Women Held 1 in 5 Radio GM Roles in 2024, MIW Study Finds

By Cameron Coats

Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio‘s annual Gender Analysis Study reveals mixed results for female leadership in radio management. While there was marked growth in sales roles, Program Director positions remain a hurdle.

The study, which tracks General Manager, Sales Manager, and Program Director/Brand Manager roles, is based on PrecisionTrak data collected from 11,215 AM and FM radio stations across the US.

In 2024, 21.67% of radio stations had women in General Manager roles, a slight decrease from the previous year but a notable increase from just 14.9% in 2004. In the top 100 markets, women held 22.92% of these roles, which is also down slightly from 2023 but still higher than the national average.

Sales management continues to provide the most opportunities for women, with 35.67% of stations having female Sales Managers in 2024. This marks an increase from 34.37% in 2023. The top 100 markets showed even stronger growth, with 42.94% of stations featuring women in sales management, up significantly from 35.16% the previous year.

Program Director/Brand Manager roles remain the most challenging area for female advancement, with women holding 12.38% of these positions, a small increase from 11.50% in 2023. In the top 100 markets, female representation in these roles rose to 11.23%, up from 2023’s figures.

MIW Board President Sheila Kirby commented, “While we are encouraged by the progress in sales management and programming, the overall numbers show that there is still significant work to be done. Leadership opportunities for women in radio must continue to grow, and our mission at MIW remains steadfast – empowering, mentoring, and advocating for more women to rise into key decision-making roles across the industry.”

Courtesy of Radio Ink