By Shawn Smith
Some surprising and unsurprising results came out of Barna and the National Religious Broadcaster’s 2025 State of Christian Media study.
The survey that consisted of over 2,000 US adults revealed that while “the broad reach of Christian media is fueled by a diverse and dynamic audience,” the “research highlights a core audience that is younger, more family-oriented, politically conservative, and spiritually committed.”
According to the sample poll, 56% of Christian media users were employed full-time, while 41% off non-users are not; 51% of users were married, while 46% of non-users are not married; and 40% of users had children under 18 living in the household, while 18% of non-users had no children in the household under the age of 18.
The spiritual and political demographic of Christian media users are as expected.
While 53% of respondents who consume Christian content identified as practicing Christians, 8% of practicing Christians do not consume Christian media, and 43% of Christian media users identify as mostly politically conservative. Meanwhile 38% and 34% of non-users are moderate and mostly liberal, respectively.
A more surprising result of the survey is the age group that consumes Christian Media the most. The Barna survey found that the average age of Christian media users is 44.1 years old, the average age of non-users is 51.3 years old.
Specifically, Gen Z consumes Christian social media the most at 64% usage, with Millennials at a close second with 58% engagement with faith-based social media.
“For younger audiences, social media isn’t just entertainment—it’s a primary spiritual touchpoint. Christian communicators who want to effectively reach these digital natives must adopt a mobile-savvy, digital-first strategy,” NRB stated.
Perhaps, most surprising thing was the overall percentage of Americans who engage in Christian media.
According to NRB’s initial report on the Barna survey, more than 60% of American adults consume Christian media, with 51% reporting that they use Christian media, whether it’s radio, TV or social media
Probably no one was more taken aback by these findings than NRB’s President Troy Miller.
“To be honest, that number nearly caught us off guard. Wow — nearly two-thirds of all Americans are engaged to some degree with Christian media.” Miller told Jerry Newcombe of The Christian Post. “That was much, much higher than we thought it would be.”
Related: Roma Downey on Faith-Based Content: ‘People Are Hungry for God’
Miller noted that the younger generations are not just watching faith-based content but also creating it.
He relayed that when asked high schoolers were they want to pursue as a career, many will say that they want to be an influencer.
“So we know that a lot of that in the secular side, it’s kind of like, ‘I want to be a movie star.’… ‘I want to be a rock star’ You know, it’s all about the fame. It’s all about the notoriety for themselves,” Miller said at a NRB conference.
Do you engage with some form of Christian media on a regular basis?
He contrasts that with young believers wanting to be “influencer[s] for the gospel.”
“We’re seeing so many of these new young adults that are going on platforms like TikTok and Instagram and and just so many others, even gaming systems. And they’re using the technology for Christ,” Miller added.
In an age of declining church membership and deconstruction of faith, this latest study should be a sign that God is still moving, and He is using the upcoming generation to spark a revival.
Read Next: What’s Fueling Hollywood’s Faith-Based ‘Renaissance’?
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