This data base contains over 2100 commercial and non-commercial religious radio stations in the USA and its possessions.  We guarantee this list can be run on your system. If you have any difficulties installing it, call the Radio Mall at (763) 522-6256 or 800-759-4561. If you received a file called "REL.TEX," it is an ASCII comma-delimited file. If you received a file called "REL.DBF," it is a dBase file. If you received a file called "REL.XLS," it is an Excel file.

We strongly suggest you make a back-up copy on disc before trying to import the file. PLEASE REVIEW THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOUR DATA BASE IF YOU NEED TO IMPORT THIS FILE. For most applications you'll begin by downloading our file to your hard drive. Be sure to note which folder (or directory) you download our file to. Then open your data base program. If you have a menu, it probably has a choice marked something like: "CREATE A NEW FILE" or "OPEN A NEW FILE," or "RETRIEVE A FILE." If so, select this option. At some point, there may be an option asking for the SOURCE of the new file, or allowing you to IMPORT data. You may need to enter the number and type of fields in each record (40.) We've made a notation in brackets [ ] to show you how many characters to allow per field. Depending on your data base, you may need to structure ZIP and ZIP+4 as character fields so the data base doesn't delete any zeros at the beginning of an entry. The field lengths are in brackets [ ].

FIELDS
Name         Type   Length  Decimals  Description  New or changed fields are in red.

COMPANY      Character  23       0 Call Letters Expanded and renamed from "STATION"
ADDRESS      Character  40       0
CITY         Character  21       0
STATE        Character  2        0
ZIP          Character  10       0 Combines ZIP and PLUS 4 into a single field
FORMAT       Character  21       0 Station's format i.e. Country, News/Talk, etc.
NOTES        Character  80       0 Includes info on duplicates. Expanded from 27
SIZE         Numeric    6        1 Arbitron markets used for 1-287
MARKET       Character  42       0 NEW: The actual name the top 349 markets, i.e. Chicago 
POWER        Numeric    8        0 Highest power output if simulcast
FREQ         Character  17       0 Frequency Expanded from 11
PHONE        Character  25       0 New area codes now corrected bi-monthly
FAX          Character  13       0 N= non-dedicated fax line
AUTO         Character  17       0 Full-time satellite or automated
RANK         Numeric    2        0 Intentionally left blank for easy merging with our commercial file
CDATE        Date       8        0 The date anything other than address was changed
CHANGE       Character  13       0 Type of change.  F=format C=call letters  
SHARE        Numeric    4        1 Intentionally left blank for easy merging with our commercial file
NUMBER       Numeric    5        0 Never-changing serial number used as a key field
DPBC         Character  2        0 Delivery Point for bar-coding
EMAIL        Character  42       0 A general email address
GM           Character  25       0 Station Manager's name
EMAILGM      Character  42       0 NEW: The Email address of the Station Manager*
PD           Character  25       0 Program Director's name
EMAILPD      Character  42       0 NEW: The Email address of the Program Director*
SM           Character  25       0 Fundraiser or Sales Manager's name
EMAILSM      Character  42       0 NEW: The Email address of the Fundraiser or Sales Manager*
CE           Character  25       0 Chief Engineer's name
EMAILCE      Character  42       0 NEW: The Email address of the Chief Engineer*
ND           Character  25       0 News Director's name
EMAILND      Character  42       0 NEW: The Email address of the News Director*
MD           Character  25       0 NEW: The name of the Music Director*
EMAILMD      Character  42       0 NEW: The Email address of the Music Director*
OWNER        Character  42       0 The company or college that owns the station. 
WEBSITE      Character  42       0 
COUNTY       Character  42       0 NEW: The county the station's address is in
LONGITUDE    Numeric    6        2 NEW: Degrees/Minutes for the mailing address
LATITUDE     Numeric    7        2 NEW: Degrees/Minutes for the mailing address
DISTRICT     Character  2        0 NEW: Congressional District
TIME         Numeric    2        0 NEW: Time Zone in hours behind Greenwich time
* Fields marked with an asterisk are still in development.

Commentary: Format definition is not an exact science. For example, Radio & Records, a very competent publication, no longer uses the classification of MOR. They classify WCCO in Minneapolis as an adult contemporary station. We strongly disagree with this classification. When WCCO does play music, it is almost never contemporary. We will continue to use the MOR designation for stations of this type. Also, be aware that many program director's perceptions of their own format is open to debate.

You will also notice some formats have a "`" after them. This is used for an in-house selective mailing.  In most data base programs, this symbol will not interfere with your format selection. If it causes a problem, please let us know.

Because Arbitron doesn't include non-commercial stations in its regular ratings, the "RANK" and "SHARE" fields are blank for non-commercial stations.  All non-commercial stations have a semi-colon (;) in the notes category. All college stations have a pound sign (#) in the notes category.

For the first 287 markets, Arbitron MSA (Metro Survey Area) rankings are used. Census data rankings are used for markets 288-387. The market size of a small percent of stations are marked end with ".5." This indicates they are not Arbitron rated markets. If the size ends in ".1," it means its market size is tied with another market. Many market sizes are listed as "555" or "666." "555" means the market has between 25,000-50,000 people in it. "666" means that the market is known to contain less than 25,000 people. Arbitron market sizes DO CHANGE. If you've saved a search or filter using specific size numbers, be sure to confirm that you're getting the same markets when you re-use the filter.

If several stations are at the same address with the same owners, but are not simulcast, we create a separate record for each station and we mark the second station (usually the AM) as a "DUPE" and the third station as "DUPE3," etc. This is entered in the notes category. However, because this file contains only religious stations, you should ignore the "dupe" designation. Some Christian stations are part of a chain of stations that may include secular formats. Because those formats have been removed from this list a station marked "dupe" on this list may or may not be the only one at that address. 

 We also keep various notes here, including info on format and call letter changes. Most of the codes and info (other than "DUPE") will be of no use to you, but if you are curious about a specific note, please let us know. We also keep a station's previous call letters here.

Here at RADIO MALL headquarters, this data base is a living, breathing thing. Like a small baby, it needs to be changed and fed quite often. We make hundreds of changes every month just in the ADDRESS, CALL LETTER and FORMAT categories. The accuracy of this data deteriorates rapidly over time. If you mail to this list the week you get it, you should get fewer than 1% returns. If you mail to this same list (without updating it) 12 months from now, you'll probably be looking at 8% returns. The format accuracy will be even less and many of the call letters will be wrong. We've priced our updates so they will usually cost you less than the wasted postage, printing and address correction fees you will pay for using the wrong addresses. And you'll save hours of data entry time, too. We suggest you obtain an update before each large mailing (but never more than one a month.) If you plan on updating the info yourself, be sure every piece you mail contains an "CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED" endorsement. The fine folks at the postal service's mailing requirement's department will be glad to explain the different needs for First Class and bulk mailings. For example, if you mail by bulk mail without this endorsement, and the address is wrong, they will throw your piece in the garbage. We mail over 50,000 pieces every year using our own lists. We spend hundreds of dollars on address corrections, and it keeps our lists accurate. In summary, whether you purchase our updates, or do it yourself, it REALLY MUST BE DONE!

FAX AND EMAIL ADDRESSES 

Please note that you should remove all duplicate FAX and Email addresses prior to using this file for those purposes. There are hundreds of stations that share the same FAX line with their sister stations. In some cases one FAX number is shared by 6 or 7 stations and you do not want to send them 7 copies of the same FAX. If you are unsure how to remove them with your software, call us within 30 days of your purchase and we will create customized files for an extra $25. Unsolicited FAX advertising may be contrary to FCC law and other laws. Press releases are currently legal. Also note that there can be duplicate email addresses within one station.  At smaller stations, one person often wears several hats. If the GM is also the SM and PD, that email address will appear 3 times in one record. If it's a cluster of 5 stations, that email address will appear 15 times. We do not recommend sending 15 email messages to the same email address! Be sure to use blind carboning (BCC) on all email! If you're not sure what this means, please call us! We are not lawyers, but our understanding of the CAN-SPAM act is that all unsolicited email ads must comply with the following:
1: You must provide a valid return email address.
2. The subject line of your email must be honest. If it's and ad, please make that clear in the subject line.
3. Your physical mailing address must appear in the email.
4. You must provide an easy way for the person to be removed from your email list.  We believe the following statement would suffice:

To be removed from our email list, simply reply to this email with the word "REMOVE" in the subject line. 

WE'RE CASS CERTIFIED!!! 

This list is now CASS CERTIFIED! If you need the CASS certification sheet, send us your FAX number and we'll get it to you. If you plan on bar-coding your mail, you'll still need special software to do so. You or your mailing house will also have to sort the mail according to the latest postal regulations. The reward is that you can now mail to this list at 22 cents postage if you jump through these hoops. We reluctantly recommend "My Professional Mail Manager" (1-800-325-3508.) It doesn't do everything we'd like it to, but it's the least expensive solution out there (under $200), and makes the mail easier to sort. We're using a $2000 a year program (Mailer's+4 800-800-MAIL) which also updates area codes 6 times a year. There is no longer a dash at the beginning of the Z_4 (zip plus 4) field. Be sure to insert this in your mailing label templates.

This list is (C) Copyright 2005, The Radio Mall. Your company and its legal subsidiaries may have unlimited in-house use of this list. It is not copy-protected and you may duplicate it for your company's own use. You may not sell, rent, loan, or otherwise furnish it to other entities. It may NOT be used to mail or FAX another company's materials or fliers. In the event of personnel changes, the rights to use this list will be restricted to the individual or company that originally made payment for the list, unless a company provides proof that they reimbursed a former employee for the list. The data may not be reproduced for resale in any form or posted to a web site or ftp site.. This data is "seeded" with the addresses of Radio Mall agents to ensure that the list is not being illegally reproduced. If you have any questions about these restrictions, please write us at: 2412 Unity Ave. N., Minneapolis, MN 55422.

COMMERCIAL U.S. RADIO, U.S. TELEVISION AND CANADIAN RADIO LISTS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE. TO ORDER THOSE LISTS BY CREDIT CARD, PHONE OR FAX (763) 522-6256.  IF YOU PLACE AN ORDER, BE SURE AND MENTION YOU HEARD ABOUT RADIO MALL FROM CHRISTIANRADIO.COM.