> What are they? I was reading a Radio & Records article
> about traffic directors and realized that I simply do not
> know what they do. I would have thought, probably
> incorrectly, that traffic news would simply be a matter of
> reading updates provided by a city's traffic/metro
> department.
No. You're not the first person to think that. Every time a station advertises for a traffic director someone sends in a cover letter saying they're qualified because they know the city's streets.
> So what are the duties of the following:
>
> * traffic director
> * traffic manager
Enters all sales orders, schedules all advertising, and bills advertisers. It's called traffic because you're managing all of the different business types and keeping competing businesses separated in the breaks while making sure that all of their spots play.
In small operations, there's one person doing this; in larger groups, there's 3 or 4 people doing the data entry and scheduling with the traffic manager/director overseeing and okaying the final logs.
> * group traffic head
Oversees a group of stations or a region.
> * traffic business manager
Does traffic plus responsible for the station's accounting and payroll.
Traffic used to be where the station would promote the receptionist after that person started asking for more money. It's turned into one of the most important positions in the radio station. When you find someone that's good in traffic you treat them like gold, because they're hard to find. It's also a position where it's easy to burn out.
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...co-moderator of the Satellite Radio, Phoenix, and San Diego boards...
