Program writer vs television writer

The differences between program writers and television writers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a program writer and a television writer. Additionally, a program writer has an average salary of $78,147, which is higher than the $55,995 average annual salary of a television writer.

The top three skills for a program writer include technical documentation, code samples and API. The most important skills for a television writer are creative content, , and .

Program writer vs television writer overview

	Program Writer	Television Writer
Yearly salary	$78,147	$55,995
Hourly rate	$37.57	$26.92
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	67,545	10,231
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	4	4

Program writer vs television writer salary

Program writers and television writers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Program Writer	Television Writer
Average salary	$78,147	$55,995
Salary range	Between $50,000 And $121,000	Between $35,000 And $88,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between program writer and television writer education

There are a few differences between a program writer and a television writer in terms of educational background:

	Program Writer	Television Writer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common major	English	Theatre
Most common college	Harvard University	Harvard University

Program writer vs television writer demographics

Here are the differences between program writers' and television writers' demographics:

	Program Writer	Television Writer
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 57.7% Female, 42.3%	Male, 52.3% Female, 47.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 5.9% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 7.6% Asian, 4.9% White, 75.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 5.0% White, 75.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	16%	16%

Differences between program writer and television writer duties and responsibilities

Program writer example responsibilities.

Manage and implement MSN adCenter API SDK project.
Manage projects diligently under aggressive deadlines while maintaining editorial integrity and ensuring stories have entertainment and/or educational value.
Contribute to API design review, and security review meetings with developers and PMs.
Serve as lead administrator for the team's SharePoint site.
Coordinate logistics management for signal elements, including securing training sites, movement of personnel, communications, and equipment.
Apply developmental edit to 'how-to' content from SMEs, re-wrote, and deliver as MSDN blog posts.

Television writer example responsibilities.

Manage a team of RFP writers and work with a cross-functional team to meet RFP requirements and establish deadlines.
Work closely with developers to integrate UI standards into the application and to build intuitive navigation and functionality.
Coordinate efforts between web developers, SharePoint site administrators and product support representatives to build and support an active online community.

Program writer vs television writer skills

Common program writer skills

Technical Documentation, 29%
Code Samples, 27%
API, 20%
Developer Documentation, 7%
SDK, 5%
C++, 4%

Common television writer skills

Creative Content, 100%

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Program Writer
Program Writer vs Television Writer

Updated January 8, 2025

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