First-of-its-kind research indexes audience response to 100+ scenes among 12,000+ Americans, giving filmmakers a data-driven roadmap for faith-inclusive content.
The Faith & Media Initiative (FAMI) today released findings from its landmark Faith & Entertainment Index conducted in partnership with HarrisX. The team conducted over 12,000 interviews with viewers about their reactions to more than 100 scenes featuring faith-related themes from contemporary film and television. Additionally, more than 38,000 social media comments related to these scenes were analyzed for insight.
“This research examines how audiences actually experience faith on screen,” said Brooke Zaugg, Executive Director of FAMI. “The data is clear: audiences respond to portrayals that feel honest, emotionally grounded, and with humor done well. What they reject is content that’s preachy or mocking. Getting faith right is a real business opportunity for Hollywood, and we look forward to sharing our findings at Sundance.”
This Index provides context to the scale of the opportunity: 92% of entertainment consumers – approximately 180 million potential viewers – say that faith has a role to play in modern entertainment and 77% believe that faith in mainstream entertainment can have broad appeal.
Notably, the findings reveal that the specific faith tradition depicted on screen matters less than the storytelling itself and the universal human experience reflected. Other highlights include:
• The top three performing scenes overall include content from popular TV shows “The Pitt”, “Young Sheldon”, and “Nobody Wants This,” exploring themes of integrity, doubt, divine design, and belonging.
•All generations see the potential for faith-rooted storytelling: Gen Z (79%), Millennials (83%), Gen X (78%) and Baby Boomers (72%) agree that faith themes can have broad appeal in mainstream content.
•That same view extends across party lines: Republicans (82%), Democrats (75%), and Independents (73%).
The study reveals that the tone and treatment determine whether faith content resonates or falls flat. Scenes that portray faith with sincerity, emotional authenticity, and vulnerability, woven organically into character and story, consistently connect with viewers. Audiences disengage when the content feels preachy, inaccurate, forced, or played for irony.
Perhaps most surprising, atheist and agnostic viewers showed the largest positive shift in attitudes after viewing mainstream faith-depicting scenes, with a 15-point increase in finding such content “appealing” and a 13-point increase in finding it “relatable,” far exceeding the overall population shifts.
“This research builds on our 2024 Faith and Entertainment Study, which first identified the size and appetite of the audience,” said Dritan Nesho, CEO of HarrisX, “now we’re giving filmmakers a clear research-backed roadmap, grounded in storytelling craft and real-world examples, for what kind of faith portrayals actually drive engagement. It includes an evaluation framework that the industry has never had before.”
The 2024 Faith and Entertainment Study identified a large, underserved audience who felt that the entertainment industry stereotypes faith. This year’s study shifts the conversation from demand to execution and analyzes what actually works on screen.
The full 2026 Faith and Entertainment Index Report is available at faithandmedia.com.
About the Faith & Media Initiative
The Faith & Media Initiative (FAMI) is a non-profit dedicated to ensuring more accurate, balanced representation of all faiths in entertainment and news by providing research to uncover opportunities, resources and tools to tackle the topic, and awards recognizing excellence. The engine behind FAMI is a global Coalition of individuals and organizations dedicated to achieving this important mission.
About HarrisX
HarrisX is a leading global research consultancy that conducts major market research, public policy polling and social science studies in more than 40 countries around the world. It is part of Stagwell Global and the sister company of the Harris Poll, which has conducted public release polling internationally since 1963.
Fetzer is a proud partner of The Faith & Media Initiative.