Radio News Pay Rises 7.6% as Hiring Tightens

The survey points to a split market. In the largest markets, average pay at non-commercial stations was 30.6% higher than at commercial outlets, a gap researchers said was driven mainly by falling commercial salaries rather than big gains on the non-commercial side. Major markets still offered the highest pay overall, but large markets posted the strongest gains.

The pressure is not uniform across newsroom roles. News reporters, sports anchors and sports reporters saw the biggest average increases, while news producers took the hardest hit, with average pay falling by nearly $10,000 to the low $50,000s. News director pay also slipped on average, though median pay in that role edged higher.

Starting pay is softening too, which matters for recruitment and retention in a sector already dealing with thin staffing. Average and median salaries for employees entering radio news with no full-time experience fell more than 8%, back to roughly 2024 levels, even as the minimum starting salary reported by stations rose nearly 24%. More than a quarter of news directors and general managers with openings said hiring had become more difficult, and about 29% said they could not find the right candidates.

For investors, the takeaway is that radio remains a tight labor market but not an overheated one, with compensation pressure easing just as staffing challenges persist. That mix could help station operators contain costs, but it also raises the risk of weaker newsroom capacity at commercial broadcasters, a concern for owners such as News Corp.’s radio assets, Sinclair Broadcast Group and other local media operators competing for scarce talent.

The survey was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2025 and covered nearly 600 radio stations. The next read-through for investors will be whether commercial broadcasters can stabilize pay and headcount without sacrificing newsroom output, especially if ad demand and local news competition stay uneven.