What Does a Broadcast Traffic Coordinator Do?
Broadcast traffic coordinators assemble the daily log that tells a radio or TV station which commercial, promo or sponsor credit airs in each break, and they keep rival advertisers apart. Each morning, from the station office, they compare what aired with what was planned and send the proof to billing. Missed spots get rescheduled.
Also known as: Radio Traffic Director
Broadcast Traffic Coordinator Duties and Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of a broadcast traffic coordinator include:
- Build the daily program log, placing each commercial, promo and underwriting message in its correct slot.
- Enter new advertising orders and contract changes into traffic software such as WideOrbit or Marketron.
- Check that competing advertisers are kept apart in the log and that spot lengths fill each break exactly.
- Reconcile the aired log against the planned log each morning; reschedule spots that missed air.
- Prepare make-good offers for advertisers whose spots ran late, ran twice or did not air.
- Send affidavits of performance and aired-spot reports to billing so invoices go out on time.
- Track incoming commercial copy and audio files; chase agencies for missing material before air date.
- Schedule public service announcements, station promos and required station IDs around paid inventory.
- Answer account executives' questions about unsold inventory and which dayparts still have room.
- Update the log on short notice when breaking news, sports overruns or special programs push breaks.
Required Skills and Qualifications
To succeed as a broadcast traffic coordinator, you will need the following skills and qualifications:
- Traffic and billing software such as WideOrbit or Marketron
- Close attention to detail across long schedules
- Excel for inventory and discrepancy reports
- Working knowledge of FCC station identification rules
- Calm under deadline when the log changes late
- Clear, polite follow-up with agencies and sales staff
- Basic accounting sense for invoices and credits
- Familiarity with underwriting rules at public stations
Education and Training
Stations hiring for the traffic desk look first for comfort with scheduling software such as WideOrbit or Marketron and an eye for errors in long lists. High school is enough on paper, and the station's own system is taught in a few weeks on the job. Receptionists, board operators and sales assistants often move into the role from elsewhere in the building.
Salary and Job Outlook
Typical pay: varies widely for this role, and BLS does not publish pay for it separately. In the wider BLS group it belongs to (Media and Communication Workers, All Other), the middle half of earners made $49,790 to $103,820 a year, and the median was $73,620.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Media and Communication Workers, All Other.
BLS projects employment in its catch-all group of other media and communication workers to grow about 4 percent from 2025 to 2035, with roughly 2,000 openings a year. Hiring often is tied to the health of local advertising, but traffic coordinators always will be needed as long as stations sell airtime. Median pay for that wider group was about $73,600 in May 2025, and a traffic desk at a small station often pays below that middle figure.
Outlook source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035, Media and communication workers, all other.