Number of radio stations with a religion format "just keeps on growing"

The religion format — including radio stations featuring religious teaching, hymns and other related content — just keeps on growing, according to Inside Radio/PrecisionTrak’s station counts for October 2026.

A year ago, reports Inside Radio, "the format ranked second in total U.S. stations behind then-usual leader country, but what a difference a year makes. Over the past 12 months, religion went from being 28 stations behind country to, for October 2026, 98 ahead, with a year-over-year gain of 68 outlets while country lost 58. For 2026-to-date, religion has added 50 stations while country shed 49. Religion has led in total stations since February, adding 34 stations along the way vs. country’s loss of 42.

"A look at the top-10 stations based on U.S. total shows three formats having gained both year-over-year and year-to-date: top-ranked religion, fourth-place contemporary Christian and classic hits, which ranks sixth. The only other gainer either way is eighth-ranked classic rock, which added four outlets since January but none year-over-year."

The Inside Radio report also states that News/talk’s steady downtrend since February 2026 continued in October, as the third-ranked format has lost 25 stations over that time, while down 32 from last October and 24 from January.