A new study conducted for Facts & Trends magazine's July/August edition showed most people who attend a Protestant church are using Christian media—magazines, Web sites, television, radio, movies and music—but it is only a fraction of the media churchgoers use. Protestant clergy, on the other hand, are much heavier users of Christian media than are the people in their churches.

Two studies were conducted for Facts & Trends—a Southern Baptist Convention/LifeWay publication—by Ellison Research, one a representative sample of 806 Protestant church ministers nationwide and the other a companion survey of 1,184 adults who attend Protestant churches at least once a month. The studies asked each group about their use of various media, including what proportion of each type is general interest or secular, and what proportion is “specifically Christian” (not just inspirational or has a good message).

Of the eight types of media covered in this study, the type with the largest proportion of churchgoers using a Christian version of the media is music. Of Protestant churchgoers surveyed, 78% listen to music that is specifically Christian, and among those who listen to music, Christian music makes up an average of 42% of what they listen to.

Not far behind is radio, and 64% of churchgoers surveyed listen to Christian radio (music or talk formats). Among those who listen to radio, Christian radio represents 37% of what they listen to, on average.

Of Protestant churchgoers surveyed, 64% said they visit Christian Web sites, but Christian Web sites make up only 20% of what the typical Protestant uses online. The numbers for television are identical—64% of all laity watch Christian television, but it accounts for only 20% of all programming they watch, on average.

The study also found that 60% of all laity read Christian nonfiction books (excluding the Bible), and Christian books make up four out of every 10 nonfiction books they read, on average. There is much more usage of Christian nonfiction books than fiction books. Only 47% read any Christian fiction, and Christian books account for an average of 28% of all fiction books read.

Christian movies garnered the attention of 55% of all laity surveyed. Christian films make up an average of 17% of all movies Protestants watch.

The type of media with the lowest reported use of Christian options is magazines. The study found only 44% of all churchgoers read any Christian magazines, and Christian magazines make up just 21% of the magazine reading done by the average Protestant.

Just 5% of all Protestants said they only listen to Christian radio, 7% only listen to Christian music and 1% watch only Christian television.

“Secular corporations have been backing movies with strong religious themes, buying Christian publishing companies and releasing albums from Christian artists,” said Ron Sellers, president of Ellison Research. “Christian media, although often still lacking the financial resources of the secular media, is reaching tens of millions of Protestant churchgoers and clergy on a regular basis—to say nothing of its reach among people who don't attend Protestant churches.”

Sellers noted that there is still tremendous room for growth in the market. “Although Christian media of some type reaches the vast majority of Protestants, for the average person it still represents a fraction of the media they consume. From a pure business standpoint, in most categories there is probably greater growth potential in getting current Christian media consumers to consume more of it than to try to convert non-users to users.”