Croner Local Media Survey

Media Survey

The Croner Local Media Survey, launched in 2013, is conducted annually for companies that broadcast content and sell local advertising for cable, television and radio. The Survey invites the participation of television stations, radio stations, MSOs, digital organizations, publishers and other media companies.

The 2025 Survey Results provide data for 116 industry-specific positions along with 16 positions by cross-industry and 11 positions by organization level, representing 20,500 employees in 13 local media organizations.

Survey Participation Inquiries

To inquire about Survey participation and access to results, contact The Croner Company today.

World-Class Participants

The Croner Local Media Survey report contains market data for local media sales salaries, including local advertising sales jobs as well as programming and operations jobs at local television and radio stations in the U.S.

Comprehensive compensation data and market ranking are provided for all positions, including local Sales Manager and Account Executive positions. Media companies use the Survey Results to understand salary differentials, benchmark compensation and set pay structures for their local sales and broadcasting organizations.

See All Participants

Valuable Data for Critical Decisions

Participant companies use our Survey Results to understand salary differentials, benchmark sector-specific compensation, establish rational pay levels and pay structures and make well-informed decisions about their competitive bonus plans and equity plans.

Download PDF Survey Data

Position Data Query

  • Croner Local Media Survey participation includes access to Croner’s Position Data Query on our Survey Portal.

  • This interactive tool allows users to select a position along with cuts of the data, and then a printer-friendly page of selected results will be immediately available.

  • CLICK HERE to view a sample of the Position Data Query, including the types of cuts available by position and the presentation format.

Significant Features

Of the Croner Local Media Survey

  • Sales compensation data for local advertising sales drawn from multiple industries and platforms

  • Compensation for market management positions

  • Compensation for local television and radio station programming and operations positions

  • Practices and Policies reported include short-term and long-term incentive plan prevalence, types and key features

  • Data cuts by industry, region and market size

  • Tools for Analysis include Paired Comparison and Titles Matched reports

  • Interim Merit Budget Survey conducted in August is included in participation fee

  • Results delivered online via our secure Survey Portal, which allows you to download presentation-ready reports for every position (for all results and/or specific cuts)

  • Annual Trends Report, presented to participant companies at annual Survey Planning Meeting

  • Comprehensive position descriptions, updated annually to mirror industry changes

Key Dates and Survey Pricing

2026 Survey Schedule

Survey Planning Meeting: Thursday, March 19, 2026, New York, NY

Questionnaire Distribution: May

Data Effective Date: May 1

Questionnaire Due Date: June

Interim Salary Budget Survey: August

Full Report of Results Published: October

Confidentiality Yields Quality Results

The Croner Company conducts all of our surveys as an independent third party. You can trust us. We have many decades of experience successfully ensuring the security, confidentiality and consistency of the data we provide.

Confidentiality

All participant submissions are processed securely and held in strict confidence. Survey results are reported only in summary form; no attribution is made to any specific data from any participating entities.

Limited Distribution

Survey results are distributed only to the participants in each survey. All participants are required to sign an agreement that confirms they will abide by our confidentiality standards.

Antitrust Compliance

The Croner Company’s data aggregation and reporting practices adhere to industry-standard statistical methodologies consistent with the analytical framework articulated in the DOJ/FTC “Guidance for Human Resource Professionals” (October 2016) and with longstanding federal antitrust enforcement principles.

Secure Data Management

All of our data submission, storage and distribution practices adhere to privacy and security standards established by the U.S. National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the joint E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield Certification program. Click here for more information regarding our privacy policies.

Contact Croner

To Participate

To inquire about participating in this survey, contact us today.