[quote="mikeS"]First of all John, how does one "pilot" a balloon.[/quote] Actually, on the surface it's quite simple... "on" it goes up, "off" it comes down. Seriously, there's somewhat more involved than that - you actually have to have more instructional airtime before you can solo than you need to fly fixed-wing. [quote="mikeS"]parachuting GI Joe "pilot" - USA inside joke. Does not translate in Canadian.[/quote] Actually if you're in the US, everything eventually translates to Canadian... just take off 20%. Even citizenship will some day! :)

Mike, looking at my last pay check (3% raise goes into effect this next pay period), a full time TD would make over $73k a year. Add OT, I know lot of guys bringing in 6 digits, but they are work-aholics and never see their family. --- Dan

Yeah Dan, I was one of the whiners. But basically it was because none of us knew any better (we were mushrooms - kept in the dark and fed crap). But I finally bit the bullet and left. The irony is, one year later the sports division of my company offered to bring me back in house at more than double my previous pay. And I still turned 'em down! And because I'm curious (though not interested), what would the pay range be for the #1 station in a #6-ish market? Mike

Yup Mike, I agree with your "if you're miserable and wondering...get your head out of the sand and find out." I am so glad that I am finally doing what I want now, I love being in the freelance sports world. What I really hate when I'm working at a news station, isn't so much the work (& lousy pay), but hearing about how miserable the people are, and seeing all their fellow coworkers around them getting laid off every other week (cause news is declining faster than the stock market did after 2000), and thinking that this is the end of their life. All I keep hearing is about there's going to be no jobs, cause a computer is taking over, and 1 person is going to be doing the job of 10 soon (if not already). As long as there is TV, there will always be jobs, it's just a matter of taking some responsibility for your life and finding that job that you can do. There is so much work out there in TV, a lot that pays very well, that no one should be "miserable." I walk into work with a happy face, whether in a truck with a switcher I've never seen, or the same old 4 hour morning news cast I'm doing in my sleep (yes, I have fallen asleep many a time in front of the switcher, and woken up just in time for me to push the "CUT" button when the director says "Take one"). I almost feel bad when I talk to some of my news coworkers about how good I have it, when they complain about why the anchor can't sit down 5 minutes before the news cast so he/she can be shaded..... FIVE MINUTES!!?? That's a life time in TV, give me a break, try taping the open 5 mins before the show, and then 5 seconds before hear the PxP guy say, "I don't like how that sounded, let's do it live," and have to call up all your effects, and the tape guys re-cue all their tapes, and the CG guys (OK there are a lot of gals out there too) call up their animations, before the director says "Fade up". So... there's a job for a morning TD at the FOX affiliate (#1 rated) in the SF market (#6, used to be #5), if anyone is interested (no, I didn't leave, the morning TD is fed up and leaving on his own, & I hope he gives me a call, cause he is one of the good news TD's). --- Dan

Well on a serious note (Dan) I don't really think I was taking a shot at news TDs. First I was taking a shot at some guy who, by his own admission, does not use this site but who wanted to post his job here. Why? Are the top TDs not beating down his door? And second, I've done news at the national level, and in my opinion A) sports is far more challenging B) the pay is much much better and C) as a general rule, you will have to know more to be a freelancer because there is far less support on the road. And when I left news, I had no idea what was out there, and sometimes I truly do shudder and think that if they had treated me a tiny bit better, I might still be there; miserable, and with no idea how much better things could be. So if you do news and love it - more power to you. But if you're miserable and wondering...get your head out of the sand and find out. Mike

1st of all, I don't think anyone should knock working at a news TV station, I've been working in news for quite a while now, and.... well I hate it, and I'm VERY happy working in the sports world now... BUT there are a lot of people who love working in the news environment, or who are starting out and are looking for some good TD experience. I have gotten so much training working at stations learning every aspect of the switchers, and getting paid for the training. Now, if I need training on any new switcher or piece of equipment out there, I have to go and work with someone else who does know how on my own time, or pay someone for training. I would never have gotten such great training from people like Bob Ennis, or my fellow co-workers outside a news station. Plus you have the contstant pay check coming in every other week, instead of the various checks the show up with 1 day of work one week, then 6 days of work the next, it's hard to have anything consistant being freelance. There is just so much work and different types of work out there, that there is something for everyone, and some people fit into different jobs and places and people better than others. So, now the pay pont. When I work at a TV news station (in SF, market #6, just slipped down from #5), I have an 8 hour day the pay is so low that when I work a 10 hour day (8 straight + 2 OT) it doesn't come close to my sports 10hr day. I'd have to work over 12 hours at a news station in order to break even with a 10hr sports gig. But, that given, if I were full time at a news station (like I used to be), I'd have a guaranteed 5 days a week, and paid vacations, and health & dental, & 401(k), I'd be making about the same... and then I'd get laid-off again. And of course, the SF market pay isn't that bad, but it's not middle 20's, we're top 5... damn... top 6! --- Dan

Yeah, it sounds like we're talking about the same place. They've gotten rid of the DDR and shader positions since you left, the TD took on both in addition to the stillstore, which is why it amazes me so much that they manage to get people to do it on a part-time wage. All the waiting around literally drove me crazy, looking back I think it was a lucky break for my sanity that I left when I did. I would have done anything to have spent some of that time working for Master Control or Engineering or editing or really ANYTHING other than staring at the wall.

Hey sahonen, I think I used to work as a camera op at the same place that you are talking about. I "moved up" and got promoted to running the DDR for a while. I think on a busy day I had to hit the spacebar 23 times in one hour. That was the fast paced part of my shift. THe other 3 hours I spent waiting around for the show to start. It was frustrating. Fortunately my husband got a new job and we had to move. :o)

First of all John, how does one "pilot" a balloon. As for salary, remember $50k Canadian is about $1.38 US. As for cold, I'll take Rockies cold any day over east coast cold + humidity. I think you'll find Hartford is almost the same latitude as Toronto. And of course anything past that is above the "death line" and uninhabitable by humans. I did make up that "mid 20s" number. Later I thought maybe it would be hi 20s, lo 30s? What say guys? What does a mid market news TD make (in the US - with real money)? Mike parachuting GI Joe "pilot" - USA inside joke. Does not translate in Canadian.

One local station (Minneapolis, #14 market) I worked at for a while had part-timers for most of their production staff, including a couple of the TDs. That's right, part-timers, as in had to work other gigs around town to make a living. I left when I found myself turning down a lot of day-rate gigs because I'd already committed myself to a puny 4 hour shift. I still have no idea how the morning people made a living on 25 hours a week without being able to work nights. I also have no idea where they found TDs who were willing to work the most FX-heavy show in the market and only get paid for a 5 hour shift.

OK, being from the "great white north" here, I detect a distinct lack of understanding of just what "cold" really is :) Seriously, though, are you kidding me? Mid 20s for a TD? Is that what a job in a market that "high" on the list would pay? I'm curious, I really have no idea of what it would pay in the US. Here in Edmonton, Canada, we're an "A" market of about 1million. We're probably #4 or 5 in the country. A news TD here would make somewhere between $40 and $55k/yr. And most shows in this market (other than mine :) ) are real snoozers for the TD. Minimal FX, mostly takes and dissolves and just for fun a chromakey for weather and a couple of splits for remotes. Snore. John Phillips Senior Director (and occasional sports TD) Citytv News at Six/News at Night Citytv Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

i agree, it would be nice to cut a show with only 2 or 3 transitions in the entire show

How come everyone who ever posts a TD job describes their newscast as fast paced? I want to work at Sloth TV. Ready...... One...... Never Mind.

now THAT was funny. thanks

I called the guy up and took the job.

So how do you really feel? :-)

Come to snowy Connecticut! Where prices are high and temps are low--year round. This is your chance to punch in a Top 28 market (working hard to be #27!) for, I dunno, mid-20s? No, not the temp - your salary! And that's full time 5 nights a week including holidays and weekends - guaranteed! And hey, maybe you can run down the road to Bristol and pound on the front door of ESPN. They live here too! I'm sure I have Seth M's home phone number around here somewhere?! And don't worry about a resume or reel, just knowing this website exists is proof enough for us! Act now and get a FREE pair of electric socks (new employees only, must be able to count to 5--sometimes backwards, must have one good eye, three fingers, and a minimum IQ of 70. No 60. What the hell, 47--it's just local news. Teeth optional - if we don't have to use the dental plan we pass the savings on to you!) Sometimes I have that nightmare where I'm still doing news.....(shudder)....