Female GMs Rise in 2019 MIW Annual Gender Analysis Study

RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, February 13, 2020

The Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio Group

The Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio (MIW) Group has released its annual MIW Gender Analysis Study, which specifically tracks the progress of female professionals holding General Manager, Sales Manager and Program Director posts. This study has been consistently released, utilizing the same methodology since 2000 and the 2019 study are reflective of 11,225 AM and FM radio stations across America, using PrecisionTrak radio industry data (precisiontrak.com) as of December 31, 2019.

General Managers: 19.5% (2189 stations) had women holding the General Manager position in 2019. This is an increase of almost a half of percentage point from 2018, which was 19.05%. Notably this number continues to show consistent growth from 2004, when the percentage of female GMs was only 14.9%. In the top 100 markets, the number of women serving as GMs continues to run slightly higher than the national average and most importantly shows very positive growth year-over-year. In 2019, 21.1% (744 stations) in these larger markets were managed by women, which compares to 19.2% in 2018.

Sales Managers: Overall, the best management opportunities for women in radio continue to be in sales management. 33.1% (3,715 stations) had a woman Sales Manager in 2019, and that number is up a half a share point from 32.6% in 2018. In the top 100 markets, 34.77% (1,225 stations) had women serving as Sales Managers in 2019, a solid increase from 32.97% in 2018. Again the numbers in larger markets run slightly higher than the national average.

Program Directors: The greatest challenge for women in radio management continues to be in the area of PD. Women currently program only 11.62% (1,304 stations) versus 10.6% last year. However, on a positive note, this is the first time this number has grown in fourteen years. In the top 100 markets, the news is better as female programmers represent 13.30% of the total number of Program Directors; showing nice growth from 11.47% in 2018.

MIW National Spokeswoman Denyse Mesnik said, "The MIW Gender Analysis Study is the impetus for the MIW's mentoring programs that serve female professionals in all aspects of the radio industry. When the numbers on our annual analysis rise, as they did slightly this year, we work even harder to encourage and mentor our female colleagues who are striving for, and/or have achieved, management positions in radio."