NAPERVILLE, Ill.—Media industry employers are continuing their multiyear trend of increasing salaries for all worker segments but lag general industry raises, said Content and Connectivity Human Resources (C2HR).
The company’s research data, published this month, reveals that 2025 merit increases, which are part of company salary adjustment budgets, averaged 3.1% for broadband connectivity employers (slightly less than last year’s 3.3%). Among content creators, 2025 merit increases for employees also averaged 3.3%, slightly higher than last year’s 3.2%.
“Year after year, our members prove that steady wage growth is part of this industry’s DNA,” said C2HR executive director Parthavi Das. “These increases demonstrate commitment to the skilled employees who power this industry and keep it moving forward.”
The research projects that salary increases in 2026 will remain consistent — 3.1% for connectivity companies and 3.2% for content creators. These increases slightly lag general industry salary raises of 3.7% in 2025 and 3.6% in 2026 (projected), as reported by World at Work.
“We were pleased to discover that even in these more challenging times, we saw consistent, rather than lower budgets year over year,” said Hali Croner, president and CEO of The Croner Company, which collected the data for C2HR. “This consistency demonstrates participants’ commitment to growing the compensation of their staffs.”
Besides merit increases, the research also reveals changes to company salary structures. Adjustments to salary structures are not based on performance, rather they apply across the defined salary ranges for each position, C2HR said.
In 2025, adjustments were mixed for content executives. Some companies reported 3.0% structure increases, and others none. On average, content developers adjusted salaries structures for exempt employees (generally mid-level managers and other salaried employees) by 3.3%; and nonexempt (hourly) employees by 3.2%.
Among connectivity providers, in 2025 respondents raised exempt employee salaries structures by 2.3% and hourly employees by 2.3%. None reported salary structure adjustments for executives, it said.
How do media industry merit budgets compare with other industries? “These budgets are consistent with other industry findings,” said Croner. “As with all averages, the flat results include reduced budgets, increased budgets and flat budgets. We saw this mix across all of the industries we study.”
More information is available on the company’s website.
