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Sports anchor vs freelance producer

The differences between sports anchors and freelance producers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a sports anchor, becoming a freelance producer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a sports anchor has an average salary of $96,351, which is higher than the $62,218 average annual salary of a freelance producer.

The top three skills for a sports anchor include sports content, sports coverage and social media sites. The most important skills for a freelance producer are music videos, news stories, and video content.

Sports anchor vs freelance producer overview

Sports AnchorFreelance Producer
Yearly salary$96,351$62,218
Hourly rate$46.32$29.91
Growth rate-10%8%
Number of jobs2,1089,703
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 91%Bachelor's Degree, 80%
Average age4040
Years of experience212

What does a sports anchor do?

Sports Anchors are responsible for presenting information and sports-related news on television news programs or sports-related programs or channels. Common tasks include supplying the reports from behind a desk in a studio, writing their script, or reading the inscribe by producers. Also, they regularly interview coaches, players, or other dominant sports figures as a segment of the show. Majority of Sports Anchors are knowledgeable about various distinct sports; however, some programs may concentrate on one sport at a designated time, or they may organize many varied programs on different sports.

What does a freelance producer do?

The responsibilities of a freelance producer are so broad that they can be tricky to define. Broadly, a freelance producer is responsible for finding, launching, and completing a project. They primarily handle logistics pertaining to the creation of various pieces of content. This content may include television shows, advertisements, or audio/video presentations. They also manage finances, keep the production within the allocated budget, and hire all key staff, crew members, and post-production teams. They may also have to scout for shoot locations.

Sports anchor vs freelance producer salary

Sports anchors and freelance producers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Sports AnchorFreelance Producer
Average salary$96,351$62,218
Salary rangeBetween $69,000 And $133,000Between $33,000 And $113,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between sports anchor and freelance producer education

There are a few differences between a sports anchor and a freelance producer in terms of educational background:

Sports AnchorFreelance Producer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 91%Bachelor's Degree, 80%
Most common majorJournalismPhotography
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyHarvard University

Sports anchor vs freelance producer demographics

Here are the differences between sports anchors' and freelance producers' demographics:

Sports AnchorFreelance Producer
Average age4040
Gender ratioMale, 81.6% Female, 18.4%Male, 58.7% Female, 41.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 13.1% Asian, 8.7% White, 67.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 7.8% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 6.3% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage10%14%

Differences between sports anchor and freelance producer duties and responsibilities

Sports anchor example responsibilities.

  • Manage five beats as reporter for ABC affiliate, including medical correspondent.
  • Interview and do live broadcasts with NFL and college athletes.
  • Post sports and news content to the station's Facebook page and launch a podcast which generate 2K fans.
  • Refine the weekend newsgathering system through pre-planning, calendar maintenance and reporter accountability.
  • Edit and time code scripts using ENPS.
  • Shoot, write, and edit packages and VO/SOTS for air.
  • Show more

Freelance producer example responsibilities.

  • Drive engagement by managing the brand's YouTube channel, as well as all other social media outlets.
  • Manage production shoots for image campaigns and monthly communications meetings for CNN newsroom and internal in-house creative services department.
  • Manage creative release process working closely with site merchandising, content engineering, release engineering, QA, buyers and marketing.
  • Manage the QA process including test/debug cycles and platform compliance/compatibility testing.
  • Produce for Chubb s website, YouTube, Facebook and on DVD.
  • Help maintain social media presence on Facebook and Instagram.
  • Show more

Sports anchor vs freelance producer skills

Common sports anchor skills
  • Sports Content, 9%
  • Sports Coverage, 8%
  • Social Media Sites, 7%
  • Facebook, 7%
  • Twitter, 6%
  • News Stories, 5%
Common freelance producer skills
  • Music Videos, 20%
  • News Stories, 6%
  • Video Content, 5%
  • Video Production, 4%
  • Live Events, 4%
  • Photography, 4%

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