Where is the money?

[anonradio]

Or more precisely, what is the money. I know, I know, radio is not the place to make money blah blah blah. I get all of that. I've heard it a million times from people who never made money in radio so they assume nobody else can. Still, I'm hoping some knowledgeable industry vets could humor me. What kind of money could a mid-market full time talk show host expect to make? Specifically, what could this random, hypothetical person ask to make in an interview? This random person is well aware that mid-market music stations pay staggering amounts of money... anywhere from 16 to 24 thousand whole dollars. WOW! But, greedily I guess, this person was hoping maybe talk stations pay a bit more. Basically this random hypothetical person is a full time hypothetical DJ looking to become a full time hypothetical talk host. But this hypothetical person has no idea what to ask for in a hypothetical interview or what to expect. Is 35k pushing it?

Side note. Walking into a meeting with a PD and saying "get rid of your syndicated show and put me in there"... is that a bad move? Would that be asking for something that isn't wholly logistically possible? CAN you just dump your syndicated show whenever you feel like it or is there contracts and all that weird grown-up stuff?

Finally, should I just leave this radio thing behind while I still can and pursue a life of crime? Hypothetically, of course.

Respectfully,

Bob Smithenhouserorsomething

[pbergin]

Depends on what you mean by "medium market," there's a whole range of market sizes and station owners in that category. I'd think that $35,000 is a fair guess. Depending on one's experience and track record maybe more, maybe less.

Don't give up on radio, just make sure you have other skills that you can fall back on in case the radio thing doesn't work out in the long haul.

I spent 30 years in radio in every kind of format including talk. I was actually Larry King's sub for awhile on Mutual back when we had 165 affiliates. I've made lots of money, and little amounts of money. The remuneration was never a problem for me, the nature of the industry was. That's why I got out and went full time into the IT field... the other skill set that I possesed

[rosemarie123]

Yes, "Making Babies in Fort Wayne" may be the most moronic headline I've seen so far. Sounds like

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[danno]

Radio is Fun no question, But so is eating and having a roof over your head. i was Shocked to find out what income amount is considered "Poverty Level"... here's a clue... sadly its the going rate"Salary" for the majority of people working in Radio... i'm not passing judgement nor am i placing blame, its just what it is. IF you think your Talent can command more, Go for It, and Good Luck!

[robinson]

I guess it depends on whether or not you have any talent, dunno. Do you have talent, dunno? Is there any demand for what you do? The money's where the "good" are. Do you have the goods?

[danno]

I guess it depends on whether or not you have any talent, dunno. Do you have talent, dunno? Is there any demand for what you do? The money's where the "good" are. Do you have the goods?

i eeked out a living for SEVERAL years, but even THAT money is going away. i guess there's STILL money for a Stern or Rush, but how many of them are there like that? for every one of them, there are THOUSANDS that made a living wage a few years ago(WHO HAVE TALENT) THAT HAVE BEEN REPLACED BY VOICE TRACKING AND PC'S, SYNDICATION and a Bad Economy, you know that! there are lots of people on the beach who made Great Radio, the jobs and the money are NOT there anymore, for most all of them. all one has to do is look at the Jobs section... sales people,part timers, promotions people,receptionists, entry level jobs are about all i see out there. prove me wrong! SHOW ME A GREAT MORNING SHOW JOB! THE TALENT IS HERE, WHO WANTS SOME?

[thelegend]

Every situation is different. Afternoons in a med market might pay 60K. Across the street in same market and format afternoons might pay 25K. Just depends on many variables.

Having said that generally talk and music format salaries have been steadily going down because of deregulation and stations being so far into debt.