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Radio News Salaries Largely Flat

Median news director salary is $37,000, according to RTDNA survey

Radio news salaries have remained largely flat, up by only 1.2% over last year.

So says Hofstra journalism professor Bob Papper in the latest segment of the Radio Television Digital News Association survey of broadcast newsroom profitability, 2012 TV and Radio News Staffing and Profitability Survey.

With inflation at 2.9% in 2011, radio news staffers actually lost ground in real wages. The median radio news director salary last year was $37,000, though the range was a low of $12,000 to a high of $100,000, according to the findings.

The median salary for a radio reporter was $34,500, with a minimum of $12,000 and a maximum of $110,000. Anchors make more, with the findings showing a median salary of $40,000 and a low of $25,000 and a high of $180,000.

Historically, the larger the market, the higher the salary, Papper writes, however there’s no consistent pattern to salaries based on how many stations a news director oversees. Overall, radio salaries are highest in the Northeast.

Both average and median salaries are up about $3,000 from a year ago, however the increase is a reflection of the stations that did “what little hiring that took place,” according to Papper.

The survey includes responses from a total of 260 radio news directors and general managers.

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