How to advertise on Wretched Radio with Todd Friel: what it costs, who buys, and how to book

Wretched Radio with Todd Friel sells its host-read inventory on a quoted, per-campaign basis, not off a public rate card, and Spotsnow attributes almost all of its tracked ad activity to direct response. The anchor advertiser has run roughly 135 to 160 ads on the feed, and the audience is an estimated 140,000 listeners. For a buyer, that mix reads clearly: this is a coded-offer feed built to move a specific action, not a reach-and-forget placement. Spotsnow estimates all of this from tracked advertiser activity, not audience surveys. Read the full Wretched Radio with Todd Friel profile for the underlying numbers.

Why Wretched Radio is built for host-read direct response

Todd Friel is a veteran Christian broadcaster, a former secular TV and radio personality turned host of Wretched TV and Radio, and Executive Director of Fortis Institute. The show sits in religion and spirituality, and it treats the ad break like an extension of the program.

Spotsnow data shows the direct-response share is near total. That matters because direct response lives on attribution: a code, a URL, a named app to download. A near-total DR mix tells you the reads here are written to be tracked, and the buyers keep coming back because the tracking works. Spotsnow estimates the show reaches roughly 140,000 listeners, and that figure is an estimate, not an audited count.

The format is what makes it convert. Friel's daily talk-show cadence, live witnessing segments, and running commentary hold attention through the break rather than cueing listeners to skip. A host-read borrows that attention. When the same voice that just walked you through a theology point hands off to an offer, the offer carries the same trust. That's the mechanic a DR buyer is paying for here.

Influence backs it up. The show holds an Apple Podcasts rating of 4.8 across roughly 2,800 to 3,300 ratings, per Spotsnow, and its YouTube channel carries roughly 645,000 subscribers with roughly 73,000 on Instagram. The pull is strong and concentrated on video and in the feed itself, where the daily audience actually lives.

Who is advertising on Wretched Radio

The roster is dominated by Christian ministry and education brands, many of them the show's own Fortis and Wretched network properties. The most recognizable names include The Master's University, Fortis Plus, Fortis Institute, Way of Manhood, and Biblical Science Institute.

The anchor advertisers, broken down

Fortis Plus (fortisplus.org)

Fortis Plus is the ministry's streaming platform, serving Wretched TV, Wretched Worldview, and related teaching content free on app and web. Spotsnow data shows it has run roughly 135 to 160 ads on the show, with estimated total spend over $500K, classified direct response. It fits because the audience is already the target user: give a loyal listener a free app that deepens what they tune in for daily, and the download is a short jump.

Fortis Plus (fortisinstitute.org)

This Fortis Institute property drives the subscription and Insider side of the same ecosystem. Spotsnow data shows roughly 90 to 105 ads on the feed, estimated total spend over $400K, classified direct response. It works for the same reason: the read asks a warm listener to sign up for daily exclusive content from a source they already trust.

The Master's University

The Master's University is a conservative Christian university recruiting students and building program awareness. Spotsnow data shows roughly 48 to 56 ads on the show, estimated total spend over $250K, classified direct response. A doctrinally aligned school reaching a middle-aged, mostly male Christian audience is fishing where the parents and prospective students already are.

All spend figures are Spotsnow estimates.

Why religion and spirituality brands cluster here

This is a show that funds itself. The heaviest spenders are the ministry's own properties, and that's the tell an outside buyer should read: when the operator's own products keep buying the feed at over $400K to over $500K in estimated spend, they've decided the reads pay for themselves. Friel's authority is the reason. He isn't a rented voice reading a script; he's the doctrinal center of the audience's day, and a conservative Christian listener who trusts him on theology extends that trust to a school, an app, or a book he vouches for. The mindset is loyal and buys on conviction. That's why aligned ministry, education, and family brands land here and why a mismatched product would not.

How your ad could sound

This host-read closes a daily news segment and hands straight into the offer. What works: the handoff is warm and in-voice, the signature sign-off ("go serve your king") ties the brand to the host's personality, and the ask is concrete, download the app or sign up as an Insider. It sounds like the show, which is the whole point of buying a host-read.

Two things would tighten it. The read offers two destinations at once, download versus become an Insider, which splits the listener's next move instead of pointing at one. And there's no urgency or promo hook to make acting now feel better than acting later. A single clean destination and one reason to move today would lift the response. View what a great sample ad looks like here.

What makes a show like this convert

1. The format carries the offer. Host-reads inside a daily talk format keep listeners through the break, so the ask lands in the same voice they came for.
2. Host credibility transfers. Todd Friel is the doctrinal authority his audience tunes in for daily, and that trust extends to what he endorses.
3. The audience is aligned and loyal. Spotsnow describes a mostly male, middle-aged, middle to upper-middle income listenership concentrated in the US, and it buys on shared conviction.
4. Repeat buying proves the math. The anchor advertiser has run roughly 135 to 160 ads on the feed, and brands don't rebuy at that rate unless the coded response holds up.

Wretched Radio in a nutshell

Wretched Radio reaches an estimated 140,000 listeners who skew male, middle-aged, and are heavily concentrated in the US. The buyers already on the feed are Christian ministry and education brands, Fortis Plus, Fortis Institute, and The Master's University, mostly on trackable host-reads. The show sells direct through the Fortis Institute and Wretched Network organization on a quoted, per-campaign basis. If your objective is coded, attributable direct response to a loyal conservative Christian audience, it fits; if you need broad awareness with no offer attached, it's a weaker match.