TheWeekend 22 (abbreviated asW22) is aChristian musiccountdown. It is a syndicated show that is broadcast nationwide in the United States and heard in over 150 cities across the country. The show is produced and syndicated worldwide by Amped Creative.Christian Care Ministry'sMedi-Share is the main sponsor for the show.
The countdown is based on the play lists found onChristian CHR radio stations across the U.S. It was based on theR&R charts until the magazine was folded intoBillboard magazine in 2009. Jeremy "JGonzo" Gonzalez started out as the host in June 2002. Josh Ashton took over as host in August 2008. The current producer is Jason Burrows and the current executive producers are Ken Farley (owner of Amped Creative) and Brandon Rahbar. Research and script is provided by Rachael Jamison. JGonzo's wife Kathy "KJ" Gonzalez is the former announcer of the music news segments. The current music news contributor is Rachael James.
Amped Creative also created and produced a countdown show for Christian AC stations calledThe Weekend Top 20, which is also executively produced by Ken Farley and Brandon Rahbar. While Rachael Jamison handles music news on 20WT, Wes Shattler handles the research script. 20WT is hosted by Kurt Wallace.
Weekend 22 is similar to20 the Countdown, both counting down the most popular songs on Christian radio. However, while20 the Countdown Magazine used theBillboardChristian Songs as its source,Weekend 22 used the weeklyChristian CHR airplay-based survey produced byRadio & Records. It would eventually switch to theBillboard Christian pop songs chart in 2009 after R&R folded into that magazine.
Music News: In the middle of each half of the countdown, W22 introduces a segment featuring the latest Christian music news. Kathy "KJ" Gonzalez was the former music news coordinator, later replaced by the current coordinator, Rachael James.
Future Hits: In the middle of a segment of the countdown (usually songs 13-12 and/or songs 4-3), the countdown is paused to introduce to listeners a song that might become a future hit on the countdown (hence the name). It may be a new song that has debuted on the Christian CHR chart below the top 22, or it may be a new song that has received airplay on Christian hit radio but has yet to chart. During the holiday season, the "Future Hits" segments are replaced by "Christmas Song" segments where they introduce a new Christmas song.
Special Feature: Every once in a while, one of the "Future Hits" segments will be replaced by a segment where they play a song that was requested from a listener that has touched their lives. The Weekend 22 hotline is+1 (800) 761-HITS (4487).
Closing: The final segment of each countdown features the top two songs on the survey. After playing the #1 song of the week, the host will read the show's credits and sign off with "have a great weekend... or what's left of it".
In 2003, Amped Creative added a second countdown show. With Christian pop radio in decline, and manyWeekend 22 affiliates having aChristian adult contemporary format, Amped Creative launchedWeekend Top 25 in November 2003, as a two-hour, 25-song countdown (reduced to 20 in June 2006), using theRadio & Records Christian AC chart, eventually switched to theBillboard Christian AC chart after R&R folded into that magazine.
Lisa Williams started out as the host in November 2003. Scott Smith took over as host sometime in 2005. The current host, Kurt Wallace, took over sometime in 2007.
As on the parent program,Weekend Top 20 concludes its years with an annual special featuring the top hits of the year. It featured a twenty-five song countdown from 2003 to 2005, reduced to twenty beginning in 2006.
The songs that finished the year atop the charts are as follows:
^In 2020,Billboard did not publish an official Christian CHR year-end list. The countdown was instead based on data gathered by the producers ofWeekend 22.
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