Country Stations Post First Gain Since December.

While religion – including stations featuring religious teaching, hymns and other related content – has been the most-programmed format in the U.S. since February of this year, passing longtime champ country, country has managed to reverse its steady decline in total stations since December of last year, according to Inside Radio/PrecisionTrak’s latest monthly station counts.

While country shed 44 stations from December 2025 to July 2026, it added four in August, marking the first growth month for the format since bringing in three new outlets last December. For religion, August is its first non-growth month since April of this year, when it lost one station, with its total the same as in July. Even so, it keeps a strong 70-station lead over country, with a 2.9% gain in total outlets year-over-year.

Looking at year-over-year and year-to-date change, total stations for country and third-ranked news/talk are still in the minus column both ways. That’s also the case for fifth-place Spanish, seventh-ranked variety (including stations with three or more distinct formats, either block-programmed or simultaneously), and both sports and top 40, coming in ninth and tenth. News/talk, however, is the only of these formats where its total has steadily fallen since February 2026.

Country, meanwhile, is one of five formats in the top 10 to add new stations in August, along with fourth-ranked contemporary Christian, variety, eighth-place classic rock, and top 40.

*Data provided by M Street Corp. US station counts. No Canadian or Mexican stations are included. Format counts are reported at the end of each month.

Aside from religion, only two other formats ranked in the top 10 — contemporary Christian and classic rock — have welcomed new stations since last August and since January. For contemporary Christian, which has added 24 stations year-over-year, that’s a 1.7% increase, while classic rock’s gains are significantly smaller.

Classic hits, which ranks sixth, is the only format with mixed results in terms of total stations, having shed seven year-over-year while adding 11 year-to-date.

Just below the top 10, 11th-ranked adult contemporary has lost just two from a year ago and three since January. By those same measures, 13th-place alternative rock has added two year-over-year and lost just one year-to-date. 

Now ranked 12th is the stations-off-the-air category, up an eyes-widening 42% from a year ago with 128 stations lost, with 85 outlets gone dark since January for a 25% increase.