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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Media Programming Directors?
Task-level automation exposure for Media Programming Directors: 23 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
48%
weighted task index
23 of 23 tasks scored
Median Salary
$90,360 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
High
143,120 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+4.0%
employment change
12,100 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 51 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$38,820 – $129,790
Highest medians
California $129,790
New Jersey $119,840
New York $107,550
District of Columbia $104,270
Connecticut $88,260
Lowest medians
Arkansas $38,820
West Virginia $46,660
Mississippi $48,100
Puerto Rico $48,820
Nebraska $52,580
State figures come from the 27-2012 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 48%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 10%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 54%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 5%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 9/100
Low
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
23 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 26%
6 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 38%
8 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 36%
9 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Constituent Tasks
#7680 · Core · 22% automatable
Operate and maintain on-air and production audio equipment.
physical manipulation — Broadcast equipment operation is hands-on hardware work
Operate communications, transmissions, or broadcasting equipment. Maintain recording or broadcasting equipment.
#7665 · Core · 82% automatable
Check completed program logs for accuracy and conformance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules and regulations and resolve program log inaccuracies.
data analysis — Maintain production activity logs from inputs
Maintain logs of production activities.
#7679 · Core · 50% automatable
Read news, read or record public service and promotional announcements, or perform other on-air duties.
text generation — News drafting assisted; reporting and delivery human
Report news to the public.
#7664 · Core · 55% automatable
Direct and coordinate activities of personnel engaged in broadcast news, sports, or programming.
interpersonal — Coordinating editors needs human scheduling and persuasion
Coordinate reporting or editing activities.
#7663 · Core · 45% automatable
Monitor and review programming to ensure that schedules are met, guidelines are adhered to, and performances are of adequate quality.
decision support — Content curation aided; editorial accountability human
Manage content of broadcasts or presentations.
#7675 · Core · 55% automatable
Prepare copy and edit tape so that material is ready for broadcasting.
visual inspection — AI assists cuts; editorial and technical judgment human
Edit audio or video recordings.
#7667 · Core · 28% automatable
Coordinate activities between departments, such as news and programming.
interpersonal — Managing arts departments is creative leadership and relationships
Manage operations of artistic or entertainment departments or organizations.
#7668 · Core · 32% automatable
Perform personnel duties, such as hiring staff and evaluating work performance.
decision support — Selection judgment and accountability remain human
Select staff, team members, or performers.
#7666 · Core · 28% automatable
Establish work schedules and assign work to staff members.
interpersonal — Managing arts departments is creative leadership and relationships
Manage operations of artistic or entertainment departments or organizations.
#7674 · Core · 58% automatable
Develop promotions for current programs and specials.
text generation — Promotional strategy drafted; human tailors and approves
Develop promotional strategies or plans.
#7662 · Core · 72% automatable
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.
text generation — Content selection aided; audience judgment human
Determine presentation subjects or content.
#7673 · Core · 45% automatable
Monitor network transmissions for advisories concerning daily program schedules, program content, special feeds, or program changes.
decision support — Content curation aided; editorial accountability human
Manage content of broadcasts or presentations.
#7676 · Core · 72% automatable
Develop ideas for programs and features that a station could produce.
text generation — Content selection aided; audience judgment human
Determine presentation subjects or content.
#7672 · Core · 60% automatable
Select, acquire, and maintain programs, music, films, and other needed materials and obtain legal clearances for their use as necessary.
data analysis — Materials inventory records and forecasting automatable
Select materials or props. Maintain inventories of materials, equipment, or products.
#7669 · Core · 72% automatable
Evaluate new and existing programming to assess suitability and the need for changes, using information such as audience surveys and feedback.
text generation — Content selection aided; audience judgment human
Determine presentation subjects or content.
#7683 · Core · 25% automatable
Conduct interviews for broadcasts.
interpersonal — Journalistic interviewing requires human presence
Interview others for news or entertainment purposes.
#7671 · Core · 58% automatable
Confer with directors and production staff to discuss issues, such as production and casting problems, budgets, policies, and news coverage.
interpersonal — Ongoing production discussion requires shared human context
Discuss production content and progress with others.
#7678 · Core · 85% automatable
Review information about programs and schedules to ensure accuracy and provide such information to local media outlets.
data analysis — Data accuracy verification is rule-based and reliable
Verify accuracy of data.
#7681 · Core · 25% automatable
Direct setup of remote facilities and install or cancel programs at remote stations.
physical manipulation — Broadcast equipment operation is hands-on hardware work
Operate communications, transmissions, or broadcasting equipment.
#7670 · Supplemental · 28% automatable
Develop budgets for programming and broadcasting activities and monitor expenditures to ensure that they remain within budgetary limits.
interpersonal — Managing arts departments is creative leadership and relationships
Manage operations of artistic or entertainment departments or organizations.
#7682 · Supplemental · 25% automatable
Cue announcers, actors, performers, and guests.
interpersonal — Directing live productions requires human leadership
Direct productions or performances.
#7684 · Supplemental · 45% automatable
Act as a liaison between talent and directors, providing information that performers or guests need to prepare for appearances and communicating relevant information from guests, performers, or staff to directors.
decision support — AI aids logistics planning; on-site event execution human
Coordinate logistics for productions or events.
#7677 · Supplemental · 30% automatable
Participate in the planning and execution of fundraising activities.
interpersonal — Fundraising requires relationships, persuasion, and donor accountability
Direct fundraising or financing activities.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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