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Morning Radio Hosts - Salaries (Beat 94.5, Virgin 95.3, Sonic)


Russianfan

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Hi all,

If you have a good understanding of the Vancouver radio show scene or are better with Google than I am can you please help me identify these 2 questions:

I) What is the typical salary for a morning radio cost on a major network like; The Beat, Virgin or Sonic?

II) What type of income are hosts like Kid Carson, Drew and Natt, Nira/Holly/Johny are making per year for their 5 hour work days? (Is it close to $25-40$ an hour as per my projections)?

I am doing an important public awareness and radio information project due in 10 days and I could really use the help of the community here.

Thank you.

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why wouldn't you just email the radio station and ask?

while they probably don't get huge amounts for salary, i'm sure they probably get bonuses for plugging products and doing commercials and that sort of thing

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Whatever it is, it's way too much.

Their salaries are negotiated between themselves and the station. The value the station places on them depends on how successful they believe they are at drawing and retaining the attention of listeners. What's your ideal system to determine how much they should make? A meritocracy where a small group of people decide who gets paid what? The system has a lot of flaws but suggest one better.

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Their salaries are negotiated between themselves and the station. The value the station places on them depends on how successful they believe they are at drawing and retaining the attention of listeners. What's your ideal system to determine how much they should make? A meritocracy where a small group of people decide who gets paid what? The system has a lot of flaws but suggest one better.

Good on them for getting the stations to pay them whatever they make. I just don't value what they do, it's just my personal opinion.

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Not a clue. But I can say with confidence that they don't just work 5 hrs per day. If that's their on-air time, they also have to prep the shows and stay aftwerwards for meetings, updates etc.. And I'd be surprised if they get paid by the hour. They are usually on contract.

Yeah, they actually work pretty hard. Even when they're on air they are recording commercials and doing other radio work while the music is playing. It's not as easy as people think it is.

I have a buddy that works at Rock 101 and he busts his ass trying to arrange interviews, show appearances, and stuff like that. Of course the job does have it's perks with concert tickets and other event tickets. But even then, you're still representing the radio station for the most part.

To the OP.

Call the station, explain what you're doing, and I'm sure they be more than willing to help with some information.

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Hi all,

If you have a good understanding of the Vancouver radio show scene or are better with Google than I am can you please help me identify these 2 questions:

I) What is the typical salary for a morning radio cost on a major network like; The Beat, Virgin or Sonic?

II) What type of income are hosts like Kid Carson, Drew and Natt, Nira/Holly/Johny are making per year for their 5 hour work days? (Is it close to $25-40$ an hour as per my projections)?

I am doing an important public awareness and radio information project due in 10 days and I could really use the help of the community here.

Thank you.

I suggest you start by doing some research yourself other than typing it into a search engine or in a forum and praying the internet does your homework for you.

Here's a friendly start: find out yourself what their days entail. All summer they are on location at various places throughout the lower mainland. Drop by and start up a conversation. Don't expect salary details but at least get a feel for what they do on an average day. By the sounds of it, you have no clue and when you ask direct questions to us about their salary based your assumption of 5 hours of work per day, then you seem to directing yourself to some sort of smear campaign against what they do.

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Whatever it is, it's way too much.

Radio hosts don't make nearly as much as you might think, especially in smaller markets.

I have been told by acquaintances who have worked in the profession that even morning show hosts in smaller cities can make less than $40k a year.

Big cities will have better pay scales, but if you aren't in a huge metro area station, it's not exactly glamourous.

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Radio hosts don't make nearly as much as you might think, especially in smaller markets.

I have been told by acquaintances who have worked in the profession that even morning show hosts in smaller cities can make less than $40k a year.

Big cities will have better pay scales, but if you aren't in a huge metro area station, it's not exactly glamourous.

Maybe, I don't know. But the ones I am sometimes stuck listening to in Vancouver are vapid and annoying. Whatever they make, is too much.

But, good on them for fooling someone into paying them.

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I usually dont listen to the radio on the way to work because its all talk talk talk. I want music on the music stations not yammering idiots. Used to know a guy who did the afternoon drive on 100.3 in Victoria. He said that the pay was lousy but he had a minor local celebrity status for it. The radio guys that get their shows into syndication make bank but theres only a handful of those.

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Thank you for the responses.

I called the station but they refused to give any kind of indiciation of salary, they said that is corporate info and they refused to give it out, even under threats from me for covering up public info.

Regardless, I can not understand for the life of me that there is not a single clue or website on the internet that can help steer me towards identifying how much the morning talk show hosts make.

I really need your help on this guys, I have a few days left to submit this project and its worth 75% of my grade!

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I think your projections are pretty far off. $25/hr at a 5 hr/day job gives just over $30k annual. I'm guessing the big morning show guys get several times that. CBC radio 3 overnight on the weekends? Sure.

You could try checking on glassdoor.com for salaries, but you might not find too much. Look in Canada, the US, etc. Also try TV if need be.

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according to 2 minutes on Google the average radio announcer in Canada makes $38052 per year. The high end of the scale is $62,000 for morning radio DJs.

Are you sure you know how to use Google?

EDIT: Moral of the story: Dont become a radio DJ.

Sponsorships and ads can add onto whatever they make too. Ever hear Kid Carson shilling out his voice for a product? That's an extra $5000 in his pocket.

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Thank you for the responses.

I called the station but they refused to give any kind of indiciation of salary, they said that is corporate info and they refused to give it out, even under threats from me for covering up public info.

Regardless, I can not understand for the life of me that there is not a single clue or website on the internet that can help steer me towards identifying how much the morning talk show hosts make.

I really need your help on this guys, I have a few days left to submit this project and its worth 75% of my grade!

Public info? They are a private company, what are they trying to cover up exactly?

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