It must have been a Blue Friday, when the camera caught Tracy Taylor, KIRO’s popular Traffic reporter during the afternoon commute. We still think KING 5 made a major error in judgment when they fired Tracy. But, she is in a better place now, KIRO FM, during the Ron & Don show. [Blue Friday, a tradition among Seahawks fans, the 12s.]
On the topic of “What’s in YOUR wallet?”, the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculated that the average wage for broadcasters, and these are the numbers from that last survey. In 2014, radio and television broadcasters in the larger markets, Washington, D.C. for example, made an average income of (hourly mean wage) $31.11 and an annual mean wage of $64,710. Bad news if you are sitting in a studio in Idaho, Wyoming, Arkansas, New Mexico, Alabama and Oklahoma, where workers were paid average wages of $19,300-$29,960 a year. The BLS says Radio and television announcer jobs will have an 11% decline over the 2014-2024 decade. If you work for Hubbard Broadcasting, you might think those percentages are low. Hubbard has laid off most overnight broadcasters and has gone to voice-tracking or nonstop music. But, nobody makes more money than the King of All Media, Howard Stern. The SiriusXM personality continues to draw listeners, despite the cost to those listeners for the service. If you want to pay for radio, you can get Sirius for as little as $4 a month, after your initial listening trial. Just cancel the service and wait for their call. Somewhere, there is a call center just for such a thing, calling to win back the customer. An experienced Call Center Representative which includes employees with 10 to 20 years of experience can expect to earn an average total compensation of $31,000, according to Payscale.com. Howard Stern makes twelve times that much in one day. Call center salaries may vary, depending on which part of the USA or India the center is located in.
Soft AC continues to be the go-to format in markets across the country. The Breeze could be blowing into Seattle soon. Right now, iHeart has the format playing on a sub-channel of 95.7 and it may be just a matter of time. The day after Christmas or the first day of 2019 might bring another Soft AC to the Northwest. At that time, the weather will be pretty deplorable. They might consider changing the format moniker to KOOL, because, Baby, it’s cold outside.
Ron Burgundy will be featured in his own podcast, with a 12 episode Season 1 debuting in the first quarter of 2019. It might be fun to listen to. Then again, if it is like a lot of Will Ferrell’s comedy bits, it will get stale fast.
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