Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media · Holland code ECA

Media Programming Directors

Direct and coordinate activities of personnel engaged in preparation of radio or television station program schedules and programs, such as sports or news.

Also called: News Director, Program Director (PD), Program Manager, Programming Director, Broadcast Content Manager, Newscast Director, Production Director, Program Coordinator.

O*NET 27-2012.03

At a glance

US median annual pay: $90,360; Middle half earn $62,670 to $134,800. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 52% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +5% · Faster than average; 167,000 jobs in 2024, projected 175,200. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Producers and directors".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Operate and maintain on-air and production audio equipment.
Check completed program logs for accuracy and conformance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules and regulations and resolve program log inaccuracies.
Read news, read or record public service and promotional announcements, or perform other on-air duties.
Direct and coordinate activities of personnel engaged in broadcast news, sports, or programming.
Monitor and review programming to ensure that schedules are met, guidelines are adhered to, and performances are of adequate quality.
Prepare copy and edit tape so that material is ready for broadcasting.
Coordinate activities between departments, such as news and programming.
Perform personnel duties, such as hiring staff and evaluating work performance.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Speaking4.3 / 5
Reading Comprehension4.1 / 5
Critical Thinking4.1 / 5
Active Listening3.9 / 5
Active Learning3.9 / 5
Monitoring3.9 / 5

Knowledge areas

Communications and Media4.9 / 5
Computers and Electronics4.5 / 5
English Language4.4 / 5
Administration and Management3.9 / 5
Telecommunications3.9 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.9 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic7
Investigative21
Artistic52
Social45
Enterprising93
Conventional61

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

artistic director · DE Künstlerischer Leiter/Künstlerische Leiterin · FR responsable de la programmation
broadcast news editor · DE Nachrichtenredakteur/Nachrichtenredakteurin · FR rédacteur de journal radio ou télévisé/rédactrice de journal radio ou télévisé
video and motion picture director · DE Film- und Fernsehregisseur/Film- und Fernsehregisseurin · FR réalisateur de films cinématographiques et vidéos/réalisatrice de films cinématographiques et vidéos
post-production supervisor · DE Postproduktionsleiter/Postproduktionsleiterin · FR chargé de postproduction/chargée de postproduction
producer · DE Produzent/Produzentin · FR producteur/productrice
music producer · DE Musikproduzent/Musikproduzentin · FR producteur de musique/productrice de musique

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Senior officers in fire, ambulance, prison and related services (1163)8,000 employed
Newspaper, periodical and broadcast editors (2491)43,100 employed
Newspaper and periodical broadcast journalists and reporters (2492)45,100 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.94. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (27-2012).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test