Radio Presenters Salaries

gavindowd · 16-02-2013 11:59am #1

Sorry to be nosy but....

Whats the average rate for a local station, do they get payed per show?

And are the salaries on this webpage likely nowadays?

http://www.finfacts.com/Private/isl/nmcv.htm

Cookie Policy · 16-02-2013 12:52pm

gavindowd wrote: »

Sorry to be nosy but....

Whats the average rate for a local station, do they get payed per show?

And are the salaries on this webpage likely nowadays?

http://www.finfacts.com/Private/isl/nmcv.htm

Doubts, but I guess it depends on the station really. I know UK presenters get paid far more than Irish.

Preset No.3 · 16-02-2013 5:51pm

Cookie Policy wrote: »

I know UK presenters get paid far more than Irish.

I woudnt agree there, after all there has been a lot of cutbacks in UK radio and markets condensed, lots of presenters let go.

Average wage in Ireland is €26-32k per year depending on the station you work for. I always say that if radio paid so well, and all DJs pretend like they earn huge money, why do they all go out and do gigs on the weekend?

hufpc8w3adnk65 · 16-02-2013 6:02pm

Preset No.3 wrote: »

I woudnt agree there, after all there has been a lot of cutbacks in UK radio and markets condensed, lots of presenters let go.

Average wage in Ireland is €26-32k per year depending on the station you work for. I always say that if radio paid so well, and all DJs pretend like they earn huge money, why do they all go out and do gigs on the weekend?

Cuz they charge ridiculous amounts...upwards of 300 quid for 4 hours work!!

Preset No.3 · 16-02-2013 9:20pm

Adalyn Great Memoir wrote: »

Cuz they charge ridiculous amounts...upwards of 300 quid for 4 hours work!!

Spoken like someone whos not a DJ

smurfs5 · 16-02-2013 11:14pm

I read Chris Moyles' autobiography and he said that the pay is generally quite bad.

I think Preset is right saying that the low salary rates are why a lot of presenters do gigs at clubs at the weekend although this is probably just to enhance their standard of living rather than being a necessary measure to support themselves.
Most breakfast and drivetime presenters who are experienced probably have good salaries though.

I do agree that UK radio probably pays more once you get to the top and are a highly valued and experineced presenter. I imagine the likes of Scott Mills, Nick Grimshaw and most of the R2 lot get more than the aforementioned figure of £32k.

hufpc8w3adnk65 · 17-02-2013 1:06am

Preset No.3 wrote: »

Spoken like someone whos not a DJ

Ive been DJ'n 15 years in Ireland & Greece in Pub's Club's and Radio station's...You were saying??

Preset No.3 · 17-02-2013 3:46am

Adalyn Great Memoir wrote: »

Ive been DJ'n 15 years in Ireland & Greece in Pub's Club's and Radio station's...You were saying??

I bow to your mighty experience so! :eek:

But back to radio. If you are not full time, the shift rate can be anywhere from 60-100 per show.

Not so long ago, one station I worked at and was doing a double job paid me €26k a year. €500 per week. Incidentally the person I took over from was paid €28k, and the person they replaced me with got €24k a year. I will say that the major market guys would be on the 40-60k mark.

Radio is a calling, its why we do it, and management know this. Hence the reason why radio salaries are crap!

DEFTLEFTHAND · 17-02-2013 4:09am

Local regional stations salaries aren't great at all, many are working as they go without a proper contract. National stations vary greatly, I do know that Ivan Yates was making 100k at Newstalk so I imagine that's the top end of the scale for private stations. Dunphy also received this salary for his one day a week show. (he only ever presented about half of them)

Radio Tara · 17-02-2013 5:40pm

Today Fm pay their preseters very well, Ian Dempsey 350k, Ray Darcy 475k, Tony Fenton 100k, Matt Cooper 200k, Phil cawley 70k.

Losty Dublin · 17-02-2013 6:29pm

MrMac84 wrote: »

Ive been DJ'n 15 years in Ireland & Greece in Pub's Club's and Radio station's...You were saying??

Which radio stations were you on, can we ask?

A friend of mine was working sales for Country a few years ago and the ballpark rate per show in there was €50-€60 a show. Some of the evening/part time staff in Phantom are reportedly getting less than that.

98FM's Barry Dunne is allegedly paid in Eddie Rocket vouchers, so he tells me

Tar.Aldarion · 17-02-2013 6:30pm

MrMac84 wrote: »

Cuz they charge ridiculous amounts...upwards of 300 quid for 4 hours work!!

Not really ridiculous money, that's half an hour for some ridiculous IT contractors. :pac: I'd be surprised if the more famous ones didn't a lot.
I would have thought they would get stupid money.

heybaby · 17-02-2013 6:41pm

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Which radio stations were you on, can we ask?

A friend of mine was working sales for Country a few years ago and the ballpark rate per show in there was €50-€60 a show. Some of the evening/part time staff in Phantom are reportedly getting less than that.

98FM's Barry Dunne is allegedly paid in Eddie Rocket vouchers, so he tells me

Ball park for local stations is circa 20 quid an hour.

gavindowd · 17-02-2013 7:00pm

Radio Tara wrote: »

Today Fm pay their preseters very well, Ian Dempsey 350k, Ray Darcy 475k, Tony Fenton 100k, Matt Cooper 200k, Phil cawley 70k.

Did you just make-up those figures? - Don't believe any of that....

smurfs5 · 17-02-2013 7:26pm

gavindowd wrote: »

Did you just make-up those figures? - Don't believe any of that....

Same. I can't see any of those presenters earning so much, especially those who don't even do a three hour show.

heybaby · 18-02-2013 5:35pm

Radio Tara wrote: »

Today Fm pay their preseters very well, Ian Dempsey 350k, Ray Darcy 475k, Tony Fenton 100k, Matt Cooper 200k, Phil cawley 70k.

Yeah these figures are a load of nonsense, I mean phil cawley who does at most a couple of shifts a week, and even with a retainer for cover work, wouldnt be on anything near 70 k !! As regards dempsey, darcy and cooper , combined you have them on a million quid !! Thats RTE territory and theres no way today fm would be able to compete with rte's salary structure. Id say Dempsey , Darcy and Cooper would be on circa 100 -125 k at the very most with Fenton on around 50 - 60 k. But again Im only guessing.

gavindowd · 18-02-2013 5:39pm

heybaby wrote: »

Yeah these figures are a load of nonsense, I mean phil cawley who does at most a couple of shifts a week, and even with a retainer for cover work, wouldnt be on anything near 70 k !!

Although these figures are somewhat untrue, Phil Cawley is also the head of music for Today fm. But nevertheless, 70k would be too much

Cork_chick_94 · 10-08-2014 2:33pm

heybaby wrote: »

Id say Dempsey , Darcy and Cooper would be on circa 100 -125 k at the very most with Fenton on around 50 - 60 k. But again Im only guessing.

Lol D'arcy and Dempsey would have returned to the mothership years ago if Today fm were only paying them 125k.

Onthe3rdDay · 10-08-2014 3:54pm

No one can afford RTE money, Pat Kenny is easily the best paid presenter on Commercial Radio and the small fortune he's being paid is directly because of Denis O Brien. Newstalk are being run for other reasons than Profit.

Realistically All the presenters mentioned are on 150 -200k and probably no more. Today FM has to make a profit to survive. It's Not RTE. However, What it does allow them to do is explore other commercial opportunities which they could not while working for the state broadcaster.

Radio is particularly poorly paid if you're not at the very top. Anyone I know working full time in the industry (outside of RTE) is on between 25 and 30k if they're full time (and full time is usually more than 40 hours) and they would consider themselves lucky.

smurfs5 wrote: »

I do agree that UK radio probably pays more once you get to the top and are a highly valued and experineced presenter. I imagine the likes of Scott Mills, Nick Grimshaw and most of the R2 lot get more than the aforementioned figure of £32k.

In fact up to a few years ago (and it's still the case with some) Presenters on RTE were earning a lot more than Presenters on BBC.

Wogan was on about £800,000 a year when he retired and he had 8 - 10 million listeners.

Pat that same year was on something over €650,000 and had 350,000 listeners...

On local stations in the UK Pay is shocking and makes local radio here look like heaven.

Radio is for life · 13-08-2014 5:29pm

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

No one can afford RTE money, Pat Kenny is easily the best paid presenter on Commercial Radio and the small fortune he's being paid is directly because of Denis O Brien. Newstalk are being run for other reasons than Profit.

Realistically All the presenters mentioned are on 150 -200k and probably no more. Today FM has to make a profit to survive. It's Not RTE. However, What it does allow them to do is explore other commercial opportunities which they could not while working for the state broadcaster.

Radio is particularly poorly paid if you're not at the very top. Anyone I know working full time in the industry (outside of RTE) is on between 25 and 30k if they're full time (and full time is usually more than 40 hours) and they would consider themselves lucky.

In fact up to a few years ago (and it's still the case with some) Presenters on RTE were earning a lot more than Presenters on BBC.

Wogan was on about £800,000 a year when he retired and he had 8 - 10 million listeners.

Pat that same year was on something over €650,000 and had 350,000 listeners...

On local stations in the UK Pay is shocking and makes local radio here look like heaven.

The figure of 25k-30k is way off the mark for a presenter in the Dublin market. Local stations like 98, 104, Q102, would be paying between 40-60k.
Spin would be lower as the presenters tend to be younger and less experienced. National and quasi national are on over 100k and some presenters at the top like Darcy, Dempsey, Hook, Moncrief, Cooper and a few more are on closer to 200k and above. Breakfast presenters on 98, 104 would surely be on over 100k as would the likes of Dermot and Dave.
Once you step outside Dublin the pay is a lot lower with most happy to have a job, although i imagine the bigger ones like Beat, IRadio, Corks 96 and Red pay decent money.

Onthe3rdDay · 13-08-2014 5:42pm

Radio is for life wrote: »

The figure of 25k-30k is way off the mark for a presenter in the Dublin market. Local stations like 98, 104, Q102, would be paying between 40-60k.
Spin would be lower as the presenters tend to be younger and less experienced. National and quasi national are on over 100k and some presenters at the top like Darcy, Dempsey, Hook, Moncrief, Cooper and a few more are on closer to 200k and above. Breakfast presenters on 98, 104 would surely be on over 100k as would the likes of Dermot and Dave.
Once you step outside Dublin the pay is a lot lower with most happy to have a job, although i imagine the bigger ones like Beat, IRadio, Corks 96 and Red pay decent money.

Depends on the station in the Dublin market of course. The three you mention would be paying better wages, but once you look at say Sunshine, TXFM and others wage levels start to sink again. This was part of a discussion elsewhere here on Boards. In the Commerical Stations outside of the big national names, the people that earn the most are those in Sales.

It's easy enough to replace on air talent (Obviously exceptions to that rule) but for every one on air there are probably 5 decent replacements on the sidelines plus another 100 ready to do the job for practically nothing.

Not mentioning names or stations but in the 90's I know of two or three stations that used to leave staff go in June and rehire in September because they were able to fill the hours with people that were normally Teachers or Students who would do it for the experience, year after year.

I will also say that there are a good few stations around the country that aren't making money. They're well run and small profits come in from a lot of them, but the money just isn't there to pay 30-40k a year.

John Joe Jones · 24-09-2015 1:16pm

Darcy says the 500k he is getting at RTE is the same money Today FM would be paying him, I have no reason not to believe him, sure Newstalk were paying Dunphey 100k per year to present a 2 hour Sunday show whenever he felt like turning up.

Clive Bisquette · 29-09-2015 5:50pm

Preset No.3 wrote: »

I bow to your mighty experience so! :eek:

But back to radio. If you are not full time, the shift rate can be anywhere from 60-100 per show.

Not so long ago, one station I worked at and was doing a double job paid me €26k a year. €500 per week. Incidentally the person I took over from was paid €28k, and the person they replaced me with got €24k a year. I will say that the major market guys would be on the 40-60k mark.

Radio is a calling, its why we do it, and management know this. Hence the reason why radio salaries are crap!

You all like to hear yourselves talk pal ...and pay through the nose for it ..get a real job ?

School Socks · 10-08-2017 11:32am

Radio Tara wrote: »

Today Fm pay their preseters very well, Ian Dempsey 350k, Ray Darcy 475k, Tony Fenton 100k, Matt Cooper 200k, Phil cawley 70k.

Yes, Big Willy O'Reilly has confirmed ray Darcy was on more than 400k @ today fm

johnire · 10-08-2017 7:05pm

I wonder how much the likes of Fergal Darcy and Al Porter are on?

argentum · 10-08-2017 7:52pm

Its actually easy to work out what most of the presenters are earning.They get paid via their own production companies and they show directors pay and income on the accounts filled online.

11-08-2017 5:06pm

argentum wrote: »

Its actually easy to work out what most of the presenters are earning.They get paid via their own production companies and they show directors pay and income on the accounts filled online.

That isn't typically a real indication of earnings, because things like pension contributions by the company, and assets provided for the directors' benefit, won't necessarily be clear.

Also, if the company keeps a turnover of €700,000 or less, and employs fewer than ten workers, it is exempt from the typical financial transparency rules that apply to private limited companies; their balance sheets are fairly inscrutable.

JJKC · 06-12-2021 10:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/83278454#Comment_83278454

Really? Because Paul Power was on 30k punt in 1998 for the very similar "swing Jock" role that Phil Cawley had in the the 2010s, 30k punt is almost €60k today with infection. https://www.casemine.com/judgement/uk/5da04bd14653d07dedfd4da8/amp

Declan A Walsh · 07-12-2021 11:45am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118280866#Comment_118280866

You are replying to a post from 2013 - you did well to find this thread at all, with its last entry being in 2017! A lot has happened in Today FM since that post from 2013: Ray Darcy went to RTE, Tony Fenton passed away and Phil Cawley finally left Today FM this year after getting more involved with South East Radio! And of course the salaries have moved on since then.

JJKC · 07-12-2021 12:49pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118283382#Comment_118283382

I don't remember how I found this old thread but I had to comment as Poster heybaby was mad to think that Dempsey and Darcy were only on 100-125k. Even today, Dempsey wouldn't get out of bed for 125k.