Are you thinking about a career in radio? No matter what type of position you are looking, for here are something to consider. For specific information about the different positions at a radio station and their occupational outlook, refer to the Department of Labor's occupational outlook manual at "Department of Labor
".
The thing you need to realize if you are thinking about going into the radio industry is that the industry as a whole is slowly dying. As more and more people replace their radios with MP3 players, radio stations will continue to reach fewer and fewer listeners. Some stations will, of course, remain to service people who prefer listening to the radio, but radio stations across the country will, for the most part, have fewer and fewer listeners every year.
Fewer listeners mean fewer advertising dollars for the radio station. When the station's bottom line becomes effected, it may have to cut jobs. Therefore, you may find yourself without a job if you start out in radio. At the same time, salespeople will find it increasingly harder to sell advertising. As ratings drop, fewer businesses will be willing to invest their money in buying radio advertising. Since many sales people receive no salary other than a commission on what they sell, they may find their income drop over time.
Some radio stations are finding new ways of earning additional revenue to help make up for the negative trends in the industry by embracing new technology. The internet, for example, has proved invaluable to many radio stations. Many stations have websites, for which they can sell advertising and/or use ad programs like Google Adsense
Because traffic to their website means additional revenue, they can use their station to promote their website. By making the website a useful supplement to the terrestrial radio station by offering services like online streaming, their website can become a profitable source of revenue.
Automation is also making some jobs at radio stations obsolete. For example, radio stations no longer need to pay a weekend DJ because they can simply prerecord some vocal tracks to throw in a playlist and put on a computer. Thus, if your job is something that a computer could conceivably do, you may find yourself replaced on day.
Of course, radio stations will continue broadcasting for a long time and they will continue employing people. While some small, local stations will be hit hard by the industry's trends, the really good ones may find themselves doing better without all of the extra competition. Talk radio stations in particular are among those who will continue to do well for many years to come. Since they often offer local programming that you cannot get anywhere else, more people are staying loyal to talk radio stations than are the music stations. This trend is likely to continue for some time.
