim to stand for, and some huckster farce who tells his listeners that God is gonna call him home unless he raises $8 million or the like. The difference between the two is integrity.

The Bible teachers I just mentioned that are heard on WORD-FM do have standards by which they operate. .

Dobson???

Here's the standard: if Christ didn't say it, it isn't Christian. Simple.

 

[Sahisko]

I am not a Christian broadcaster but I am a Christian but I think it is like this:

I am sure it is hard for Christian broadcasters because they have two different roads they can travel. Road 1, tailor to well rooted Christians (something Pat Robertson does on is 700 Club) or Road 2, tailor to people seeking Christ. Of course, all Christian Broadcasters try to do both (like Word FM does) but I think if you are trying to 'Spread the Word of God' via radio but yet have programs where Marty Minto is condeming everyone, people who are seeking some type of religion in their life are more likely to rather change stations.

Personally while I like some of the programming on WORD FM such as "John and Stephanie" and "New Life Live" etc., I don't like other programs of theirs such as Jay Secular Live or some of these other talk shows that mix the Republican and political agenda within their message and I think that is what disturbs a lot of people, especially 'non believers' from Christianity. I don't say this because I am a Democrat, trust me I am anything but, however, I say this as a person who believes that if you want to strengthen people's relationship with God and help people find God, you don't hit them with a bible or be praising conservative political candidates around the clock. However, on the contrary, 'Well Rooted" Christians need a place to hear programming to help strengthen their religious relationships and maybe that is done by people by Minto and Republican praisers but for me, it just hinders it.

People say don't talk about religion or politics, I think I crossed the line so if anyone wants to key my car or egg my house, I perfectly understand. I will provide you with an address. Besides, this is only a radio message board and not a religious board.

 

[RadioMoo]

I am sure it is hard for Christian broadcasters because they have two different roads they can travel. Road 1, tailor to well rooted Christians (something Pat Robertson does on is 700 Club)

OK, stop right there. Are Methodists or Catholics or Presbyterians necessarily NOT well-rooted Christians? And what is it that Robertson does so well? Any time I've watched the 700 Club, all I seem to hear are passages from the Old Testament. Rarely are Christ's teachings ever discussed. Like I said in my last post, Christianity is about Christ's message. I get plenty of doom and gloom from Robertson, along with a grating smugness and the ever present political agenda lurking just under the surface, but love and forgiveness and charity seem to elude Robertson and his followers.

I don't like other programs of theirs such as Jay Secular Live or some of these other talk shows that mix the Republican and political agenda within their message and I think that is what disturbs a lot of people, especially 'non believers' from Christianity. I don't say this because I am a Democrat, trust me I am anything but, however, I say this as a person who believes that if you want to strengthen people's relationship with God and help people find God, you don't hit them with a bible or be praising conservative political candidates around the clock. However, on the contrary, 'Well Rooted" Christians need a place to hear programming to help strengthen their religious relationships and maybe that is done by people by Minto and Republican praisers but for me, it just hinders it.

Unfortunately for the majority of Christians and non-Christians, the fundamentalist's political aspirations have poisoned the message and turned off a lot of people to anything called "Christian," including those denominations that actually do emphasize and celebrate Christ's message. This has also had a tragic effect on our culture in general in terms of public policy, especially with regard to education and social programs. The Republican party, and particularly the neo-conservative movement within the party, are now inextricably linked to fundamentalists who identify as Christian.

People say don't talk about religion or politics, I think I crossed the line so if anyone wants to key my car or egg my house, I perfectly understand. I will provide you with an address. Besides, this is only a radio message board and not a religious board.

You seriously feel someone would key your car because of your beliefs? I'm a more likely candidate for that, since the whole so-called "Christian" movement has bred and encouraged hostility toward those who believe differently, including the majority of Christians, while at the same time convincing their own followers that they are the targets of "religious discrimination."

And while it has been traditionally impolite to discuss religion and politics, it has become necessary to do so in our culture because of the sad situation we find ourselves in today from allowing a small group of extremists to dominate our political process for so long. We need to reinforce among ourselves what it is that we do want as a society, and what Christ really told us.

BTW, I do work in radio, and I firmly believe that hawking religion in the media like a box of detergent is a sin - and Christ said so himself...check it out.

 

[Johnny Morgan]

Here's the standard: if Christ didn't say it, it isn't Christian. Simple.

Kinda throws the Old Testament into oblivion, no?

Also, kinda throws Christ's own words about Peter continuing with the Church into oblivion, no?

Can't have a Church without people to lead it. And since Christ left that in the hands of those who came after him, sure seems like literal Christianity is a bit anaChrist, no?