How much do radio dj's make? they cant live on it since they only work 3-5 hours a day?

Question

How much do radio dj's make? they cant live on it since they only work 3-5 hours a day?

Answer 1

I can only speak for how it works in the US:

Being a jock is almost a 24/7 job. You are expected to come in early and do commercials or help with promotional planning. You are expected to stay after your shift for the same chores. You give up your weekends to go to station events, some of which are fun - I used to do concert intros, got to go backstage, feel important and stuff, go see my friends in their seats with all my passes strung around my neck then introduce the act. Heady stuff. Sadly only about 1% of the job.

I once had to announce to 20,000 screaming fans that "Ozzie has a serious throat infection and Black Sabbath will not be able to perform tonight as scheduled," BOOO! "BUT, The Outlaws have kindly consented to do a double set!" YEAH!

They didn't care, only one guy asked for a refund. Though the promoter cited me for helping to keep them in their seats because of the way I handled it, did I get any more money? HA!

They don't use jocks to introduce the bands much anymore. By then the acts all had opening sequences they didn't want messed up by some local kid from the radio station.

Once we finally get home, we are expected to prepare for tomorrow's show, monitor other stations and watch popular TV shows so we can talk about them on the air. We might also have a stack of CDs to listen to for potential new hit records.

For that, most jocks are paid an annual salary that is very dependent on your experience level, what city you are in, what time period you are on air and what your off-air title is. Most jocks also carry "Music Director," Production Director," Program Director" etc. So, if you're the MD/Mid-day personality, you'll get more than the night guy who has no off-air title. You are expected to be thrilled about this because your experience is building and your "career" will benefit.

There’s no overtime, though occasionally you'll get an appearance fee or a discount if you buy something from an advertiser. The manager might set up a bonus structure based on your ratings.

The smaller the station, the more work, including emptying the trash! If you are doing mornings in Philly, it's much different from being the night guy in Des Moines. Except the night guy in Des Moines is always trying to figure a way to get to do mornings in Philly. And the guy in Philly wants to take his show to syndication so he'll have a national audience and get syndication fees.

Excluding big stars like Bob & Tom, Tom Joyner, Opie & Anthony, Howard Stern, etc. annual salaries run from $20k per year (for a beginner overnight jock in a small market) to $200-$300k for the morning guy in Philly who has a cast, sidekick, promotion and appearance money and maybe does all the commercials for the local Ford dealer.

There's an interesting article from the Bureau of Statistics (below) but their numbers are probably not right, because very few announcers are paid hourly and that's what they base their numbers on.

Hope this helped. Except for the 3-5 hours part - good question and a star for you ;<)

-a guy named duh

Answer 2

DJ's have to prep for their show. They do voice overs, commercials. They also have to go to remotes, charity events, etc. They have meetings, go to clients, etc. They work alot more than just the time they are on the air.

Answer 3

DJ's mmm! Broadcaster, announcer, personality, communicator.

It's a rough ride for the wives, I am now divorced because of my work in radio.  It is 24/7, like the other answerers say.

On an average day you put about 8 hours of prep for a show to sound good, especially if you don't have a producer and ancillary staff to help you.

My stint went for 13 years, in that time it paid enough for me to be relatively comfortable. (divorces change those comfort zones)

24/7 you know longer have a life of your own, you become product, representative of the station you work for.

That means as a celebrity, you go to the supermarket to do some shopping, if you are recognized, these people will go through your shopping cart to see what you buy.  

Privacy, as a product that word almost does not exist.

How much do they make....not enough!

Addendum: the big dollar deals and contracts, by the time you pay your staff, agents, tax, there isn't all that much left over.

At the end of the day, it ends up being a heartless and thankless position..but loads of fun!

Answer 4

Dont know about other djs, but Chris Moyles who does the bbc radio 1 breakfast show makes £630,000 a year according to wikipedia - more than enough money for me ;)

Answer 5

Just because they arent on the air doesnt mean they arent working, there's alot of research and paperwork involved w/ being on air.  And for the most part, if they are a reg. host, they are probably salaried anyway.

How much they make depends on a lot of variants, size of their market, popularity of their show, how many advertisers are they carrying, etc. etc. etc.  Some DJs make next to nothing, some make alot.

Answer 6

You have no idea how much work we do when we are not on the air and are basically on call 24/7. Show prep, production, killing all sorts of dragons in the hallways, you name it.

We make a living.

Some make huge incomes- everything is based on cash flow. If you're bringing in enough to syndicate, then you get richer.

Answer 7

Radio announcers do a lot more work than what you hear. Full-time announcers punch in 8 or more hours a day, and most of that is behind the scenes work such as production, remotes and scheduling, among other things.

Part-time workers work fewer hours because their work-load is reduced, and they are paid less. They usually have another casual or part-time job to cover their expenses if they need to.