There's an aging elephant in the room. Let's call her "Becky."

Actually, let's not.

For some, "Becky" is a loaded word and concept. It (she?) helped CCM radio reach new levels of success, but may keep us from growing any further.

Our audience and world is changing rapidly. Even the most successful Christian AC's see this in their numbers: 25-54 success has turned into 35-54, or even 45-64 dominance. Obviously, there will come a tipping point where that trend just isn't viable. Plenty are asking: "Where are tomorrow's core listeners and how do we roll the red carpet out for them today?"

Let's go back to the days of the first Home Alone movie for a possible answer. Kevin was setting traps and mainstream Top 40 radio was falling into them. Just like Christian AC's 25-54 coalition is aging and fracturing today, Top 40's was aging and splitting then. Michael Bolton was topping the Pop charts. And not even the cool, Office Space Michael Bolton.

It's a song called "Craig". It's by an up-and-coming country artist named Walker Hayes. It's essentially about a guy who doesn't know Jesus, but he knows a guy who does (Craig), and the gift of a mini-van was one way Craig showed the love of Christ to someone outside ...

I was going for an admittedly weak play on the words "Postpartum Depression". Guess it didn't really work, but here's why: after a Pledge Drive is over, I usually hear an overly-churchy station for at least a week or two, before we remember that we're not beating the ...

Maybe you remember growing up listening to stations with "shock jocks" and morning shows with plenty of content you would deem offensive or crude in nature. One place radio listeners might expect this type of "blue humor" is on any given Rock station. As a young ...

On July 14th, 2011, the way Americans interact with music (and musicians) changed forever. It was the first day that I (and my fellow Americans) could sign up for a premium subscription of Spotify, which I did. I had read the hype coming from the UK about this new ...

Tracy Johnson, Tracy Johnson Media Group Is your radio show relevant? I hope so. Are you relatable? That would also be good. In fact, it's better (spoiler alert). Listening to many CCM stations, it sounds as if many think that relevant and relatable are ...

By Paul Goldsmith, Goldsmith Media Group Most people don't love radio. Those of us who do, likely, work in it. When it comes to radio, most people are feckless-that is to say, utterly indifferent. Ever been on a road trip and tried to convince your travel companions ...

Amanda Hildabrand, MD & Mornings, WCSG/Grand Rapids When was the last time you tried something new? ANYTHING new? Something that gives you a little spark of excitement when you think or talk about it. Maybe it's a hobby or a new restaurant or a different style of jeans. ...

Matt Stockman, PD, K-LOVE Network Author Jim Collins opens his book, "Good To Great" like this: "Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don't have great schools, principally because we have good ...

Tracy Johnson - Tracy Johnson Media Group With all respect to Christmas, this is the most wonderful time of the year. Okay, maybe the second most wonderful time of the year. It's opening week for major league baseball. No, I'm pretty sure it's the most wonderful time ...