integrated digital specialist

producer

journalist

content producer

Gray Television

If you work as a Technical Media Producer (a nonsense title that means nothing - a fancy way of saying you do the job of a Master Control Operator and a technical director), it's a thankless job where you'll work overnights, weekends and holidays for not enough pay. And most (but not all) the Anchors and Meteorologists look down on you and treat you like dirt that's just there to carry out their orders. 

Expect your home life to suffer because you'll be sleeping while everyone else is awake and working while everyone else is asleep. And because the position is a combination of at least two or three jobs, there's a lot expected of you.

Things are more stable now, but for years the station I worked at was always upgrading equipment and cross training employees to do each other's jobs which meant they could cut staff and streamline operations. That just meant you were nearly constantly on the chopping block and had to prove your worth. And now it feels like you're constantly understaffed, which is made worse when someone asks for time off and the manager doesn't adjust the schedule to account for their absence.

However the newsroom is worse. There's a lot of gossip and everyone can be very judgmental. There's an expectation that even if you have a lunch break, you won't take it, or you'll eat at your desk and keep working. So even if they say you work 8 hours a day, it's really 9-10 with no break.

Also, just about everyone there (in the newsroom and Master Control) has high blood pressure. They'll laugh and joke with you when things are slow, then lash out at you a moment later when they're starting to feel stressed. They chalk these emotional outburst up as just the nature of the business, when it's obviously really that they don't have the fortitude to handle the stress of the job. But they'll keep taking it out on you anyway.

It's a very stressful environment with no room for advancement whatsoever, and raises are very few and far between (and they're usually not very much anyway). 

The management also won't stick up for employee concerns when it comes to dealing with the corporate overlords either, so expect your comments and concerns to go unheard.

After I worked at KY3 for three days, I knew it was a mistake taking the job. If you are looking to grow your career, this is not the place to work. You will be used as a commodity. Once your training is complete (if you are lucky enough to have quality training) you will be expected to perform mistake free. The toxic work environment is a problem because they pretend to care and backstab you as soon as you turn around. The sad thing is they did it to each other as well. They seemingly hated one another. They have all been used up and jaded by the system. The upper management is disconnected from the staff. Every once in a while you might get a thank you by having some free pizza for you hard work. I don’t think free pizza makes up for the work we were asked to do. How about just paying us a livable wage so we can buy food we actually want to eat. Also, I never had time to eat it before it got cold because I couldn’t get up from my seat due to so much work on a skeleton crew. The people that have been working there have been there for so long they have normalized the unsustainable workload and have no sympathy with new people and expect you to deal with the same as they have. For less pay. 

If you are a professional and have made it past the first stages of the News TV business, you understand the meat grinder that it is. You have to be very tough. A daily report of your duties in detail as well as the happenings of the newscasts needs to be made at the end of each shift. In the reports, you end up listing your mistakes and others that made mistakes that caused a problem for you. The issue is reporting on yourself negatively. You don’t have an opportunity to showcase the great things you do in the report because those boxes don’t exist. It’s a constant critique of employees at this place. Good luck to you if you accepted the job offer already.

My days start and end with some form of a panic attack. I answer most clients interested with advertising with a no, because they don't have money to afford it. Long days with no respect-I have a masters degree, and am treated like I know nothing. Management is inconsistent and constantly changing the rules. There is no guidance on how to do your job, and their training is a train wreak! ALL management cares about is money-its like being a used car salesman everyday all day (even if they don't want you to think of yourself that way). They spend more time trying to get into peoples pockets than listening to their needs. They dismiss the work that an in company digital marketing team do. I feel like I am selling lemons all day-I know the products are subpar (my opinion), however, they push so hard to sell. I have terrible anxiety, and face being constantly picked at about why I am not selling fast enough, I need to sell digital, and having others successes pushed into my face. Staff has elitist attitudes and refuse to hear others out. Its a long work day, and I am living pay check to pay check-I got my masters degree to prevent this, and now I make less than I did at my other position. I wish I had seen into my future when I applied/accepted this job, because I would never have taken it. No one cares about your mental health, be prepared to be a cog in the wheel-you have no other purpose to them to sell, and when you can't, they will find some other poor sole to do it.   

Honestly, this was BY FAR the worst job I have ever had and pray to never have another one like it. Employee morale and management is a HUGE issue and will always be until they gut the place from the top up and start over. I never thought I'd be saying this about a company as it should never be able to get to this point, but it's the absolute truth. Those in charge have been for a while and I am convinced do not have any reasonable or genuine sort of leadership or compassion for their employees. They are going to do what they want to do regardless of who they lie to and hurt to get there. I read reviews similar to this before taking the job and wished I would have taken them seriously. I thought there was no way a place could be so immoral. While at WVLT, I was left with a bunch of unfulfilled promises and taken full advantage of. Please AVOID at all costs. No job is worth your happiness. I have moved on from this place and have finally found how a true newsroom should operate and what true leadership and support feels like. No job is perfect (not even this new position) but WVLT runs a whole different environment that I personally do not feel should be acceptable.

A bad leader can take a good staff and destroy it, causing even the best employees to flee and the remainder to lose all motivation.

If you like high stress, living under bright lights, sitting at a desk all day and over-paying for microwavable food, you'll love it here.

Your hours will fluctuate wildly since they're understaffed. And you won't get the best shifts since the people doing those have been doing them for so long. 

Small amenities are awful - Styrofoam cups, half-ply toilet paper, over priced market with candy and chips. They don't do family meals unless someone has a going away party or it's a holiday. 

It also seems like there's consistently people getting sick. I guess disease management is lacking. 

The pay is extremely underwhelming considering what you're doing - managing breaking news, writing for a minimum of six hours until going live, working insane hours and working on a software that seems to be a decade old.  

A station of this caliber makes millions of dollars off the backs of low paid employees. 

There are some toxic people too. People who lack motivation and don't want to be there so they drag down everyone around them.

Otherwise, this place is great. :| 



Gray purchased a family owned, dominant, number one, legacy, local tv station. Within the first year, 12 people were laid off. Employees were assured the purging was complete. The next year, 37 people were laid off and the worst choice for a manager was given control. Several more employees quickly left or paid out of their contracts just to get free from the news director and general manager.

The employee formula here now is a common one: hire straight out of college as they will likely take a low salary. Then give them small equipment so they must do everything themselves and then work them until they burn out. Push them into leaving and rinse/ repeat.

Gray tv corporate has a reputation in other markets for this behavior to smaller extents. Would be one of, if not the last television companies I could recommend working with in my many years of television. Just would not be comfortable looking over my shoulder for drama from management and the uncertainty of long term stability. The paychecks did not bounce however and although the heath benefits were barely usable, they too were never rejected in the medical network.

What is the best part of working at the company?
There are a lot of perks. Great health insurance. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The management at my station was not cohesive. Each manager wanted it their way but would never effectively communicate it to the other managers or employees. It makes performing tasks very difficult. This is all at my particular station. It may be different at a different location. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Work work work. There were a lot of times I worked at home after hours or even off the clock (because they limited overtime). My job requires at least two of me sometimes. It felt like it was almost expected and required to work outside business hours and answer emails at all times. There is not a clear separation between work and personal life. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I get in at 8:00am and don’t leave until right at or after 6:00 pm most days. Then a lot of times I would even have to work when I got home. I was exhausted 24/7 and stressed all the time. I noticed my mental health and over all personality started to change.

Training with Gray corporate was excellent - very detailed and the trainers truly seemed to care about helping you succeed. Once you complete the training program though, the local management at KWCH was severely lacking. They literally give me a phone book and told me to call every business in there until I found someone who wanted to meet. Then offered little to no support after that.

Insurance is expensive, base pay does not meet cost of living, and the only way you make commissions is AFTER you meet ridiculously high sales goals. Example: for every $1000 you make them, you only make $50. All while you are struggling to pay for basic needs. How do they expect people to be happy to sell when they are struggling to survive? And if you're good at your job, then they will cut your commissions in half because they can't have you eating into their profits like that.

Hours are flexible, but only for certain people. Management plays favorites and requires some people to be in office Mon-Fri 8-5 while others get to work remotely whenever they want. Just don't do it.

1.Typical day at work was troubleshooting technical issues within the studio complex, news department, microwave transmissions, transmitter issues atop Sharps Ridge, as well as technical training to videographer staff as it relates to camera operation and calibration
2.What was learned- aspects of various video equipment of use in both studio and outside of studio as it relates to reporter usage of equipment given of equipment type.
3.Manaaged overall technical operations throughout all newscast as well as day to day operations. 
4. C0-Workers- appreciated the time I took to show them equipment attributes and how to fully utilize the equipment out in the field for maximum utilization of efficiency.
5.Hardest Part of Job- Troubleshooting technical issues as it relates to on air events that are occurring and provide solutions in a timely manner.
6.Satisfaction in knowing that I could assist someone that uses the equipment in the field as well as making sure the equipment was within operational specifications prior to usage.

This television station is the gold standard of television stations. It has hte product and toys of a large market with the feel of a small town. There's a nice balance of recent college graduates and experienced journalists who all learn from another. The investigative unit is solid and can run circles around bigger units in bigger cities with a much bigger staff. General assignment reporters benefit from the example of their enterprised-centric reporting and become day-turn investigators themselves. Reporters and producers often make the jump to Atlanta or anywhere they choose to go after a three year stint in this newsroom. It's like journalism bootcamp, and it's not for the faint of heart, but if you're passionate about news and are eager to learn, this is the best first or second market out there. Hands down. There's a reason those in senior positions don't tend to leave. Oh, and the new building is spectacular. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Integrated digital specialist 10 salaries reported	$44,800 per year
Producer 5 salaries reported	$51,200 per year
Journalist 3 salaries reported	$66,667 per year
Content producer 1 salary reported	$23,000 per year

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