New Ratings Tool a Blessing for Christian Pop WGTS

In fact, the station employs a part-time chaplain, who takes listeners' prayer requests and makes referrals to local churches and charitable organizations. In another bit of outreach, the station whipped up a hailstorm of e-mails and phone calls this month by asking listeners to comment on why they believe in God. The campaign was inspired by bus ads placed by the American Humanist Association that read, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake."

Overall, says Alignay, "the idea is not to be like any other station in the market."

Some of this may help explain why WGTS's listeners -- about two-thirds of whom are women -- are so loyal. According to Arbitron, the average listener tunes in about 7 hours 45 minutes per week, the highest amount of any station in the area. Second place WAMU (88.5 FM), a talk and news station, isn't even close; its listeners tune in about six hours per week.

"What I like is the positive message they have," says Kelly Howell, 37, a Defense Department analyst who lives in Laurel. "I think that's something lacking these days." She doesn't mind, either, that she can turn the station on when her daughters, 6 and 4, are around. "It may sound hokey, but it is family-friendly," she says. "I don't have to worry about them hearing something off the cuff or bizarre."

The mystery is whether the station's audience is really growing or whether it always drew a big crowd without anyone really knowing it.

The question arises because WGTS's audience totals jumped sharply after Arbitron switched to a new way of counting listeners in mid-October. Under its old system, the company relied on sample panels of listeners to write down their daily listening habits in diaries. Under the new method -- considered more accurate by Arbitron -- people carry small electronic meters that automatically record what they're listening to.

Among the revelations of the new ratings system is that people actually listen to a far greater number of stations than they formerly reported under the diary method, said Thom Mocarsky, a spokesman for Arbitron. That means outlets like WGTS, which has an extremely loyal core of listeners, keep more of their audience from one hour to the next, boosting their relative position in the ratings.

Statistical quirks aside, Duane Dorch, a member of the station's and college's board of trustees, believes WGTS's audience will continue to expand. "In tougher times," he says, "I think people are looking for something that reflects their spiritual values. They're seeking things that are comforting to them in their entertainment."

Konrad is certainly pleased, but not for the reasons most radio managers would be. "I don't want more listeners for more money," he says. "Our goal is to be there for as many people as possible. That's the purpose of this radio station."