RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey

Overall, local TV news directors who are men make more money than local TV news directors who are women, according to the RTDNA/Hofstra University Newsroom Survey diversity report. That’s a differential of about 6%. But this number does not account for other factors that could contribute to the differential in salary, including market size, by staff size, by network affiliation, and so on, because. If, in fact, there is a gender pay gap, then we would expect to find men earning more in a disproportionate number of comparable circumstances. But we don’t.

Research by the Radio Television Digital News Association  shows the amount of local news being produced by television stations is holding steady overall, with medium market stations adding the most newscasts and major markets cutting the most. For those stations adding newscasts, weekday afternoons and weekend mornings saw the most expansion, and midday newscasts were the most often cut.

The latest RTDNA-Hofstra University Annual Survey finds the minority workforce in TV news, at 22.4%, the highest it’s been in 13 years and the second highest level ever.  The minority workforce in radio rose to the highest level since in the mid-1990s.  In TV, women news directors rose to the highest percentage ever, and women in the workforce rose to the second-highest level ever. Still, as far as minorities are concerned, the bigger picture remains unchanged.  In the last 24 years, the minority population in the U.S. has risen 11 points; but the minority workforce in TV news is up less than half that (4.6)

The latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey finds virtually no change in the percentage of minorities in TV news from a year ago; radio numbers are down overall.  The percentage of minority news directors went up in radio but down a bit in TV.  The percentage of minority news directors at non-Hispanic TV stations fell back from last year’s record high — but it’s still the second highest level ever.

The latest RTDNA-Hofstra University Annual Survey found lots of staff turnover, but when the dust settled, the total TV staffing was virtually unchanged from a year ago — down just 48 to a total local TV news staff of 27,605. The average  staff size per newsroom actually grew to break last year’s record, but, once again, fewer newsrooms resulted in that slight overall shrinkage.  It’s still the third highest total staff ever (barely behind both 2000 and last year).

The latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey finds that local television news salaries actually fell 1.9% in 2012.  With inflation a modest 2.1%, that meant that TV news salaries dropped in purchasing power by 4% last year.

After four straight years of setting new records for the amount of news, the number actually dropped slightly this year — by six minutes per weekday.  But the latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey found the median remained at five hours per weekday, and both average and median rose for both Saturday and Sunday, so if you throw in the weekend, then there was a small, overall increase.

Over the past decade, inflation rose 28%, but the median salary for all local TV news workers rose 21.6%, according to the annual salary survey conducted by the Radio Television Digital News Association and Hofstra University.

The latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey finds the percentage of minorities is up a full percent in television from a year ago — and even more in radio. The percentage of minority news directors also went up in both television and radio. And the percentage of minority news directors at non-Hispanic TV stations set a new high mark — for the
second year in a row.

While staffing in TV news soared, salaries did not. The latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey found that local television news salaries rose 2.0% during 2011. That thin margin of growth suggests that a lot of the hiring in 2011 took place among relatively young, less expensive staffers.

The use of social media continues to expand and evolve in both television and radio, according to the latest findings from the RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey. And stations are getting more and more creative in how they use social media.

This year’s RTDNA-Hofstra University Survey appears to support the thesis advanced last year — that the Web has really matured in TV and more and more in radio as well. We didn’t find a single TV station (that runs local news) that doesn’t have a website. This is the first time there have been no holdouts in any size market.

The latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Survey continues to show that the TV news business isn’t limited to TV anymore. But the numbers also show stabilization in the reach of a TV newsroom. Still, more than three-quarters (75.5%) of stations provide local news content to one or more other media — beyond their own station or website.

While the RTDNA/Hofstra survey of television journalism show that TV news employment and profitability were up in 2011 — and are expected to rise again this year, that gain is in comparison to the extraordinarily tough economic times in 2008-09. “These numbers don’t indicate anyone is going crazy but clearly the purse strings are open slightly more than they were and I think that is a good thing,” RTDNA’s Mike Cavender says. And as stations have been adding minutes to their newscasts and expanding their delivery to a growing number of platforms, some contend that there’s a growing need for even more staffers.

For the fourth year in a row, the latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey found that the average television station set a new record for the amount of local news aired. Over those last four years, the average amount of weekday news has gone from 4:36 to 5:00 to 5:18 last year. This year, it’s up another 12 minutes to five and a half hours per weekday. The average network affiliate is even higher at 5:48.

The latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey found that TV news staffing shot up in 2011 — adding 1,131 jobs — to reach total full-time employment of 27,653. That total is the second-highest ever and more hiring is projected for 2012.

Not only did TV news staffing go up noticeably this past year, so did salaries. The latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey found that local television news salaries rose 7.3% during 2010. The numbers are a sharp contrast to the last two years, when salaries actually fell 4.4% two years ago before rising a modest 2.5% last year.

You’d think the Web was old media, given how few changes were found this year for both TV and radio in the latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey. A year ago, the survey noted that the numbers for TV websites made it look like the medium is starting to mature, with relatively small changes from one year to the next. This year’s figures appear to bear that out. Live cameras and blogs are down a little; recorded newscasts are up.

The latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Survey shows that 70% of TV stations say they have a “3-screen” approach to news. In addition, more than three-quarters (78.4%) of stations provide local news content to one or more other media — beyond their own station or website.

For the third year in a row, the latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey found that the average television station set a new record for the amount of local news aired. Three years ago, the average amount of weekday news was 4:36. That went up 24 minutes last year to a record 5 hours. This year, it’s up another 18 minutes to 5:18. The average network affiliate is even higher (5:36).

The latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey found that 2010 marked a turnaround year for local TV news. Stations added 750 jobs last year, recovering all the losses of 2009 (400 jobs lost) and making a dent in the 1,200 jobs lost in 2008. In fact, the survey found that anticipated hiring in 2011 could bring the industry back to its precrash peak by the start of 2012.