Gray Television – “A lot of responsibility; not a lot of compensation”

Pros

Room to gain experience for larger markets
A foot in the door for local television
Some benefits (health, dental)
Possible overtime

Cons

VERY low compensation - think fast food wages
Tons of responsibility
Repetitive tasks
Middle-management for the MCOs was overbearing and exhibited rampant favoritism
Little opportunity for advancement within the same market

Despite all of this, many of my co-workers really wanted to be there. All of these people had four-year degrees in film and/or television and were chomping at the bit to work for $8.65/hr. I guess everyone had grandiose plans to transfer to larger markets and eventually work for Turner or Fox, but it was certainly a soul-killing environment and not for me.

Advice to Senior Management

If you want to recruit people who are interested in doing their jobs well and share in the mission of the company, you need to pay more.