Running the control room is expected of many radio announcers.
Although they do many of the same tasks, public radio announcers lag behind their commercial radio counterparts. Median hourly wages average $12.61 to $12.95, although the hosts of top-rated programs like National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" take home six-figure annual salaries. This disparity causes commentators to wonder how much of the listener's dollar benefits public radio programming. In their defense, the hosts cite their workload and popularity as sufficient justification.
Types
Public radio announcers must juggle multiple tasks. These include the announcement of basic station information, delivering summaries of news, weather and sports events, and interviewing guests for on-air programing. At smaller stations, announcers may also be expected to keep the equipment running and even sell advertising. As of May 2008, median hourly wages for radio and TV announcers averaged $12.61 to $12.95, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Features
Salaries remain low for most announcers, as shown by the ranges identified by the bureau. The middle 50 percent of all announcers earned between $9.05 and $20.31 per hour -- while the lowest 10 percent earned less than $7.45, according to the bureau. The highest 10 percent earned $36.42 and above. As a general rule, commercial radio broadcasting pays better than public radio, the bureau reports. Larger markets also pay better than smaller ones.
Significance
Personalities like Robert Siegel, the host of "All Things Considered" for National Public Radio (NPR), do much better. According to tax information posted by Josh Gerstein, a White House correspondent for Politico.com, Siegel earned $350,288 in 2007. Not far behind were "Morning Edition" hosts Renee Montagne and Steve Innkseep, at $322,160 and $331,242 per year, respectively. Gerstein questioned how NPR could justify such compensation when it was laying off employees and canceling programs to plug a $23 million budget hole.
Considerations
Average listeners have raised similar questions about NPR's pay scale. Elizabeth Doherty said that she had almost resumed her lapsed membership with station WAMU until reading that "Weekend Edition Saturday" host Scott Simon earned a $300,648 annual salary. Doherty questioned how Simon justified his salary in an entry posted by NPR ombudsman Alicia C. Shepard. In response, Simon replied that the show's popularity and audience supported his salary, as well as his own workload.
Geography
Another significant exception can be found in Germany, whose Inforadio public station is totally funded by taxes, according to newslab.org. Unlike the United States, salaries outpace commercial radio. For example, the station spent $4.5 million alone on part-timers' salaries. Instead of focusing on one host, the station rotates four of them who are on the air just one week per month while reporters must only file one story per day, newslab.org reported.
Tags: radio announcers, commercial radio, better than, hourly wages, National Public, National Public Radio
