Survey on Broadcast News Directors Released by RTNDA

A survey by RTNDA finds that the typical TV news director is in her/her upper mid-40s. According to the survey, the average age was 47.6, and the median was 47. That’s almost identical to last year which, stated the survey, means either some changes took place or TV news directors simply refused to get older. The survey also found:

News directors at Fox affiliates were about three years younger than others, but there were no other meaningful differences this year.

Overall, the age ranged from 25 to 70… which is a year younger on the young end and three years younger on the high end.

The average TV news director has been news director at that station for 4.9 years, although the median remained at just 3. The average rose just a hair from last year. The longest serving news director at the same station has been there for an impressive 32 years. This is the second year in a row that the number of news directors who had been at a station for more than 30 years dropped… although there are a bunch in the mid and upper 20s.

For those who are curious, the survey also finds that the average age for a radio news director was 48.9, and the median was exactly 51. Both numbers are a year older than last year.

The RTDNA/Hofstra University Survey was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2016 among all 1,684 operating, non-satellite television stations and a random sample of 3,987 radio stations.

If you want to read the whole article, click here.