Will AI replace Media Programming Directors?
AI reaches most of this job’s work.
57/100
Very high exposure
More exposed to AI than 88% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 3% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 71% of the work
What the job involves
Direct and coordinate activities of personnel engaged in preparation of radio or television station program schedules and programs, such as sports or news.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Already happening(1)
- Review information about programs and schedules to ensure accuracy and provide such information to local media outlets.
Within reach(15)
- Monitor and review programming to ensure that schedules are met, guidelines are adhered to, and performances are of adequate quality.
- Check completed program logs for accuracy and conformance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules and regulations and resolve program log inaccuracies.
- Plan and schedule programming and event coverage, based on broadcast length, time availability, and other factors, such as community needs, ratings data, and viewer demographics.
- Direct and coordinate activities of personnel engaged in broadcast news, sports, or programming.
- Develop promotions for current programs and specials.
and 10 more
Out of reach(7)
- Read news, read or record public service and promotional announcements, or perform other on-air duties.
- Operate and maintain on-air and production audio equipment.
- Perform personnel duties, such as hiring staff and evaluating work performance.
- Select, acquire, and maintain programs, music, films, and other needed materials and obtain legal clearances for their use as necessary.
- Conduct interviews for broadcasts.
and 2 more
Also called
News Director · Program Manager · Sports Director · Newscast Director · Programming Director · Program Supervisor · Broadcast Content Manager · Production Director
Related jobs
What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics