Four years ago, when things were so tough, media people were thankful just to have jobs. Two years ago, the economy was improving but salary freezes were widespread. Media buyers and planners, while happy to be working, complained their salaries were lagging.

Finally this year Media Life can report a rising level of satisfaction with salaries among media planners and buyers.

That’s one of the key findings of a wide-ranging Media Life salary survey that was recently posted. Media people are indeed generally happier this year with their pay and benefits than they were last summer, when they responded to a similar survey.

That rise in satisfaction, moreover, seems to be the cumulative effect of several decent to good years for media, rather than the result of any one factor. Respondents didn't report any big bumps in salary. While there are more jobs available, many with raises attached, those increases have not trickled out among those already working in media jobs.

But satisfaction is up nonetheless.

We asked, “How do you rate your agency in terms of fairness in compensation?” and 41.4 percent said they were satisfied with their salary and benefits. That’s compared to just 34 percent who said they were satisfied last year when asked the same question.

While last year 48 percent described themselves as “Less than satisfied,” this year that percentage fell to 42.5 percent.

Interestingly, the biggest gains in salary satisfaction were at big and small agencies. Media planners and buyers at mid-size agencies were not any happier.

We asked respondents whether they worked for a large, medium or small agency. We then asked each group to rate their satisfaction with their salary.

This year 39 percent of small-agency employees said they were happy or very happy with their salaries, compared with 33 percent last year. Among large agency workers, 40 percent said they were happy or very happy with their salaries, compared with 29 percent last year.

Meanwhile, at medium-sized agencies, satisfaction levels were about the same as last year at 32 percent.

The Media Life survey found that what raises are being given out appear to be modest. Readers were asked whether they thought media salaries in general are rising.

The largest group, 40 percent, answered that while people are getting raises, those raises are about what they received the prior year. That 40 percent level is even with last year's result.

Some 39 percent see a slightly brighter picture, agreeing with the statement: “Yes, but modestly. Top people are getting decent raises but it hasn’t trickled down.” That’s up from 35 percent last year, suggesting modest improvement in raises.

Media Life then asked respondents to describe salary conditions in their own agencies. The question: "Have things changed compared with last year in terms of who’s getting raises and how much?"

Four in 10 respondents--40.6 percent--reported seeing no change. That's compared to 36 percent who reported no change last year.

Nearly a third, 31.5 percent, said that felt they had somewhat more leverage in salary negotiations compared to a year ago. That's actually down from 33.7 percent last year.

Just 16.1 percent felt their leverage had improved noticeably, agreeing with the statement: "I have more leverage this year than last. My agency is willing to pay more and I received a nice bump." Last year that figure was 15.9 percent.

By contrast, 12 percent reported that their agency was still in a salary freeze. That's a little better than last year, when the figure was 14 percent.