Radio Newsroom Investment 2006 Annual Report Radio Salaries
The RTNDA/Ball State University annual news director survey showed that radio news salaries as a whole climbed 3.2% from 2003 to 2004.6 The increase, however, was largely for senior positions. The median salary jumped $13,000 for news producers and $9,000 for news directors. The salary for a radio news reporter increased just slightly to $24,500, while news anchor salaries dropped by $2,000 to $26,000.7
And as Papper points out, the numbers could be skewed by the fact that there are fewer news producers. Radio news salaries for the most part also still sit below those of television. Radio news directors make less than half what their television counterparts do, $33,000 versus $73,000, according to the RTNDA/Ball State survey. So do radio news anchors, $26,000 versus $55,500. The difference is not as great between reporters — $24,500 for radio and $30,000 for television. Radio news producers are the lone standouts, making $38,000, $8,000 more than those in television.8
And what about the effects of newsrooms serving more than one station? Does the staff benefit financially from the added responsibility? The answer seems only to a certain degree. News directors serving two stations earn more than those serving one, but they also earn more than those serving three. The same holds true for reporters. Anchors, though, seem better served by sticking with just one station.
And when it comes to size, larger newsrooms tend to provide higher salaries, with the exception of news directors at two-man operations. A staff of three or five or more suggests, then, a station that places a higher premium — and therefore a larger budget — on its news operation.
It’s difficult, however, to parse much more of a trend than this out of the raw numbers. Salaries fluctuate by job description, with news directors making slightly more money when they work for group-owned stations but reporters making less. News producers earn more money at group-owned stations, but sports reporters do better at independents. The salary changes between 2003 and 2004 at group-owned stations show that news directors are making more but anchors and reporters are making less. Producers and sports reporters are making more but sports anchors are making less. The bottom line is there is no way to infer from the data whether radio news salaries are affected by whether a station is group or independently owned.
Radio Newsroom Investment |
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