How To Become An On-Air Announcer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an on-air announcer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an on-air announcer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $22.01 an hour? That's $45,790 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -4% and produce -1,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreOn-Air AnnouncerUS Average

Salary

3.6

Avg. Salary $45,790

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.4

Growth rate -4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.33%

Asian 4.97%

Black or African American 5.66%

Hispanic or Latino 7.45%

Unknown 2.98%

White 78.61%

Gender

female 31.37%

male 68.63%

Age - 49

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 49

Stress level

7.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.2

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.1

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an on-air announcer

Explore on-air announcer education requirements

Most common on-air announcer degrees

Bachelor's

67.6 %

Associate

17.4 %

High School Diploma

6.1 %

Start to develop specific on-air announcer skills

Skills	Percentages
FM	13.73%
WordPress	13.01%
Control Board	11.37%
FCC	7.78%
Community Events	7.77%

Complete relevant on-air announcer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New on-air announcers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an on-air announcer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real on-air announcer resumes.

Research on-air announcer duties and responsibilities

Manage and develop music playlists and setting up contests, promotions, and other marketing-relate projects.
Train new employees in compliance with FCC regulations and board operations.
Follow and enforce FCC regulations, as well as station and company policies.
Host request lines, record commercials for local management, and also travele to various churches to host record gospel programs.

Prepare your on-air announcer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your on-air announcer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an on-air announcer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable on-air announcer resume templates

Build a professional on-air announcer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your on-air announcer resume.