# How much do you figure TV weather people get paid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 20, 2017, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417 "2017-06-20T03:13:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/1 "2017-06-20T03:13:27Z")
Both CBC and CTV Ottawa have had the same weather person for like 30 years. I’m not kidding. I get my weather from the internet. I used to have to watch these guys, but I don’t any more, and why would anyone wait for the evening news when you have the weather at your fingertips? What do these guys get paid, and why? I have a feeling they make more money by being the goofy sidekick at charity events. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/2 "2017-06-20T03:40:24Z")
I work with someone whose daughter is the local weather reporter for a local TV channel. Somewhere in Virginia or one of the Carolinas. She does not earn much. Less than $50,000 per year and she has been doing it for several years. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/3 "2017-06-20T03:51:08Z")
Google “what do weathermen make” and you’ll see some stats. There are so many variables: size of TV market/city, tenure, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/4 "2017-06-20T09:49:47Z")
I’m pretty sure weather is still the big driver of local news ratings. Viewership is on the decline, so more and more people are deciding it’s _not_ important, but the people who do watch still care about the weather report. The Ottawa-Gatineau market isn’t _huge_ (I found a list of North American TV markets that places it between Providence and Fresno) so I wouldn’t expect that they get paid massively, although maybe seniority counts for something. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/5 "2017-06-20T10:00:28Z")
Weather people, and TV reporters in general, are like actors. A small number of them make a large amount of money, but the vast majority make very little. Like Wal-Mart type wages. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/6 "2017-06-20T10:08:13Z")
Yes, is the presenter there as a pretty face (remember that Sarah Palin once did this job) or as an expert meteorologist (as on the BBC)? The latter will have considerable input to the broadcast; the former none. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/7 "2017-06-20T11:21:02Z")
They’re all billed as meteorologists, and at one point that may have been true. But seriously, I could look at the internet now for a minute and give an equally impressive TV performance. These people are no longer prognosticators; they’re actors. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/8 "2017-06-20T11:21:30Z")
In most markets, the TV weather presenter is not a full-time position. The person often is employed elsewhere, and comes in a few hours before airtime to prepare the on-camera presentation. Nowadays, TV weather people are almost always degree meteorologists, and may be employed in public or private forecasting. Often, the staff meteorologist at the local airport. Although, there are quite a few TV stations that have, over the years, hyped weather into something that people really need to know about, and have a long-standing tradition of a high-profile personality associated with the weather. But even them, the weather person will not make much more than a staff news reporter, and certainly less than the news anchor. When I was a news anchor, I lived in a one-room apartment and drove a ten year old car. It doesn’t take very long for a cute girl to learn to write temperatures on a map, but in the current paradigm, even a staff beat reporter needs a degree in journalism to get his resume looked at. And universities are full of young women with big hair and sparkly eyes who want to grow up to be a weathergirl or news anchorette. Here where I live, the weatherman is a proper meteorologist, been here forever, and probably the best recognized TV personality in town. He’s fuill-time staffer, on the air at 6 and 11, and 24 hours on the OTA channel devoted to infotraqsh and exercise equipment ads. But I doubt if he makes any more money than any of his fellow employees who wear a necktie to work. ---
**Author:** ![Theodore\_Striker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Theodore\_Striker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theodore_Striker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/9 "2017-06-20T12:53:27Z")
They make less than one would expect, usually less than 50K in a mid-sized market, unless they are a chief meteorologist, and that is with a degree, and often with a certification. The same goes for most people that are not in anchor positions, such as field reporters, and for the majority of newspaper journalists, radio personalities, and digital reporters (I’ve been lucky enough to work with them all). Most of them understand going in that they are not going to make a fortune doing this, they just want to be in the business, and generally really enjoy what they do. Most of the time the path to more money is relocation to a bigger market, which also means starting over in regards to community relations. Many of those community relations events are not paid either, but personalities are expected to attend them because they help drive eyes and ears to that station/ paper/ website. the better ratings and following you have, the more power that you have when it comes time for contract negotiations. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/10 "2017-06-20T13:13:08Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > In most markets, the TV weather presenter is not a full-time position. The person often is employed elsewhere, and comes in a few hours before airtime to prepare the on-camera presentation. Nowadays, TV weather people are almost always degree meteorologists, and may be employed in public or private forecasting. Often, the staff meteorologist at the local airport. No, not real meteorologists. I’d say that about 25% of TV weatherpeople are real meteorologists. Probably less. Read their biographies. If their degree is from Mississippi State, they’re not real meteorologists. That’s an online degree in “Broadcast Meteorology” which is intended for TV people. It isn’t 50% of what a real meteorologist studies. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/11 "2017-06-20T13:23:42Z")
In the southern Midwest, where tornados are prevalent during the months of April through June [Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa], people rely heavily on their local weather to keep them informed about deadly storms. I would expect that almost all of the local stations have full fledged meteorologist on staff and they heavily invest in the latest radar technology. For true weather nuts, this is the big time. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/12 "2017-06-20T13:29:46Z")
Anyone notice that the gals on **The Weather Channel** are always pregnant? What’s goin’ on over there? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/13 "2017-06-20T14:23:24Z")
[This link says that](http://frostsnow.com/cecily-tynan-awards-prove-why-he-has-earned-such-a-huge-net-worth-and-salary-in-her-career) the local, long time Philadelphia weather caster makes $400,000 per year. I think she does some other shows for the local channel, though. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/14 "2017-06-20T14:34:18Z")
If you ask my dad they all make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and they’re not making any sort of scientific prediction they are just making it up and have no idea when it’s going to rain and it’s a conspiracy to ruin his goddamn life. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/15 "2017-06-20T15:05:27Z")
> **[Salaries of TV Weathermen](https://work.chron.com/salaries-tv-weathermen-5537.html)** > > TV weather forecasters use scientific knowledge and training to deliver weather news. A college degree in meteorology, charismatic personality and hard work is essential for success. > **[Meteorologist: Salary, Job Description and Requirements](https://work.chron.com/television-meteorologists-salary-5936.html)** > > A television meteorologist's salary can vary greatly, depending on where they are in their career. A meteorologist who is just starting can expect to earn much less than one with years of experience. So, it varies a lot. From just above living wages to serious money. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/16 "2017-06-20T15:36:17Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Anyone notice that the gals on **The Weather Channel** are always pregnant? > > What’s goin’ on over there? 😉 I suspect it has more to do with those women finally having a job that provides health/maternity benefits and halfway livable income than whatever porn fantasy you might be imagining. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/17 "2017-06-20T15:50:38Z")
According to [this site](http://salaryandnetworth.com/al-roker-the-man-for-all-seasons/), which I’m sure is totally researched and reliable, Al Roker makes $8 million/year. To be fair, that sounds about right. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/18 "2017-06-20T15:52:21Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > If you ask my dad … I would like to subscribe to your Dad’s newsletter. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/19 "2017-06-20T15:58:05Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > In the southern Midwest, where tornados are prevalent during the months of April through June [Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa], people rely heavily on their local weather to keep them informed about deadly storms. I would expect that almost all of the local stations have full fledged meteorologist on staff and they heavily invest in the latest radar technology. For true weather nuts, this is the big time. We get plenty of tornadoes here in South Dakota too. Just last week, there were seven reported in one day. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417/20 "2017-06-20T16:10:19Z")
There was the sad case of Bob Harris: > [@](#): > > [People Magazine, 1979] For New York weatherman Bob Harris, January 18 was a day to remember. “It was windy and very cold,” he recalls, “but it couldn’t match the terror in my soul.” Before the day was out, Harris was fired as meteorologist for both the New York Times and WCBS radio in New York. After 10 years as a professional weatherman, Harris had been caught in a serious lie. He had never earned the doctorate in geophysics from Columbia University that he had claimed. In fact, he had nothing but a high school diploma. “I was so ashamed,” says Harris, 39. “I was publicly disgraced. I went from $75,000 a year to zip. I had lost everything.” [http://people.com/archive/weatherman-bob-harris-was-only-off-one-degree-but-the-mistake-nearly-cost-him-his-career-vol-11-no-7/](http://people.com/archive/weatherman-bob-harris-was-only-off-one-degree-but-the-mistake-nearly-cost-him-his-career-vol-11-no-7/) Not TV, but radio and newspaper; I expect TV is the same. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-figure-tv-weather-people-get-paid/789417.md?page=2)