A music industry trade group representing Christian and Gospel labels is asking the FCC to draw a hard line between FM and AM in its pending ownership review, arguing the two bands face different enough competitive conditions to warrant different rules.
The Christian Music Trade Association filed comments in the FCC’s 2022 Quadrennial Review of broadcast ownership rules, requesting the Commission retain existing numeric caps on local commercial FM ownership while eliminating limits on how many AM stations a single entity may own within a given market.
CMTA President Ed Leonard framed the two positions as complementary.
Loosening FM caps, the filing states, would accelerate consolidation in the segment of radio where independent operators remain most active, squeezing out the faith-based and community-oriented stations that CMTA members depend on to reach audiences. Removing AM caps, by contrast, would give struggling operators more flexibility to spread costs across multiple signals in a market where technical disadvantages and revenue pressures have already thinned the ownership pool.
The filing aligns CMTA with positions staked out by the National Religious Broadcasters in January. NRB previously argued that FM consolidation would marginalize independent voices while AM deregulation would provide a financial lifeline to operators whose continued presence depends on community mission rather than market efficiency.
CMTA cited iHeartMedia in support of retaining FM limits, noting that iHeart warned in earlier filings that loosening those caps would likely trigger mass AM divestiture as owners shifted capital toward FM acquisitions. The filing quoted iHeart’s assessment that such a shift would destroy the financial underpinnings of AM station assets, particularly for women and minority owners.
On the audience side, CMTA cited Jacobs Media’s Techsurvey 2025, which found 82% of Christian and Gospel radio listeners would recommend their favorite station to others, the highest recommendation rate of any format surveyed. The next closest was public radio at 66%, followed by Contemporary Hits Radio at 55% and Country Radio at 52%. A separate 2025 Finney Media survey of nearly 12,000 Christian radio listeners found that 93% cited liking worshipful Christian music as a reason for listening, 91% said the format helped them worship throughout the day, and 82% said they tuned in for encouragement.
CMTA also pointed to a Radio Ink-reported survey of Liberty University students showing 41% of Gen Z respondents already listen to Christian radio, citing it as evidence the format’s audience is not eroding as rapidly as broader terrestrial radio trends might suggest.
The filing argues that independent commercial Christian and Gospel stations already compete against non-commercial religious clusters, large commercial FM clusters carrying up to five signals in major markets, and global streaming and satellite platforms simultaneously. Any further FM consolidation, CMTA contends, would widen the competitive gap those stations face for local advertising dollars without providing any corresponding benefit.
The 2022 Quadrennial Review remains pending before the Commission, with no apparent timeline for its completion.
