Survey: More Women GMs in Radio, PDs MIA

According to the latest MIW Gender Analysis study, 17.8 percent of the general managers in US radio stations are women.

The research comes from the group Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio Group. It said that out of 11,229 AM and FM radio stations accounted for by PrecisionTrak as of the end of last year, 1,944 have women holding the general manager position.

“This is a half-point increase from 2015, which was 17.3% and continues to show growth from 2004, twelve years ago, when the percentage was only 14.9%,” MIW stated in the announcement. It said that in the top 100 radio markets, the number of female GMs is almost the same as the national average for all markets.

Kay Olin

Other survey highlights:

• Sales management continues to provide the best management opportunities for women. In 2016, 31.5% of all stations had a women sales manager, up one full percentage point from the prior year. In the top 100 markets, 31.4% of the stations have women SMs, which is a slight increase from 2015.
• The greatest challenge for women in radio management continues to be found in the programming department. Women currently program only 10.7% of all stations in the country, which is the same number 10 years ago. The news is better in the top-100 markets where women programmers now represent 12.2%, which is basically flat from last year.

“It is so important that we track women in broadcast leadership roles,” MIW  spokeswoman Kay Olin said. “Not only does it keep us focused on our MIW mission, it keeps us focused on supporting and growing a leadership path for female professionals that have chosen a career in radio broadcasting.”