Rolling Stone Article About K-Love/Air1

[crainbebo]

I also noticed that K-LOVE won't put you in the drawing for the "$4,000 in free gas", "the trip to Hawaii", or "the $5,000 Visa gift card" if you don't donate at least X/month to the ministry. Sometimes they say you have to donate $30/month in the challenge, or it gets put down to $12/month, depending on what the challenge is.
Just another incentive for me to put my money where my mouth is. In LOCAL and REGIONAL Christian radio. They must not have the budget, because they only give you a T-shirt and maybe a coffee mug during the beg-a-thon. Not even a weekend getaway trip in the listening area, like on the Gorge! Does EMF have millions of dollars to waste?

I just know that my weekly tithes and offerings don't have an external instant gratification award to them. Imagine if my church said that if we gave at least $20 in the tithe we would be entered into a chance to win a trip to Disneyland or Walt Disney World, all paid for and with hotel. My church doesn't do that because that's common sense! It goes into the ministries that we serve - and that includes Bible camp and youth ministries. It defeats the purpose that God gave in the Bible - to give a tenth to the Lord.

I can't recall TBN even doing this during their Shareathons.

The Air 1 worship music often comes from live worship night recordings that yes, are from larger churches. Elevation Church has 14K in attendance and is glitzy as heck. I like their worship music (especially 'Same God'), but it's not the church I would attend on a weekly basis. My church has 1200+ weekly attendance over 3 campuses and that's enough for me. We're not trying to be on TBN and put the worship band on K-LOVE.

Finally, like Jon Smith said, CCM has embraced an audience that embraces the format - similar to the country genre. And it has gotten more diverse over time. "Famous For" - Tauren Wells and Jenn Johnson = has a Spanish/English version that gets airplay often on Positive Life Radio here in eastern WA. Then you have several Black groups and Black singers - Blessing Offor and Maverick Cirty Music come to mind, that have gone to mainstream Christian radio - not just the Black Gospel stations that are in urban and southern markets.
I wish they would spin some Black Gospel music on the CCM stations, maybe as a specialty. Or expand the playlists to include classics by Amy Grant, Phillips Craig & Dean, Susan Ashton, Point of Grace, or have a specialty time for classic Christian songs.

 

[Barry]

It’s still unclear to me why the worship music on Air1 needs a station separate from the CCM on K-Love. Perhaps fans of Air1 want a more religious sounding music mix?

 

[bturner1]

Why would one have both adult contemporary and contemporary hit radio? There is a difference. An AC listener is not going to be happy with CHR and vice versa. A CCM listener isn't going to be happy with Worship nor is a Worship listener going to be happy with CCM. Yes, there's overlap just like there is with AC and CHR.

 

[JeremyAndrews]

It’s still unclear to me why the worship music on Air1 needs a station separate from the CCM on K-Love. Perhaps fans of Air1 want a more religious sounding music mix?

Demos. The younger demographic is more likely to listen to Contemporary Worship than they are Mainstream CCM as far as I have been able to observe. Contemporary Worship gets very high streaming numbers. It also gives them a different format to put on if they end up with multiple stations in a market.

As far as other formats, It used to played edgier Christian Rock, most of which has dried up. The big labels are not releasing it anymore. Not mass appeal enough. It was targeted at college students initially. When the network grew, and the rock started disappearing, they went with somewhere in between Christian Hot AC and CHR. That format has also pretty much disappeared. Christian CHR is pretty much entirely Hip-Hop these days. So they go with Contemporary Worship, which has become extremely popular within the last few years. Think of a Millennial audience now in their 30s and 40s, but also some 20 somethings. Mainstream CCM probably slightly older, 40s and 50s maybe. It's radio. You have to think of how you will get the most listeners in a place where most people are streaming music.

 

[R.D.P.]

To @crainbebo or anyone else that wants more than just the same old songs every hour or a wide variety of music, check out wpjb.org and enjoy. I play a little bit of everything, from all styles and from the past and present. I also play many of the forgotten classics and independent singers, that most would avoid on purpose. Check us out. You'll love our style.

Dan <><​

 

[JeremyAndrews]

I also noticed that K-LOVE won't put you in the drawing for the "$4,000 in free gas", "the trip to Hawaii", or "the $5,000 Visa gift card" if you don't donate at least X/month to the ministry. Sometimes they say you have to donate $30/month in the challenge, or it gets put down to $12/month, depending on what the challenge is.
Just another incentive for me to put my money where my mouth is. In LOCAL and REGIONAL Christian radio. They must not have the budget, because they only give you a T-shirt and maybe a coffee mug during the beg-a-thon. Not even a weekend getaway trip in the listening area, like on the Gorge! Does EMF have millions of dollars to waste?

Those are all donated prizes. A lot of non profits use things like that to get people to donate.

And yes, they will put you in the drawing for those things even if you don't donate. You can simply call up and ask to be put in the drawing. It literally says that on the website during the contest.

The only thing you can't get unless you donate $30 a month is a T-Shirt. The reason for that is because it's not a contest. If you donate the $30, you get the T-Shirt.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Those are all donated prizes. A lot of non profits use things like that to get people to donate.

Not necessarily donated prizes. They may buy them and use them as incentives for donation.

And yes, they will put you in the drawing for those things even if you don't donate. You can simply call up and ask to be put in the drawing. It literally says that on the website during the contest.

And that is to avoid lottery laws where it is illegal if there is prize, chance and consideration.

 

[DavidEduardo]

To @crainbebo or anyone else that wants more than just the same old songs every hour or a wide variety of music, check out wpjb.org and enjoy. I play a little bit of everything, from all styles and from the past and present. I also play many of the forgotten classics and independent singers, that most would avoid on purpose. Check us out. You'll love our style.
​

How many listeners do you have, on average, at any time throughout the day?

 

[R.D.P.]

I have many. People are still giving, making song requests and telling me how much the broadcast means to them. Things are going great. Hope to keep it that way, for a long time to come.

Dan <><​

 

[Barry]

CCM is apparently experiencing solid growth.

CCM Demos

 

[JeremyAndrews]

CCM is apparently experiencing solid growth.

CCM Demos

There's probably a good reason for that. It's a great place to avoid the negativity in the world. A lot of people are dealing with anxiety, and many people are recovering from addictions, depression, etc. The current climate is not helping a lot of people. CCM formats generally keep things more positive, the airstaff avoids negative subjects. I'm guessing it maybe lets people take their mind off of things that might make their problems worse. I can completely understand why people listen to these formats when I listen to them.

 

[crainbebo]

Those are all donated prizes. A lot of non profits use things like that to get people to donate.

And yes, they will put you in the drawing for those things even if you don't donate. You can simply call up and ask to be put in the drawing. It literally says that on the website during the contest.

The only thing you can't get unless you donate $30 a month is a T-Shirt. The reason for that is because it's not a contest. If you donate the $30, you get the T-Shirt.

Helps to look at the fine print I see if not for your response, you'd think they would only give you chances if you donated money. And I assume you only get 1 entry as it's intended to supply funding to EMF - it's not a contest on a commercial radio station that allows for many entries at once?

 

[JeremyAndrews]

From my listening, they have time windows. They ask for various pledges during the time period of each prize. Figure $20 a month. Each $20 pledge takes up a slot. You can donate $40 a month and get 2 entries. Any donation is an entry though. Or you can call and ask for one. They have a computer automatically select a random winner at the end of the time window.

Each prize shows up with the contest rules on the website.

They have disclaimers that they are donated prizes.

It just makes an otherwise brutal two weeks more engaging. Someone might like having the chance to win something while helping the network at the same time.

One thing they are bad at is explaining that they can’t legally run commercials. A lot of people suggest they do, not realizing they have Non Commercial licenses

 

[vchimpanzee]

One thing they are bad at is explaining that they can’t legally run commercials. A lot of people suggest they do, not realizing they have Non Commercial licenses

And yet I've heard what sound a lot like commercials on some non-commercial stations, particularly NPR affiliates. I think it was on this site someone explained to me no, those weren't commercials. And there are rules for those.

 

[JeremyAndrews]

And yet I've heard what sound a lot like commercials on some non-commercial stations, particularly NPR affiliates. I think it was on this site someone explained to me no, those weren't commercials. And there are rules for those.

Those are called underwriting announcements. They can say something like "This is sponsored by (insert business) they offer this kind of service. For more about them, go to their website"

They can't say anything like "They have the best of this. So make sure to stop by today to get this for only $14"

 

[Ma Gee]

I have many. People are still giving, making song requests and telling me how much the broadcast means to them. Things are going great. Hope to keep it that way, for a long time to come.​

Care to give us a few examples of how you've impacted Selma. Persons reached. Lives changed. Any testimonies? Don't know about David but I'm interested more in specifics, not just generalities.

 

[R.D.P.]

People have been telling me how much the content has drawn them closer to God. They also continue to thank me for bringing this broadcast to Selma and make their song requests know.

Dan <><​

 

[Ma Gee]

Again I was hoping for specifics not generalities. My hope was that a few specifics on how a Christian radio station personally impacts its community would offer some contrast to the viewpoint of the Rolling Stone article.

 

[kevtronics]

I know that your definition of Praise and Worship Music is what I've heard described before. But when I listen to Air 1, it doesn't sound like anything people in my church sing. (Admittedly, I'm Catholic.) It sounds much too contemporary.

And I bet a lot of Air 1 listeners would say to you that Catholics don't count as Christians.

 

[R.D.P.]

My goal is to provide Selma and the world with a voice for the Gospel, through local preachers and great musicians, sharing the Word with all of mankind. So far, many people are checking me out and have told me how much this broadcast has helped them in their walk with God. In my past 8 years, I've seen God expand the reach and continue to bless it. Our approach is to help lead people to the Word, back to God and reach them for Jesus. I may be all over the map with the music but that's the way God wanted it. My ultimate goal is to help unite people and show them how to overcome the issues they're faced with. I want to help lead people in right direction and give them something positive and uplifting to check out. I want to use my gifts and talents to help be an agent for God and lead people to Him.

Dan <><​