A new survey of 1,300 local television news directors produced by RTDNA and Hofstra University paints a mixed picture of the staffing and spending patterns in local television news.
According to Fact Tank at Pew Research, the overall number of staff working in local TV newsrooms declined slightly in 2013, and salaries for on-air anchors and reporters stagnated. At the same time, news budgets were generally higher last year, and more stations than ever are now airing regular newscasts.
Total newsroom employment was down for local television in 2013, and the biggest stations were hit the hardest. The survey identified 27,300 full-time jobs in local television news — down about 400 jobs from 2012. The steepest drop in staffing levels occurred in the 25 biggest TV markets, where the median number of full-time employees dropped by 11%. But the median staff size for all local stations in the survey was unchanged from 2012 to 2013, at 31 employees.
Salaries for on-air staffers were flat. The median salary for a news anchor dropped from $64,000 in 2012 to 62,500 last year. Meteorologists’ salaries were almost the same, at $55,500, in 2013 and $55,000 in 2012. But they are down from $60,000 in 2011. Sports anchors earned the same pay — $45,000 — in each of the past three years. News reporters saw a slight uptick — from $30,000 in 2012 to $31,000 in 2013 — but they earned $32,000 in 2011. The staffers who saw the largest increase in pay (10%) in 2013 were the stations’ graphic specialists, highlighting the growing value of those skilled at producing better storytelling TV visuals.
Read More Now
Correction to the headline should read;
ReplyDelete"Radio as an entertainment medium described as flat"