There is an entire department at every radio station that is dedicated to traffic. The traffic director oversees this department.
It is the responsibility of the radio station’s sales department to secure revenue for the station by soliciting businesses to buy blocks of advertising time. The radio traffic department coordinates with the production department to make sure that these commercials are either produced or dubbed (if the advertisers have already produced their commercials) and then schedules these advertisements for on-air broadcast.
In putting together a commercial log, the traffic director has to consider the time window that the advertiser has purchased airtime for (such as weekdays between 7am and 12pm); what other types of commercials are in a block (because two competing businesses are not supposed to have commercials that air next to each other); and the length of each commercial relative to how much time is allotted for commercial airplay in an hour. All these elements must be coordinated.
If an advertiser’s commercial is not aired according to the specifications outlined in the airtime purchase, the advertiser can request its money back and the radio station will lose revenue.
A traffic director’s salary depends upon the size of the radio station and its market. Being a traffic director at a large radio station in a top market (such as in a major city like New York) will pay more than a smaller range radio station in a lesser market. The average salary for a radio traffic director is $46,000.