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

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

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

On-Air Personalities are sometimes called Broadcast Announcers. They are responsible for speaking or reading from scripted materials, including news reports or commercial messages, on television, radio, or other Communication media. As an On-Air Personality, you have to write and rehearse scripts. You are also expected to meet and discuss with program directors concerning programs or shows. You are also in charge of interviewing, organizing, and scheduling meetings with the organizers of the events.

For every program, you must undertake relevant research background to help understand the show more and be effective. During the show, you are allowed to interview guests via telephone or in-person, depending on the demand of the show. For every event, you should give a review on weather summary, give an update of newly released books, music, and films to captivate your audience's attention. You should also provide links to the program for flexible viewing.

An On-Air Personality must be fluent in communication especially speaking, carry your audience along, be creative, calm, and work under pressure. An average salary of $82,000 is what an On-Air Personality earns yearly. A qualified On-Air Personality has a bachelor's degree in Journalism, Communication, or other related fields to qualify for the role.

ScoreOn-Air PersonalityUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $42,380

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.4

Growth rate -4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.40%

Asian 4.23%

Black or African American 5.36%

Hispanic or Latino 11.49%

Unknown 3.22%

White 75.30%

Gender

female 35.56%

male 64.44%

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 personality

Explore on-air personality education requirements

Most common on-air personality degrees

Bachelor's

67.3 %

Associate

16.4 %

High School Diploma

6.8 %

Start to develop specific on-air personality skills

Skills	Percentages
Facebook	9.41%
FCC	8.07%
Twitter	7.79%
Live Events	7.05%
Wide Orbit	6.90%

Complete relevant on-air personality training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New on-air personalities 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 personality based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real on-air personality resumes.

Research on-air personality duties and responsibilities

Record daily news cast on state topics, prepare promos, program and automate playlists, archive local public affairs shows.
Interact with listeners at local promotional events and through the station's Facebook page.
Air liners, jingles, and sweepers.
Copy writing, production, and remotes.100.9 FM (KPNC )

Prepare your on-air personality resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your on-air personality 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 personality 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 personality resume templates

Build a professional on-air personality 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 personality resume.