Premier Christian Communications – The Success Story You’ve Never Heard of

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Lively, honest discussions of differing ideas in good faith are pretty hard to find these days. Social media can be quite an echo chamber, and as our politics and even our churches seem to be further apart than they have been in a long time, one Christian media company is seeking to change all that:

Premier Christian Communications.

If you’ve never heard of them, you’re not alone. They’re primarily a European company, though their influence has spread across the pond now as well.

Premier was founded as a radio station in the United Kingdom in 1994, and it also offered a call-in counseling service called Premier Lifeline to people who needed someone to talk to or ask for advice. After only a handful of years, they expanded into magazines, producing such titles as Premier Christianity, Premier Youth and Children’s Work, and Premier Women Alive.

Premier’s radio programs were, at one time in the mid-2010s, reaching nearly a quarter of a million people per week, with the average listener tuning in for over 10 hours a week. That’s pretty good brand engagement and reach, especially in a country like the UK, where Christian beliefs and teachings are sometimes persecuted by the government. In 2001, for example, they received a “yellow card” from the government for broadcasting content that was “offensive to people of other, non-Christian beliefs.”

They had to make some adjustments just to keep operating.

Nevertheless, even in a somewhat adversarial environment, Premier has become the dominant Christian media company in the UK, playing praise and worship music, broadcasting gospel presentations, reporting, writing, and hosting lively debates.

Where else, other than Justin Brierley’s Premier Christian Radio show “Unbelievable?” can you hear two accomplished scientists (one Christian, one explicitly anti-Christian) debating respectfully, or a Messianic Jew and a progressive Jewish rabbi debating the divinity of Christ, or to have a Christian and a non-Christian debate on the internal consistency of Christian beliefs?

Brierley is a great moderator, and he doesn’t shy from controversial topics whatsoever, but it is refreshing to hear real discussions happening with civility and grace.

There is plenty to be gleaned from the example and ministry of Premier Christian Communications, but to us, one thing stands out as most important:

It is possible to succeed in an adversarial environment.

Don’t misunderstand and take this as advice to take a lot of longshots in your business and to flout the market conditions when you begin. However, Premier’s example shows that even in a difficult space, with regulators breathing down your neck, with a shrinking target audience, and a shifting cultural landscape, you can still be faithful to your convictions, operate to the best of your abilities by the grace of God, and maybe even do quite well, if you’re lucky.

London isn’t a terribly Christian city anymore. But maybe Premier will help to change that someday.

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