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salary...

A

another_guy

Guest
Hello, new to the radio industry and was just wondering if there was a website or if you guys could tell me what the average salary is for certain parts of the radio biz. I know most people don't make a ton of money in radio, but just wondering what i can expect. For example, I am a production guy, so i am wondering what an assistant production director can expect to make at a small group and how much one can make at a big group like clear channel. and also how much production directors could look to make. any help would be great!
 
> Hello, new to the radio industry and was just wondering if
> there was a website or if you guys could tell me what the
> average salary is for certain parts of the radio biz. I
> know most people don't make a ton of money in radio, but
> just wondering what i can expect. For example, I am a
> production guy, so i am wondering what an assistant
> production director can expect to make at a small group and
> how much one can make at a big group like clear channel.
> and also how much production directors could look to make.
> any help would be great!
>
Hey Buddy, can you spare a dime????????<P ID="signature">______________
It's not the size of the tower.....
It's how you use it.
www.djpaulvan.com</P>
 
> > Hello, new to the radio industry and was just wondering if
>
> > there was a website or if you guys could tell me what the
> > average salary is for certain parts of the radio biz. I
> > know most people don't make a ton of money in radio, but
> > just wondering what i can expect. For example, I am a
> > production guy, so i am wondering what an assistant
> > production director can expect to make at a small group
> and
> > how much one can make at a big group like clear channel.
> > and also how much production directors could look to make.
>
> > any help would be great!
> >
> Hey Buddy, can you spare a dime????????
>
>
>
>I am not expert at this but from the way people on this particular board talk a majority of them in today's real world would only work part-time. I also hate to admit this but someone else mentioned this a while ago but radio is no longer a medium as it once was to advertise your business.Radio stations REALLY have to become more creative on getting the word out.

As for being a production voice good luck. It seems I hear the same voices over and over for different products.
 
> >I am not expert at this but from the way people on this
> particular board talk a majority of them in today's real
> world would only work part-time.

And that's simply because many radio stations hire part-timers to avoid paying benefits like insurance, vacation pay, sick days, etc. You'll definitely be expected to do the work that a full-timer does---but in half the time!


I also hate to admit this
> but someone else mentioned this a while ago but radio is no
> longer a medium as it once was to advertise your
> business.Radio stations REALLY have to become more creative
> on getting the word out.

Tell this to the "suits" who are getting paid the big bucks to streamline their staffs...and they'll either laugh at or ignore you! The reason many advertisers are pulling out of radio is because their product gets "lost in the spot clusters!" Who wants to spend their advertising budget at a radio station that 'buries' their commercial in a 4 or 5 minute stopset---between 2 station promos and a competitor? When 3 different car dealers are placed in the same spot cluster...what percentage of the radio audience HONESTLY LISTENS and CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE MESSAGE that the 2nd or 3rd car dealer is attempting to get across?
>
> As for being a production voice good luck. It seems I hear
> the same voices over and over for different products.

Because it's cheaper to hire an outside talent...instead of encouraging people who work 'inside a radio station' to experiment with a character voice, copy concept or something different aside from "stutter production?" Consider the number of times you've heard the same voice on back-to-back commercials? Or on a station promo followed by a commercial? Unless the announcer is able to alter his style of delivery or change his/her voice completely, most listeners can't tell the difference between one spot and the next!

argytunes
 
The following is based on information I've received from others. Feel free to chime in if I'm way off:

Using Rhode Island as an example:

Small Market such as a station in, say, North Kingstown Rhode Island... there would likely be no assistant production director, just a production director. Probably wearing multiple, multiple hats, and earning somewhere in the neighborhood of 25K... IF they were full time.

In a bigger market such as Providence, an assistant production director at, say, a Clear Channel, would likely be part time, wear multiple hats, and earn somewhere around 25-30K... IF they were full time.

A production director in Providence would likely earn 35K or so... IF they were full time.

In a major market such as Boston, an assistant production director would likely wear multiple hats and earn somewhere around 35K... IF they were full time.

A Production Director in Boston would likely earn 45K or so.

Am I way off?
 
> > Hello, new to the radio industry and was just wondering if
>
> > there was a website or if you guys could tell me what the
> > average salary is for certain parts of the radio biz. I
> > know most people don't make a ton of money in radio, but
> > just wondering what i can expect. For example, I am a
> > production guy, so i am wondering what an assistant
> > production director can expect to make at a small group
> and
> > how much one can make at a big group like clear channel.
> > and also how much production directors could look to make.
>
> > any help would be great!
> >
> Hey Buddy, can you spare a dime????????
>


Paul...waiting on a reply from an e-mail i sent you..please check
 
> The following is based on information I've received from
> others. Feel free to chime in if I'm way off:
>
> Using Rhode Island as an example:
>
> Small Market such as a station in, say, North Kingstown
> Rhode Island... there would likely be no assistant
> production director, just a production director. Probably
> wearing multiple, multiple hats, and earning somewhere in
> the neighborhood of 25K... IF they were full time.
>
> In a bigger market such as Providence, an assistant
> production director at, say, a Clear Channel, would likely
> be part time, wear multiple hats, and earn somewhere around
> 25-30K... IF they were full time.
>
> A production director in Providence would likely earn 35K or
> so... IF they were full time.
>
> In a major market such as Boston, an assistant production
> director would likely wear multiple hats and earn somewhere
> around 35K... IF they were full time.
>
> A Production Director in Boston would likely earn 45K or so.
>
>
> Am I way off?
>


No, sounds like you're about right. One exception might be in public radio, where there does tend to be more and better-paying jobs...but since public radio represents such a small segment of the radio industry, there's still very, very few jobs. Often you have to slave away as a parttimer for months or years before getting hired fulltime at perhaps $35-$45k. And that's in Boston, where $45k will barely get you by.

Some yahoo guest was on WBUR's OnPoint yesterday about outsourcing, and made an offhand reference to how media was mostly high-paying jobs and not being outsourced. I'm sure he got a lot of dirty looks from everyone in the control room (assuming he was even in the same studio).

Production work is not the way to go with radio these days; too easy to do everything remotely so the same small group of folks is doing it for every station in the country. There's no room for anyone new to get started.

Engineering, on the other hand, is booming - sort of. It's still a ton of work for little respect and never enough pay for all the work they expect you to do. But there are a lot of opportunities as there's a huge wave of retiring engineers across the country. Check it out:

http://www.current.org/jobs/

(scroll down to "technology jobs" - and this is just in public radio)
 
> The reason many advertisers are pulling out of
> radio is because their product gets "lost in the spot
> clusters!" W

Radio advertisers are pulling out?

That's news to me.

Most market revenue is (and has been) up.
 
> A Production Director in Boston would likely earn 45K or so.
>
> Am I way off?

I can't respond to the RI salaries, but I believe a Production Director in Boston would start at (at least) $55-60k.
 
> > The reason many advertisers are pulling out of
> > radio is because their product gets "lost in the spot
> > clusters!" W
>
> Radio advertisers are pulling out?
>
> That's news to me.
>
> Most market revenue is (and has been) up.

In Rhode Island....maybe??? Maybe it depends upon how much the average radio station is charging per spot? But I wonder if this is true for the 5 other New England states? I've certainly noticed a lot more 'promos' and 'barter ads' up in Maine and New Hampshire...during the average 3-5-minute spot clusters.

argytunes
 
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