What's the most stable job with a good income in the media field?

Hi,

I don't know if this is going to answer your question but I wanted to give you this advice anyway. I know it sounds crazy, but don't worry about money. Find your passion and that will lead you to success in all areas. As the people have stated above, media is so broad but in almost any industry you'll start at the bottom and have to work your way up. It takes hard work and patience, but if its worth it to you, you'll be happy.

The only real way to find stability, money and success is to be outstanding at what you do. If that's in front of the camera, behind it or in any other capacity. Try many paths/roles, find the one that suites you best and give it your all. You can do it! Best of luck to you!

Broadcasting, Media, Productions are careers you need a lot of personal passion for success. It takes a lot of sacrifice, ie taking no pay/low pay internships to get started, being willing to work odd hours, work weekend and holidays, open to moving to small markets, etc. If your passion for the industry is not real, then it will be hard to take on those type of challenges. The best way to make money in the industry are producers searching for your experiences, companies wanting your ability on their productions, and the connections you make during your career path. Those come directly from making sacrifices and the results of the work. The people with passion stay in the industry and make a quality life for themselves. The people who think they have passion struggle with the grind, and from my experience change to another career. If you love working in media productions, then you should not be scared about making a wrong decision.

Stability in broadcasting depends largely where you work and who you work for. You will have to pay your dues by putting in long hours, weekends, and holidays as required. If you choose an advertising route, you could find yourself working for an ad agency. If their major client goes to another firm you could be out of a job. On air talent move around frequently not only for better money and to better their resume, but sometimes they are let go for money reasons or they just don't look or talk right when new management comes in.
In the supportive roles like producing, editing, directing, etc. stability is largely on how well a job you do. Work hard, do excellence, and they will find ways to keep you if they can. Sales I would say is the least stable. If you can't make your budget, you're gone. Period. The Most stable is engineering and technical support side. Guys who have a firm foundation of electronics, electrical, computer networking, audio, and know how to master the systems where they work and fix things can have really long careers. For info on that look into the Society of Broadcast Engineers. They have certifications for professionals as well.

The field of broadcast and media is very broad and the folks who have answered you previously have focused on the production aspects of the field. Another area to consider in the business and Ad Sales side of media. There are many career paths to explore on this side of the business. You can be a marketer and market the network/website to audiences to drive viewership. You can work in Ad Sales and sell ad time (on-air and digital) to marketers and media buyers. There can be lots of money in this career track. You can work in Ad Sales Marketing and develop promotions and custom content for advertisers that links their product or service to your shows. In a world where viewers are skipping through traditional commercials, creating content that doesn't feel like a traditional ad will increase the likelihood that it will be watched and that it will resonate with the intended audience. This is where I have spent the bulk of my career. Within the Ad Sales world you can be in research and study viewership and help networks understand their audiences and what resonates with them. You can work on the Creative side to determine what shows should get developed and produced for your network/website and then oversee the production of these shows from the network or website's perspective. I know it seems overwhelming but there are lots of career paths within the world of Media and Broadcast. I think the first thing to decide is if you want to be on the production side of the business where you create the shows or the business side where you develop the shows, market the network and its shows or focus on the Ad Sales side of the business. Good Luck!!

It depends on what attracts you about broadcasting--whether you really want to be in the industry, or you really mainly want to be a performer. Behind the scenes jobs--producer, writer, photographer, editor, various technical jobs--tend to be the most stable. All those jobs pay decent wages, at least once you get established, but you probably won't get rich. Performing jobs--reporter, anchor, announcer, narrator, commentator, actor--tend to be better paid but less stable. Turnover tends to be high in the performing end of the business; and you may have to move to a smaller market to get your foot in the door and get some experience.

All media have a web presence these days, and there are an array of jobs to support web content. Broadcasting has been losing viewers and listeners to the web and digital media for years. Viewership of the Olympics is way down on broadcast tv this year, and way up on the internet. You may want to investigate working for web or digital media outlets.

Hope this helps a bit. If you have other, specific questions I'd be happy to try to answer them.

Broadcasting is a field that requires a lot of passion to motivate. In the early years of a career, one has to take non-paid internships and low-paid starting salaries. It can take a long time to move up to a point where one is able to make a "good income". Sales positions offer the most opportunity to earn a good income early in your career with a lot of hard work and with that comes some stability. If you are looking for something more in the on-air or production side of the business, and that is something you are passionate about, then follow that because your hard work and passion can lead to stability and eventually a good income. I work as the Production Director at ESPN in Chicago and it took me nearly ten years to get to the Director position. It was a lot of fun along the way, working as a show producer and creative audio producer, but it was my passion that kept me going although my salary was not very good in those first years. I hope this helps you. Good luck in whatever you pursue.