Of the radio formats ranked in the top 10 of Inside Radio/PrecisionTrak’s monthly format counts, contemporary Christian, while ranked its usual fourth, tops them all when it comes to most stations added, not just year-to-date but also year-over-year.
Overall, the rankings for October remain unchanged from each of the past 12 months, with country, religion (including religious teaching, hymns, and other related content), and news/talk in the 1-2-3 slots. Rank by most outlets added, however, and contemporary Christian pulls ahead with 23 new stations in 2024 vs. religion’s 15, and Spanish-language formats’ eight. A past-12-month ranking gives the same result, with contemporary Christian first with 31 new stations, religion 16, and Spanish four.
With the exception of losing one outlet in September, contemporary Christian’s total stations have seen steady gains going back to October 2023. Until this past month, religion, which lost four this past month, could have made the same claim.
Year-to-date, five of these 10 formats are in the plus column in terms of added stations. In addition to contemporary Christian, religion and fifth-ranked Spanish, country has brought in seven, and eighth-ranked classic rock two. Of the remaining five, sixth-place variety (including stations with three or more distinct formats, either block-programmed or simultaneously) has lost the most with 35 gone, following by news/talk’s 25, seventh-ranked classic hits’ and 10th-ranked top 40’s 21, and ninth-ranked sports having shed nine.
The year-over-year trends show no formats adding new stations aside from the aforementioned top three. Losing the most are variety (42), news/talk (31), classic hits (30), top 40 (18), and sports (10).
Whether looking at 2024 alone or taking the longer view, none of the three formats just below the top 10 – adult contemporary, hot AC, and alternative rock, in that order – has added any stations, with hot AC shedding the most, losing 17 year-over-year and 15 year-to-date. AC has lost three since October 2023 and two since January 2024, while alternative rock is down eight from a year ago and three since January.