How to become a Broadcast Technician 2024

Broadcast Technician Set up, operate, and maintain the electronic equipment used to acquire, edit, and transmit audio and video for radio or television programs. Control and adjust incoming and outgoing broadcast signals to regulate sound volume, signal strength, and signal clarity. Operate satellite, microwave, or other transmitter equipment to broadcast radio or television programs.

Broadcast Technician is Also Know as

In different settings, Broadcast Technician is titled as

Audio Engineer
Board Operator
Broadcast Engineer
Broadcast Maintenance Engineer
Broadcast Operations Engineer
Broadcast Technician
Control Operator
Production Engineer

Education and Training of Broadcast Technician

Broadcast Technician is categorized in Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Broadcast Technician

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Education Required for Broadcast Technician

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Degrees Related to Broadcast Technician

Training Required for Broadcast Technician

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Broadcast Technician in different industries are

What Do Broadcast Technician do?

Maintain programming logs as required by station management and the Federal Communications Commission.
Control audio equipment to regulate volume and sound quality during radio and television broadcasts.
Monitor strength, clarity, and reliability of incoming and outgoing signals, and adjust equipment as necessary to maintain quality broadcasts.
Regulate the fidelity, brightness, and contrast of video transmissions, using video console control panels.
Observe monitors and converse with station personnel to determine audio and video levels and to ascertain that programs are airing.
Preview scheduled programs to ensure that signals are functioning and programs are ready for transmission.
Select sources from which programming will be received or through which programming will be transmitted.
Report equipment problems, ensure that repairs are made, and make emergency repairs to equipment when necessary and possible.
Record sound onto tape or film for radio or television, checking its quality and making adjustments where necessary.
Align antennae with receiving dishes to obtain the clearest signal for transmission of broadcasts from field locations.
Substitute programs in cases where signals fail.
Organize recording sessions and prepare areas, such as radio booths and television stations, for recording.
Instruct trainees in use of television production equipment, filming of events, and copying and editing graphics or sound onto videotape.
Schedule programming or read television programming logs to determine which programs are to be recorded or aired.
Edit broadcast material electronically, using computers.
Give technical directions to other personnel during filming.
Set up and operate portable field transmission equipment outside the studio.
Determine the number, type, and approximate location of microphones needed for best sound recording or transmission quality, and position them appropriately.
Design and modify equipment to employer specifications.
Prepare reports outlining past and future programs, including content.
Discuss production requirements with clients.
Produce educational and training films and videotapes by performing activities, such as selecting equipment and preparing scripts.
Monitor and log transmitter readings.
Play and record broadcast programs, using automation systems.
Set up, operate, and maintain broadcast station computers and networks.
Install broadcast equipment, troubleshoot equipment problems, and perform maintenance or minor repairs, using hand tools.
Make commercial dubs.
Develop employee work schedules.
Produce graphics for broadcasts.

Qualities of Good Broadcast Technician

Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

Tools Used by Broadcast Technician

Audio mixer consoles
Audio patch bays
Desktop computers
Digital audio recorders
Digital video cameras
Digital video disk DVD recorders
Disk storage systems
Frame synchronizers
Integrated receiver decoders IRD
Laptop computers
Master control switchers
Modulators
Network routers
Non-linear editing systems
Personal computers
Robotic studio cameras
Satellite receivers
Satellite vans
Signal transmitters
Sound effect generators
Spectrum analyzers
Studio lighting
Vector scopes
Video consoles
Video editing equipment
Video patch bays
Video servers
Video teleconferencing systems
Videotape machines
Vision mixers
Waveform monitors
Wired microphones

Technology Skills required for Broadcast Technician

Adobe After Effects
Adobe Audition
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Premiere Pro
Apple Final Cut Pro
Autodesk AutoCAD
Avid Technology audio visual editing software
Character generator software
Cisco IOS
Dassault Systemes CATIA
Email software
Linux
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Word
UNIX
Video decoder software
Video encoder software
Word processing software

US Universities

How to become Broadcast Technician in 2024