TV stations continue to claim that they are finding it very difficult to fill open jobs and continue to lose staff to jobs outside of TV news.

The solution to this problem seems fairly simple, treat and pay your people better.

When it comes to paying it is not happening.

In fact, according to a study done by the RTDNA and Newhouse School at Syracuse University, TV jobs are not even keeping up with inflation.

The survey found local television news salaries rose just 1.1% in 2021. That’s down sharply from the 3.5% growth in 2020. Adjusted for inflation, salaries actually fell 5.9% in terms of real wages.

It should also be pointed out that all major media companies showed solid profits in recent revenue reports.

The survey also showed that starting pay in TV suffered a worse fate than salaries generally. Both average and median starting pay rose just $100 (per year) ahead of a year ago. That’s 0.3%, compared to a 7%.

This is why TV stations are ending up hiring TikTok dancers and not Journalists. TikTok dancers will work for much less.

You can see the full study here, including what people in your position are paid.