An "Amazing" Career that pays squatt

[ClarkKent]

We've now been relegated to stealing used station branded pens from the coffee mug in the control room. You know the mug I'm talking about? It's the one that also has a couple of sticky pennies, a few paper clips, a dry highlighter, and a couple of stretched out rubber bands.

That mug must be standard issue along with a station's FCC license, because I do know the mug you're talking about.


You're scarin' me, man... ;D

 

[The Beave]

We've now been relegated to stealing used station branded pens from the coffee mug in the control room. You know the mug I'm talking about? It's the one that also has a couple of sticky pennies, a few paper clips, a dry highlighter, and a couple of stretched out rubber bands.

That mug must be standard issue along with a station's FCC license, because I do know the mug you're talking about.


You're scarin' me, man... ;D

So do I in a big way now that Aircheck Tapes have disappeared from most studios.

 

[Bob_Hudson]

These numbers come from a link (in one of the above articles) to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics: (and note to forum moderators: this is a government website so it's public domain info) - http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos087.htm

Salaries in broadcasting vary widely, but generally are relatively low, except for announcers who work for large stations in major markets or for networks. Earnings are higher in television than in radio and higher in commercial broadcasting than in public broadcasting.

Median hourly earnings of wage and salary radio and television announcers in May 2006 were $11.69. The middle 50 percent earned between $8.10 and $18.62. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $6.55, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $32.98. Median hourly earnings of announcers in the radio and television broadcasting industry were $11.52.

Median hourly earnings of wage and salary public address and other system announcers in May 2006 were $12.02. The middle 50 percent earned between $8.41 and $19.38. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $6.73 and the highest 10 percent earned more than $29.69.

What's interestin is that line about earnings being "higher in commercial broadcasting than in public broadcasting." I would bet that if you factored out the high-paid morning shows in commercial radio you might find that public broadcasting announcers in may markets are doing better than their average commercial radio brethern in the same market and compare them with radio news people (such as they are these days). Here in San Diego I doubt there's a radio news anchor making much more than $30,000 a year. When I worked my last AFTRA union news job in San Diego I was making the exact same amount as I did 20 years before - same union, same market, and Metro News got rid my myself and two others because our $3,000 a month was just too much to pay an experienced newscaster in the 21st Century.

Are you serious Bob? Only $30k in San Diego!?

If that.... I don't have any exact numbers but I did find some in an article which quotes from one of my old San Diego radio bosses (back when the money was good): John Mainelli, who later went on to be a big time New York City radio boss. The article is from the American Journalism Review and specificially mentions the impact of Metro Networks in Orlando, which probably is not very different from San Diego in terms of salaries (San Diego is a little bigger market, but has always been low-paying):

The way things are going, "I would not encourage parents to let their children go into radio news," says consultant Mainelli.

Radio's notoriously low salaries are partly to blame, some say. In New York, radio reporters can make $50,000, top anchors as much as $100,000. But those jobs are rare. In Orlando, radio reporters generally make $20,000 to $25,000 a year. And when Metro hired at least one of WWNZ's former newspeople, the reporter had to take a pay cut.

You can read the rest of that at http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=1327

Someone in a post above mentioned his happy wonderful 29 years or whatever in radio news. I'd like to introduce him so some of many many old colleagues who had similar experiences until the boss came in and announced that a news reader from Metro would now be doing his job and oh, by the way, "good luck." The consolidation of news into one or two low paid operations in many markets means that there is no longer anywhere to go once your station says "bye bye." And even if you are the rare AFTRA newscaster, the prospect of a $500 a month pension check at age 65 does not help when you are on the streets at 50 nd there simply is no more work in your field. It's sad for me to listen to local radio, especially at night, and hear guys who are great talents, my age, doing traffic reports for peanuts. I long ago decided that if you want to be in radio, only do morning radio and then when you get off the air, spend the rest of the day learning another skill so you are not totally dependent on radio.

 

[Bob_Hudson]

Yeah, but what about all the stuff? You guys get free t-shirts, hats, event tickets and all kinds of other swag. That has to count for something...

When I first started in radio the joke was, "It pays $500 a month and all the records you can steal." In the early 70's I worked at stations that used to get half-a-dozen copies of every album released, whether it was their format or not (oil was cheap and the records companies were quite generous with the vinyl recordings) and a lot of PD's and MD's supplemented their incomes by selling records to local stores - I used to swap them for beer: I'd go to the local dive with a pool table with an armful of records I knew some of the guys there would like and that was good for free beers for a week. And when I worked in Great Falls, Montana the PD and I used to swap PSA's (public service announcements) for free phone calls. Long distance calls were very expensive back then and the local Army recruiters were having a heck of a time getting free PSA's (and radio stations ran tons of PSA's then) because the federal government had recently stopped buying any recruitment ads under the theory that radio and TV stations, as users of the public airwaves, should provide the for free. Well, the backlash had the opposite effect. But the local recruiters (who we met while playing pool) let us come into their office near our studios to make as many phone calls as we wanted on the government telephone system, and of course we gave them a generous helping of free airtime. Since myself and the PD were constantly trying to find jobs elsewhere, the free phone service was a real perk.

 

[JackieSteele]

We've now been relegated to stealing used station branded pens from the coffee mug in the control room. You know the mug I'm talking about? It's the one that also has a couple of sticky pennies, a few paper clips, a dry highlighter, and a couple of stretched out rubber bands.

That mug must be standard issue along with a station's FCC license, because I do know the mug you're talking about.


You're scarin' me, man... ;D

Ah, the infamous icky mug. In our studio, it's a green Higgins Hillcrest Chapel Funeral Home mug. LOL

 

[tlyle]

Not to mention you get the perks of having furry friends in the control room with you called rodents. When I was dating my wife, she came to the radio station and was surprised one night in the restroom by one of those friends. I heard a loud scream all the way in the control room. Freaked her out. Yes, this was a fringe benefit at a small station in ATL where I was making $3.50 an hour 20 years ago. Rodents were eating all our snacks and chewing up album covers. Owner tried to barter with an exterminator. Don't remember if he was successful.

 

[X-14]

I'm one of those radio lifers who has been in and out of the business since 1975. Like many of you I remember when it was really fun and even though you only made $5 or $6/hour, we were still young, living at home, and gas was about .35/gallon. We'd grab our stack of vinyl, be sure there was an extra long cut cued up for the bathroom break, and stack up all the 4-tracks for the night's spotload.

I mentioned earlier about parlaying my way into a modestly successful voiceover career. The hardest thing I had to do was to forget EVERYTHING I ever learned in radio. Successful v/o artists don't sound like radio announcers. Clients don't want that anymore. I still do some p/t radio work purely because I enjoy it and it will always be in my blood, but certainly not for the money. I make more now sitting at home doing voiceovers and shooting out the .mp3s than I ever did in radio.

For those wanting to make the leap, here are a couple of interesting voiceover forums you may want to check out:

http://voiceoversavvy.com/index.php

http://voice-overs.com/forum/

Best wishes to all of my fellow jocks!

 

[FloydB]

We've now been relegated to stealing used station branded pens from the coffee mug in the control room. You know the mug I'm talking about? It's the one that also has a couple of sticky pennies, a few paper clips, a dry highlighter, and a couple of stretched out rubber bands.

That mug must be standard issue along with a station's FCC license, because I do know the mug you're talking about.


You're scarin' me, man... ;D

Ah, the infamous icky mug. In our studio, it's a green Higgins Hillcrest Chapel Funeral Home mug. LOL

That thing is standard in any Master Control, whether it's radio, TV, satellite or cable. In EVERY master control room I've worked (oh yeah, you can count production control rooms, too) that cup was there, and only one pen out of the thousand in the cup worked!

Hey X-14, thanks for the links. I've been trying to get into doing VOs as well. I get occasional work, but not enough to call it a "profession" as of yet. Like the rest of us, I need all the help I can get! :

 

[JackieSteele]

Not to mention you get the perks of having furry friends in the control room with you called rodents.

We always called them sales staff. ;D Just kidding.

But, to give you a little war story from the history of our station:

Four Words... Possum. In. The. Rack.

I think it was Chris East who dealt with that one.

 

[tlyle]

Did anyone get paid with bartered goods rather than a paycheck? My owner got cash strapped a couple of times and tried to pay the employees with hotel stays, food, tickets, and free records. Anyone else experiance this. What was the weirdest bartered item you received?

 

[The Beave]

My raise was all barter - Winnipeg Jets Hockey weekends (1990) in Canada, Concert passes, Gas/Food Trade, 1/2 my rent paid to live in an apartment rental. Along with my pay - 18K/yr. (1990 money) Brunch (Delivered) on Sunday mornings, Courtesy of a local restraunt for 2 of us staffers. GOD I MISS THAT JOB!! :'(

 

[Mike Lee TN]

I would be one of the guys who pines for the "good old days." I promised I'd never be this way, but it happened a few months ago when I said in a meeting, "I wish every one of you punks could do a real "show" with turntables, carts, editing phone calls on a reel to reel." It's true though. While its great to be off on holidays and weekends because of computer automation, there is a reason it was called the "good old days."

None the less, after starting out in full-time 30 years ago this summer, I'm still at it. Back in the late '80s while working in Atlanta I made the decision that major market was not for me anymore. I had stops in my home town of Phoenix, Denver, San Diego and Tucson before Atlanta. I moved up the road to Cleveland, TN (near Chattanooga) back in 1994. I was making about the least I'd made in my radio life. Almost 15 years later I am still doing what I love and I'm making a very comfortable living for the area. I've never regretted my market "downsizing."

All that to say I think the days of market jumping are well over. If you invest years in a market and make yourself very visible in it, it can still be an enjoyable and semi-profitable living. God knows it beats roofing.

Hey, Beave...I had a gig like that in Phoenix working on a pea-shooter country FM. Rent was traded out, meals, gas, etc. Salary was 19K but I was living like a king. A local watering hole even gave us jocks free drinks to come hang out at his place. It was great fun.

 

[partyshark]

Thanks for the links X-14. After 16 years in this business, I am looking for something comparable to get me out. I have my home studio almost complete, waiting on a processor, and have a few "clients" lined up. I started doing some voice stuff almost a year ago and got interested in it. Now I can't wait til I can do it full time and walk out the radio door...at least full time anyway...radio will always be my mistress I think.

 

[olebud]

I had to jump in on this. I started the journey in 1965 here in Nashville with studios in the only 30 story building in town --- great view -- free parking --- and $70 a week.

After a couple of moves, 8 years later after 3 years as an anchor/reporter I was offered the ND job and a raise of $10 a week. When told that would put me into a higher tax bracket, I took the job and a $7 raise instead in order to have more party money in my pocket. I never asked the hours --and only asked about the pay to be sure it payed the bills, and have seldom been disappointed -- though not in the big bucks catagory.

I could retire, but am working a 32 hour Mon-Fri shift ---not on the air --and having too much fun to call it quits. It's been a great ride and wouldn't trade it for anything.
But after all this rambling -- would I advise my kids to follow me. NO, I don't think there's that much fun available any longer.

Buddy Sadler - Nashville

 

[The Beave]

I would be one of the guys who pines for the "good old days." I promised I'd never be this way, but it happened a few months ago when I said in a meeting, "I wish every one of you punks could do a real "show" with turntables, carts, editing phone calls on a reel to reel." It's true though. While its great to be off on holidays and weekends because of computer automation, there is a reason it was called the "good old days."

None the less, after starting out in full-time 30 years ago this summer, I'm still at it. Back in the late '80s while working in Atlanta I made the decision that major market was not for me anymore. I had stops in my home town of Phoenix, Denver, San Diego and Tucson before Atlanta. I moved up the road to Cleveland, TN (near Chattanooga) back in 1994. I was making about the least I'd made in my radio life. Almost 15 years later I am still doing what I love and I'm making a very comfortable living for the area. I've never regretted my market "downsizing."

All that to say I think the days of market jumping are well over. If you invest years in a market and make yourself very visible in it, it can still be an enjoyable and semi-profitable living. God knows it beats roofing.

Hey, Beave...I had a gig like that in Phoenix working on a pea-shooter country FM. Rent was traded out, meals, gas, etc. Salary was 19K but I was living like a king. A local watering hole even gave us jocks free drinks to come hang out at his place. It was great fun.

Mike, What I had was in Grand Forks - Then market #292. Yes I remember phones on the reel, Turntables, and carts.

Wasn't life great? And AAAAHHHHHHHH! Tradio - What would life be without it.

 

[12 In a Row]

Ahhhh, the good ole days. Ever notice as days go by, we all suffer from selective memory.

Reality check:

Cue burns on the records.
Need to replace a needle at 5 am, only to find the box is EMPTY
Forgetting to put the turntable back to 45 rpm's. Record starts REAL SLOWWWWWWW.
Mis-cued carts
3 cart decks in the studio. It's the weekend and two aren't working
Editing spots and promos took MUCH longer than today. Pencils, razors, splicing tape. YUK

It's the weekend and you have important plans right after your shift. You can't leave because the p.t. guy never showed.
Hot summer weekend and you're stuck at the station with a broken air conditioner.
While the rest of the world enjoys 8-10 holidays off a year, you get to pick one. Christmas or New Years

All this and poverty.

It was fun for awhile, sure glad I got out when I did. LOVE the new gig and 3X the money.

 

[Twitch]

Ahhhh, the good ole days. Ever notice as days go by, we all suffer from selective memory.

Reality check:

Cue burns on the records.
Need to replace a needle at 5 am, only to find the box is EMPTY
Forgetting to put the turntable back to 45 rpm's. Record starts REAL SLOWWWWWWW.
Mis-cued carts
3 cart decks in the studio. It's the weekend and two aren't working
Editing spots and promos took MUCH longer than today. Pencils, razors, splicing tape. YUK

It's the weekend and you have important plans right after your shift. You can't leave because the p.t. guy never showed.
Hot summer weekend and you're stuck at the station with a broken air conditioner.
While the rest of the world enjoys 8-10 holidays off a year, you get to pick one. Christmas or New Years

All this and poverty.

It was fun for awhile, sure glad I got out when I did. LOVE the new gig and 3X the money.

It's fellas like you that make me REALLY appreciate how good us "new kids" have it today. Trust me, I take NOTHING for granted. Although, I know some kids younger and less experience than ME who have ZERO appreciation for how good we've got it now. Sad, really.

The one thing, however, that IS the same? The poverty. Unless you're Ryan Cameron, Steve McCoy, or Neal Boortz (and the like), that seems to be the one constant.

 

[The Beave]

Twitch,

It hasn't changed a bit. Some small rated markets STILL pay their overnighters $1,000.00 per month before taxes to do 12 hours. :'(

Really sad isn't it, the thing is there are people out there who will still take it... just to be in radio.

 

[Team Zoom]

After reading all these posts I am now officially on suicide watch. Just take my belt and shoelaces now dammit! Somebody better watch me shave or else I might try to go see Jesus!

 

[Twitch]

After reading all these posts I am now officially on suicide watch. Just take my belt and shoelaces now dammit! Somebody better watch me shave or else I might try to go see Jesus!

I was going to suggest you give up your neck ties as well, but since you're in radio, it's not likely that you own any.