For Sheryl

4

Job Description

The different roles of a radio and TV announcer include:

· Presenting news, music, sports, the time, the weather, and commercials

· Reading prepared scripts on television or radio shows

· Interviewing guests or holding discussions on their shows

· Researching topics for discussion and comments during shows

· Commenting on essential news stories

· We are announcing the station's program information, such as station breaks and program schedules for public service information and commercials.

· Selecting the content of their program

· We provide commentary for the spectators during parades, various events, and other occasions.

· Making promotional appearances at private or public events

· Introducing upcoming events to guide the viewers or listeners through the entertainment.

Television and radio announcers can also be held accountable for other radio or television broadcasting roles. These roles include operating studio equipment, selling commercial time to marketers, or producing ads and recorded material.

Career Path

Television and radio announcers usually require a bachelor's degree in broadcasting, journalism, or communications, although other jobs require a high school diploma or an equivalent qualification. Different courses are provided in College broadcasting programs, such as diction and voice, which assist students in enhancing their vocal qualities (Ahern et al., 2020). Similarly, these programs assist students in operating audio and computer equipment, including its software at television or radio stations.

During employee onboarding, short-term on-the-job training will be administered. The advantage of this training is to help the announcers become competent with using apparatus they are willing to use during entertainment and sporting events. For sports announcers, training offers preliminary information and guidelines for the sports they will cover. The announcers who do not have a bachelor's degree will need extra training in operating audio and production tools. Some employers may need an announcer to have prior experience before they are employed. Such experience comes from working in other stations and internships.

Pay

The yearly wage for a median television and radio announcer was $33,220 as of May 2018. The least 10% earned less than $19,120, while the utmost 10% of the announcers were paid over $94,450. In general, the announcers' salaries differ based on the size of the station they are working for. For instance, employees working in large organizations are paid higher than those in smaller organizations (Bates, 2020). Also, the wage an individual receives is determined by whether they are working part-time since many televisions and radio stations air on a 24/7 basis.

Career Outlook

In general, the career opportunities for television and radio announcers are expected to reduce by 7% between 2018 and 2028. This comes from the continuous consolidation of radio and television stations, which will slow the employment rate for radio and television announcers. Numerous organizations have centralized and consolidated their roles for programming, such as on-air announcing roles (Priddle, 2021). This consolidation can contribute to escalating syndicated programs and programming usage that will originate outside the station's listening or viewing area. Voice tracking can be used in radio stations to prerecord their sessions instead of airing them live; therefore, an announcer will need to record different sessions for later use in another radio station. This strategy empowers stations to hire a limited number of employees while still holding live air shows, which is more effective than airing local programs. However, this strategy's repercussions are eliminating the need to eliminate many late-night shifts and allowing various stations to share materials from the same announcer.

Another projection indicates that radio and television announcers will continue experiencing competition from the many satellites and online television and radio stations. This creates a phenomenon where many young viewers and listeners are active audiences of these stations due to the ease of personalization. The stations also play music depending on the preferences of the audience. The increasing demand for these online stations may minimize the amount of audience and watch hours which deducts the audience for the radio and television programs, decreasing the demand for radio announcers.

Nevertheless, the emergence of online podcasts might enhance employment growth due to the low capital required. There is also an opportunity to narrow to a particular niche and target a specific demographic, thus creating new chances for announcers. The number of television and radio station is increasing, which will escalate the local television and radio programs that are focusing on maximizing the value for their listeners by providing them with accurate information, which is what a modern listener or viewer seeks to acquire by selecting a channel (Hyde, 2017). Therefore, if a station can differentiate itself from other stations, it will create more opportunities for young radio and television announcers and make this career field sustainable.

Biography

The personality I had the opportunity to interview is Katie Couric, an American presenter, and journalist. Katie was born on 7th January 1957 in Arlington, Virginia. Fomostrt of her career, Katie has worked as a TV journalist and a program host anchoring the CBS Evening News between 200andto 2011. She was also the host of the NBC morning program named The Today Show and held this position between 1991 to 2006. During her early career, Couric worked for ABC and CNN. Katie's no-holds-barred interview strategy and perky attitude saw the ratings of her shows, paving the way for her to become one of the most outstanding TV personalities. Her husband passed on in 1998 as a result of complications with colon cancer which motivated her to co-found a non-profit corporation for cancer education and research in 1999 (Pochapin, 2018). She signed a contract worth %65 million for her to remain as the host of the Today Show in 2001. When the contract ended in 2006, she left the show for CBS Evening News and worked up until 2011, when she released that she had decided to step down from her job and was succeeded by Scott Pelley.

Pros and Cons

Like other occupations, radio and television announcer also comes with paybacks and drawbacks.

Pros

The first payback of working in this occupation is that it will provide me with creativity and independence because I will have to use my creative skills to research and brainstorm with my colleagues on the content we will be discussing on television or radio every day. The position is generally creative, even if there are obvious things to discuss, including the weather and current promotions. I will also have the opportunity to determine the tone for my shows. My goal is to start my podcast, which will provide me with an opportunity to be independent, and I will thus spend my time in the studio, which will provide me with a relaxing and peaceful work environment that is good for my mental health (Lamb et al., 2018). Another advantage is that I have the freedom to move to any city I want, thus providing me with an opportunity to get out of my shell and interact with new professionals. This will play an integral role in sharpening my skills, and I will therefore be able to understand how I can make my shows more engaging and professional. Apart from that, it is a fun industry to work in because I can market my skills and support other artists while creating exciting and customized content for my listeners. I will also have the opportunity to remain on social media, thus have a firsthand experience with technology and participate in the local communities.

Cons

The cons include that I might have to work on holidays to help establish consistency with my viewers. This will limit my access to time off, especially for the first six months to a year when I will establish a niche for myself.

Reasons I am Fit for the Career

I am good enough and will excel even with solid competition emerging in this career. First, I am a flexible and persistent individual who will stop at nothing until I accomplish my goals, even if it means taking extra shifts and missing out on holidays. This will not reduce even if I have to start small, but I will do my best to ensure that I can maximize my opportunity to create a name for myself in the industry and that I have the right skills to help me stand out. I have been able to access formal education, which means I will have the best prospects of blending in with the other industry members (Chen et al., 2020). Also, I am accountable and ready to gather audio and video content for my program. Since my goal is to start my podcast, I will have the opportunity to update and maintain my website, enabling my audience to recognize me as a brand essential to excel in this industry.

References

Ahern, S., Brown, G., & Buchanan, D. (2020). Radio Announcing. In  Making Radio (pp. 125-139). Routledge.

Bates, T. (2020). Trends in the use of audio-visual media in distance education systems. In  Distance education: International perspectives (pp. 227–241). Routledge.

Chen, S., Sun, S., & Kang, S. (2020). System integration of terrestrial mobile and satellite communication—the trends, challenges, and critical technologies in B5G and 6G. China communications,  17(12), 156-171.

Hyde, S. (2017).  Television and radio announcing. Routledge.

Lamb, R., Annetta, L., Vallett, D., Firestone, J., Schmitter-Edgecombe, M., Walker, H., ... & Hoston, D. (2018). Psychosocial factors were impacting STEM career selection. The Journal of Educational Research,  111(4), 446-458.

Pochapin, M. B. (2018). 2017 Emily Couric memorial lecture: colorectal cancer: polyps, prevention, and progress.  The American journal of gastroenterology,  113(12), 1772.

Priddle, B. (2021). Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs–Securing a Career I Love. Canadian Journal of Autism Equity,  2(1), 21-33.