Recently I received a call here at “99.3fm The Truth” requesting that we talk more about JESUS and less about politics and cultural issues. The caller suggested we let the other stations talk about that “stuff”, because when he tunes in to 99.3fm he wants to hear about Jesus all the time.
I asked him if he was a Christian and he said yes. I asked him if he was concerned with politics and the issues in the news today and he said yes.
Then I asked him… do you listen to the other “news/ talk” stations? And he said yes.
We concluded our conversation agreeing that Christians need to study and know the scriptures, and that we also need to engage the culture around us as informed people. So, keeping up with current events and addressing them from a biblical point of view was important to this caller, just like it is to all our listeners.
This caller reminded me that all our listeners come to us with expectations. Knowing we are a Christian radio station, they tune in to 99.3fm and listen with their (lack of a better word) “church ears”. So when they hear us talking about something they don’t normally hear talked about in church, from the pulpit, they are surprised. This also means when they tune us in they feel at home, and know that the content they will experience is something they can trust.
This has application for our broadcasters, and for our advertisers.
As an advertiser, our listeners hear your commercial in a different context then they do when they hear it on a sports talk station, or pop music station. When they listen to those stations they aren’t listening with “church ears”, they are listening for entertainment. They are casually listening, which makes your commercial just one of a thousand that they will hear that day. However, when they tune in to 99.3fm and hear your commercial they are shocked, surprised, and they think… WOW! I didn’t expect to hear about that company on THIS station. Now your ad is not one of a thousand background commercials, it’s an announcement about a business they can trust, and that shares their worldview. Now your commercial has been given the power behind it that only Christian radio can provide.
As broadcasters we need to keep in mind that our local Christian community does care about today’s hot issues and they do want to be fed by the teaching of God’s Word. This means that as broadcasters we have to not only be giving them the content they want, but the content they need. We have to be students of scripture as well as be attentive to the issues of the day. When they listen to us they want more then just another opinion. They want Truth.
Thanks for reading, I hope you learned something.
If you would like to see who the broadcasters on 99.3fm are CLICK HERE http://www.truthnetwork.com/stations/ktia/
If you want to your business to reach tens of thousands of new customers, call me, Chris Rohloff – 515-230-4481