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Broadcast Technicians

$60.7K Median Salary 3.3K Job Openings (Annual Projection) 11.3% Job Growth

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About This Career

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.

Reported Job Titles

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

Career data shown for:

Skills You'll Need

Click on skills to find related courses.

Abilities

Near Vision

Oral Comprehension

Problem Sensitivity

Written Comprehension

Deductive Reasoning

Information Ordering

Oral Expression

Written Expression

Flexibility of Closure

Inductive Reasoning

Selective Attention

Speech Clarity

Speech Recognition

Visual Color Discrimination

Arm-Hand Steadiness

Category Flexibility

Control Precision

Finger Dexterity

Fluency of Ideas

Manual Dexterity

Originality

Perceptual Speed

Visualization

Knowledge

Computers and Electronics

Telecommunications

Engineering and Technology

Communications and Media

English Language

Skills

Critical Thinking

Active Listening

Monitoring

Operations Monitoring

Complex Problem Solving

Writing

Active Learning

Equipment Maintenance

Judgment and Decision Making

Reading Comprehension

Speaking

Time Management

Coordination

Operation and Control

Social Perceptiveness

Troubleshooting

Technology Skills

Video creation and editing software

Presentation software

Operating system software

Electronic mail software

Graphics or photo imaging software

Computer aided design CAD software

Spreadsheet software

Desktop publishing software

Office suite software

Word processing software

Music or sound editing software

Tools

Video editors

Media control systems

Audio mixing consoles

Satellite receivers

Oscilloscopes

Microphones

Computer servers

Videoconferencing systems

Frequency analyzers

Notebook computers

Hard disk drives

Radio frequency transmitters or receivers

Camera controllers

Stage or projection or studio lighting system

Minivans or vans

Digital voice recorders

Digital camcorders or video cameras

Digital video disk players or recorders

Desktop computers

Personal computers

Modulators

Network routers

Video cassette players or recorders

Abilities

Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
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.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
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).
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.
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).
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
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.
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.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
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.
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).
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.
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.

Knowledge

Computers and Electronics: Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Telecommunications: Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Engineering and Technology: Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Communications and Media: Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Skills

Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Operations Monitoring: Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Equipment Maintenance: Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Operation and Control: Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Troubleshooting: Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.

Technology Skills

Video creation and editing software: YouTube
Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint
Operating system software: Microsoft Windows
Electronic mail software: IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
Graphics or photo imaging software: SmugMug Flickr
Computer aided design CAD software: Autodesk AutoCAD; Autodesk Revit
Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Desktop publishing software: Adobe Systems Adobe InDesign; Microsoft Publisher
Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Music or sound editing software: Music software

Tools

Video editors: Video editing equipment
Media control systems: Digital switchers
Audio mixing consoles: Audio compressors; Audio mixers; Broadcast mixing boards; Sound effect generators
Satellite receivers: Integrated receiver decoders IRD
Oscilloscopes: Sampling oscilloscopes
Microphones: Handheld microphones; Studio microphones; Wireless microphones
Computer servers: Domain name servers DNS
Videoconferencing systems: Videoconferencing equipment
Frequency analyzers: Spectrum analyzers
Notebook computers: Laptop computers
Hard disk drives: Disk storage systems
Radio frequency transmitters or receivers: Animal transmitters; Radio telemetry equipment
Camera controllers: Studio camera control equipment
Stage or projection or studio lighting system: Stage lighting equipment
Minivans or vans: Work vans
Digital voice recorders: Digital audio recorders
Digital camcorders or video cameras: Digital video cameras
Digital video disk players or recorders: Digital video disk DVD players
Desktop computers:
Personal computers:
Modulators:
Network routers: Computer network routers
Video cassette players or recorders: Video cassette recorders VCR

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