This essay analyzes findings from the 2025 RTDNA/Newhouse School Survey, highlighting trends in local television news. While content production continues to rise, newsroom employment declined in 2024, with layoffs and hiring freezes affecting many stations. Newsroom trust and safety concerns persist, alongside modest gains in diversity and salaries. Technology adoption—especially AI and social media—continues to be both an opportunity and a challenge. These data reflect a precarious industry navigating economic pressure, cultural tensions, and technological change while seeking sustainable paths forward.

An overview of the 2023 RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Survey shows that 2022 was a year of mixed results in local TV news. This summary report includes information about local television newsroom staff size, matters of employee retention, use of MMJs, and both hiring and salary data.

Past studies (by Lee Becker and me) have shown that almost all new local TV news hires of recent college graduates are among journalism, broadcast and communication majors. The industry has always looked to academia to prepare students for that first job in local TV news. But as the industry changes—however slowly—are those jobs the same as they used to be? And is the pay any different? I’ve been conducting the annual RTDNA Surveys for the past 27 years, and I’ve taken a look back over time to see how industry hiring is evolving.

The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA)/Hofstra University Annual Survey found that 2010 marked a turnaround year for local TV news. Stations added 750 jobs, recovering all the losses of 2009 (400 jobs lost) and making a dent in the 1,200 jobs lost in 2008. In fact, the survey found that anticipated hiring in 2011 could bring the industry back to its precrash peak by the start of 2012. Overall, the survey identified 745 TV stations originating local news, running that news on those stations and another 223 stations—for a total of 968 stations airing local news. The median full-time number of staffers rose by 1 from the year before (see Table 1) but that probably understates staff growth. Independents dropped noticeably from the previous year, but the typical network affiliate went up by 2. Not everyone shared in the growth. Markets 101 and smaller actually fell, but markets 26–100 rose, and the top 25 markets went up significantly. Perhaps better than any other, Table 2 on staff size changes shows what a difference a year makes. In 2009, almost two thirds of the stations reported a decrease in staffing. In 2010, that dropped to 20%. In 2009, fewer than 12% of stations increased staff; in 2010, it was over 31%. Same staff size doubled from 24% in 2009 to 48% in 2010.

The 2010–2011 RTDNA/Hofstra University Survey showed again that the TV news business isn’t limited to TV. More than three quarters (78.4%) of stations provided local news content to one or more other media—beyond their own station or website (see Table 1). These numbers actually reflect a drop in most categories from the previous year. But while the numbers were down, they’re not down much, and we might simply be seeing more specialization and concentration of outside effort.

The 2009 RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey found local television and radio news salaries largely stagnant, with increases of 2.5% in TV and radio salaries unchanged. That was a decided improvement for both TV and radio over the year before—when both radio and TV news salaries actually declined. And with inflation nonexistent in 2009, news people really did hold their own.

The 2009 RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey found that staff cutbacks and salary give-backs—especially at the upper end of the food chain—meant a drop in salaries in both radio and television news. That's the first time that's happened in the 15 years I've been doing the Annual Survey. Overall, TV news salaries fell 4.4% in 2008, and radio news salaries slid by 1.8%. Tack on inflation at 3.8%, and real wages (adjusted for inflation) fell by 8.2% in TV news and 5.6% in radio news.

The RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey (Radio Television Digital News Association) found that 2009 meant another year of television news doing more with less. All told, 400 people in local TV news lost their jobs—1.5% of the local TV workforce. A bad year, but not nearly as bad as the year before, when 1,200 people lost jobs in TV news (4.3% of the workforce). Even as staffing fell, the amount of news on the average station rose—again—to a record high 5 hours per weekday.The one bright spot in the survey may be hidden in the answer to the question about planned staff changes in 2010. In a dramatic turnaround from the previous year, over 60% of TV news directors said they expect staffing levels to stay the same in 2010 as in 2009. That is up nearly 20 points from the year before. The number expecting a decrease in staffing dropped 77% from the previous year, and the percentage expecting an increase in staff went up by 145%.The overall average amount of weekday news per station went up another 24 min from the year before to an even 5 hours. That is, for the second year in a row, the highest average amount ever. Saturday remained the same at 1.7 hours while Sunday slipped 6 min to 1.6 hours. Radio news and staffing remained largely unchanged.

The 2009 RTNDA/Hofstra University Survey shows both TV and radio websites growing in complexity. Stations are also producing news on more stations and on more platforms than ever before. At the same time, only 38% of news directors say they’re comfortable that their stations are really on top of new technology and where they’re headed. The numbers gathered at the end of 2008 generally show larger TV news operations running bigger and more elaborate websites, and they’re far more likely to be involved in other new media and new technology efforts. On the web, there were substantial increases in live newscasts and audio streaming. Although substantially lagging behind television, radio websites made significant advances in the previous year, especially in audio, video, and podcasts. That increased emphasis on the web hasn’t translated into a lot of new web jobs in TV. Although the fact that there’s growth at all—just half a full-timer and one part-timer during 2008—still flies against the industry trend of fewer newsroom employees. In contrast to widespread reports of a drop in overall station revenue,

The 2009 RTNDA/Hofstra University Annual Survey found women made up over 41% of the TV news workforce and over 29% of TV news directors. Both were record highs. The percentages of women in radio news and women as radio news directors also rose. In contrast, the minority numbers in both TV and radio fell from the year before. In TV, both African Americans and Hispanic Americans dropped half a percentage point, while Asian Americans rose three tenths of a percentage and Native Americans held steady. In radio, the picture was mixed. The percentage of African Americans and Hispanics dropped while the percentage of Asian Americans and Native Americans went up.