A-4 Evaluating the Mission Effectiveness of Adventist World Radio: A Global Study

Evaluating the mission effectiveness of Adventist World Radio (AWR) is a study commissioned by the General Conference Office of Archives, Statistics and Research. The study is three-fold: (1) A review of literature was conducted to assess and compare the operations and effectiveness of international religious broadcasters comparable to AWR. (2) An audience impact survey is being conducted in India and Russia to determine the market penetration of and program evaluation of AWR and (3) several focus groups are being conducted in Asia, Africa and Europe to gather narrative feedback firsthand from AWR listeners. The literature reviewed showed that Christian radio is responsible for bringing new listeners to the medium at a rate that is higher than other public radio programs. Programs that are contextualized have proven to be more appreciated by listeners than programs that are simply translated from one language and cultural context to another. One recommendation based on the literature is that AWR should harness all available social media platforms to engage with listeners online and provide face-to-face interaction opportunities for shortwave listeners. Additional findings and recommendations are forthcoming when phases 2 and 3 of the project are completed in the next few months.