Christian retailers wanting to tune in to the possibilities of working more closely with their local Christian radio station need to do their homework, said award-winning broadcast leader Jim Hoge.

"First, understand that most Christian radio is noncommercial because it was a scrap or spectrum that nobody wanted. That means you can't go buy time," said Jim Hoge, founder and president of WPOZ (Z88.3) in Orlando, Fla. Now third-rated in the city, the station first went on the air in 1995 and has won the Gospel Music Association's large market Radio Station of the Year Award four years in a row.

While some stores do underwriting, there is a limit to what can be promoted. However, "one can put alliances together that would work legally--but understand that it takes effort," he advised.

In a "Talking Points" interview with Christian Retailing in the magazine's Sept. 8 issue, Hoge noted that Christian radio as a medium is "growing by leaps and bounds. … I think it's hit a chord."

But changes in technology have impacted the music industry, he observed. "It used to be that Casting Crowns came out with a song, and it was on the radio, and if people really liked it, they would run down to the local Christian bookstore, and they would buy the CD," he said. "With the CD, they'd wind up with 10 songs, one of which they wanted and the other nine came along for the ride they may or may not like.

"Then along came the Internet, and now you could go to iTunes and buy just that song for 99 cents. So, instead of the record industry selling the CD for $13.80, they make less than a buck."

Read more in the Sept. 8 issue of Christian Retailing magazine.

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