Study: Radio More Competitive In Attracting Sales Reps

The study’s findings provide useful insights that help radio owners, operators, and managers develop competitive compensation packages and sharpen their budgeting process. Notable data on sellers’ earnings reveals that 27.5% of stations surveyed have sellers earning $150,000+ while only 12.6% have their highest seller earning what is also the radio station average of $40,000 to $59,000.

“Recruiting and hiring the best candidates is crucial to generating revenue success,” observed Laurie Kahn, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Media Staffing Network. “It all starts with the recruitment process and culminates in offering compensation packages that compete successfully in the current marketplace. With relocation extremely difficult, stations need to recruit more in their markets, often out of radio. We’re grateful to Radio Ink for their support in delivering this important study to radio. I look forward to partnering again next year so we can track changes in the compensation of sellers going forward.”

“It’s imperative that radio understands how to remain competitive in today’s low unemployment landscape and combat the attraction of digital media for younger demos that are just entering the workforce,” stated said Deborah Parenti, Executive Vice President/Publisher, Radio Ink. “We partnered with MSN on this valuable study to help radio understand and respond to the current employment marketplace.”

Laurie Kahn

The 2019 Radio Sales Compensation Study can be downloaded for free here. MSN and Radio Ink will continue to conduct a Radio Sellers Compensation Study annually to provide radio broadcasters with comparative year-to-year data as recruitment and compensation packages evolve.

Over a three-week period, The Radio Sales Compensation Study surveyed 334 respondents, of which 72.5% were managers and 27.5% were sellers. Representing a wide range of market sizes from across the country, 29.3% were from Top 20 markets, 15.9% from markets 21-50, 6.3% from markets 51-70, and the largest amount, 48.5%, came from markets 75+. All survey participants were entered in a random drawing to win one of three licenses to MSN’s Local Sales Recruitment Online Learning Program. Each license is valued at $999 and is good for one year for up to three users at one station. Winners were notified by MSN in early August.

Media companies in need of or interested in hiring the next generation of professionals, or in any of Media Staffing Networks’ recruitment training programs, may contact Laurie Kahn, Founder and CEO, at laurie@mediastaffingnetwork.com, (480) 306-8930.