Format Counts: Religion Pulls Further Ahead Of Country.

In February, the religion format — including stations featuring religious teaching, hymns and other related content — made its first-ever appearance at the top of Inside Radio/PrecisionTrak’s monthly station counts, knocking country, which boasted the most stations in the U.S. since January 2015, to second place.

From December 2025 to February 2026, religion’s total station count steadily gained while country’s gradually declined, a trend that continued in March. As a result, the gap between the two moved from 22 outlets in February to 40 in March, as religion added 15 new stations while country lost three.

Year-over-year, religion converted 73 stations to the format for 3.4% lift, while country shed 28, down 1.3%. Year-to-date, religion added 31, up 1.4%, while country lost 10, off 0.5%.

Two other formats in the top five have seen a notable increase in total stations since March 2025: fourth-ranked contemporary Christian, adding 35 for a 2.4% lift, and Spanish-language formats in fifth place, with 25 more for a 1.9% gain. Unlike religion, neither has grown significantly since January, with Spanish-language’s total actually down year-to-date.

News/talk, which remains in third place, is down slightly in year-over-year and year-to-date.

*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.

In the lower half of the top 10, the formats ranked sixth through eighth have all added a few stations so far in 2026. Classic hits and variety (the latter including stations having three or more distinct formats, either block-programmed or simultaneously) now tie for sixth, with six more outlets year-to-date for classic hits vs. just one for variety, although both have shed stations year-over-year. Eighth-ranked classic rock, adding four since January, is also up 1.7% from a year ago with 11 new stations.

Neither ninth-ranked sports or 10th-place top 40 have brought in new stations since last March or since January, with the former’s total stations showing no gain since September 2025. Year-over-year, sports’ total is off by 1.9% with 11 stations shed, while top 40 has lost 21 for a 3.9% decrease.