Janet Jameson loves The Fish. She listens to Atlanta’s 104.7 FM nearly constantly—in her home, in her car, and all day at her office. She even follows her favorite DJs from the station on Facebook, which is how she saw the announcement that The Fish is going away.
“It’s with heavy hearts that we tell you that The Fish is coming to a close on January 31st,” DJ Taylor Scott wrote in a joint Facebook post with her cohost, Kevin Avery. “We are so incredibly honored that we had the privilege of bringing you ‘Good, Clean, Fun’ and doing life with you for 24 years.”
More than 1,000 people responded with tear, heart, and hug emojis. Jameson, who lives in the suburbs northeast of the city, couldn’t help but leave a comment.
“This news breaks my heart!” she wrote.
She isn’t the only faithful listener crushed by the news. North of Atlanta, Jeanne Shannon wrote, “Oh no!!!” and told the DJs, “You all have given so many incredible blessings and encouragement to us all over the years!!”
Melissa White, in another suburb, commented she’d just had a dream that was asked to pray for one of the DJs, “so I began praying for God to keep his shield of love around her,” and then she woke up and saw the announcement.
Catherine Black Adams, from a small town near the Georgia-Tennessee border, wrote that she would be praying for the DJs as they embarked on their next chapter. “I’ve been a Fish listener for years with our kids & now our grands,” she said.
Similar scenes are playing out in Tennessee, Ohio, Arkansas, Texas, Colorado, Oregon, and California, as news spreads that Salem Media Group, the largest Christian radio company in the United States, is selling Christian music stations and retiring its Fish brand. The deal marks the media company’s final exit from contemporary Christian music.
Salem Media did not respond to request for comment. But Edward Atsinger, Salem’s cofounder and executive chairman, said in a statement that the sale is a “strategic decision” that allows the company to pay off $159.4 million in long-term debt.
Salem ran into some financial trouble in 2020 and saw its share price drop from a high of about $30 in 2004 to just 80 cents. The company’s investment value was downgraded to “poor quality” and “high risk” by Moody’s, a top credit-ratings agency.
The number of Christian radio listeners actually increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the economic impact hit advertisers hard, and many of the ministries that bought blocks of time on Salem stations to air teaching and preaching, including Chuck Swindoll, John MacArthur, Tony Evans, David Jeremiah, the late Charles Stanley, and the late J. Vernon McGee, cut back on their media expenditures too. Salem’s stock value recovered in 2021 but then started slowly sliding downward again. At the end of 2024, shares were selling for about 20 cents each.
The company decided to get out of Christian music radio and focus on talk, returning to its format roots. Salem started as a Christian talk radio company in the mid-1970s, and its most dedicated listeners are still those who tune in for preaching, teaching, and commentary. Salem has also seen growth with its conservative political shows hosted by Charlie Kirk, Bill O’Reilly, Eric Metaxas, Hugh Hewitt, Larry Elder, and Jay Sekulow.
Salem differentiates between Christian and conservative talk-show formats but sees them as “highly complementary” since both focus on “conservative views and family values.” Currently, Salem has more than 100 radio stations and broadcasts in the top 25 media markets. Its syndicated programs are distributed to roughly 2,700 affiliates.
“Listeners develop, learn and grow in their faith as they gain answers to questions relating to daily life, from raising children to improving marriages,” the company says. “Christian Teaching and Talk is our core, foundational format.”
Salem’s shift doesn’t spell the end of Christian music on former Fish stations, though. Seven of Salem’s music stations were acquired by Educational Media Foundation (EMF), the parent company of K-Love and Air1. EMF will begin operating the stations on February 1.
David Pierce, EMF’s chief media officer, told CT that conversations about programming and personnel are ongoing and that some familiar voices may end up staying.
“Our goal is to keep Christian music on these stations,” he said. “We’re thankful to be able to promise that.”
Between 2019 and 2021, EMF was the fastest-growing radio company in the US, purchasing 39 additional stations. But this recent acquisition will expand its coverage of major markets, putting K-Love and Air1 on the radio in places like Dallas, Cleveland, and Los Angeles. EMF currently reaches about 18 million listeners every week and controls more than 1,000 broadcast signals across all 50 states.
Christian radio ranks fourth in the US for overall station count. The rise of streaming brought massive shifts to the music industry, but Christian radio has remained important to older listeners, who trust DJs to curate their music. Christian radio is also finding new listeners among younger adults, tired of trusting algorithms and open to other ways of discovering new music.
K-Love, which plays mostly pop- and rock-style contemporary Christian music, caters to an older audience, while Air1 attracts a younger demographic with more contemporary worship music.
The shift from Salem’s Fish format to K-Love or Air1 will bring noticeable changes to the hourly mix of music and advertising. Salem’s commercial format required stations to devote time to marketing. EMF, by contrast, is a nonprofit. Pierce told CT the noncommercial funding model of both networks enables them to dedicate a greater proportion of their airtime to music than traditional commercial stations can.
K-Love and Air1 also have strong relationships with labels and artists in the Christian music industry, cultivated through high-profile concert series and its annual K-Love Fan Awards. Through the success of its radio brands, EMF has established itself as a powerful music-industry gatekeeper.
The company has achieved this, in part, by cultivating dedicated listeners.
“Radio is a trusted medium,” Channah Hanberg, who serves on the Christian Music Broadcasters board of directors, told CT. “DJs can create a personal connection, and Christian music layers on a spiritual connection.”
While many of the radio programs people listen to are national, the stations also connect listeners to their local communities in ways that streaming services do not. Hanberg, who is also vice president of media for Crista Media in Seattle, said radio stations remain sustainable and competitive because they have the potential to connect people to their cities and regions.
“You can turn to a local station and be encouraged, and you get information about your local community and events,” Hanberg said. “Christian radio is about more than music; it’s a ministry.”
The Fish’s listeners in Atlanta, praying that their DJs get new jobs on the radio soon, would certainly agree.
