As pop radio stations continues to ditch year-end programming and resort to more conventional playlists, Hozier’s “Take Me to Church” is gaining a considerably greater presence in the spotlight.
According to Mediabase’s January 9 rolling update, it is now one of the pop format’s five most-played songs.
Hozier’s breakthrough alternative crossover commanded 11,253 spins during the week between January 2 and 8. Up 1,312 from the prior week’s total, it ranks as the pop format’s 5th-greatest spin count. Only Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” (17,667), Nick Jonas’ “Jealous” (15,369), Ariana Grande & The Weeknd’s “Love Me Harder” (14,862) and Sam Smith’s “I’m Not the Only One” (13,616) commanded more weekly airplay.
With Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk (featuring Bruno Mars)” hot on its heels (10,998), “Take Me to Church” is not a lock to retain its top five spot through the official airplay update on Sunday evening. It is, however, undoubtedly resonating with pop programmers.
The multi-format hit remains the #2 song at alternative radio, the #4 track at hot adult contemporary and the #17 recording at adult contemporary.