By Ranjan K Baruah
There have been changes and development in the media industry in recent years. Apart from traditionally famous print media, now the focus is more on electronic media. There were few channels some decades back as the media was mostly controlled. But now there are many television channels and FM stations in our country. This industry brings more opportunity for broadcast engineers.
Broadcast engineering is the field of electrical engineering and now to some extent computer engineering and information technology, which deal with radio and television broadcasting. Audio engineering and RF engineering are also essential parts of broadcast engineering, being their own subsets of electrical engineering. Broadcast engineering involves both the studio end and the transmitter end (the entire air chain) as well as remote broadcasts. Every station has a broadcast engineer though one may now serve an entire station group in a city or be a contract engineer who essentially freelances his or her services to several stations (often in small media markets) as needed.
There is no direct course in degree level but it is part of other engineering and IT courses. Some degrees under broadcast engineering are Electronic Engineering, Telecommunications Engineering, Computer Engineering, Information Technology and Broadcast Technology. It is not offered as a main discipline in undergraduate engineering courses. Candidates with four-year bachelors’ course in electrical engineering, electronics and communication engineering, computer engineering, information technology and audio engineering can pursue a career in broadcast engineering.
Aspirants may go for some special course after their basic degree or diploma in engineering. Diploma, post graduate and certificate level courses in broadcast technology are offered by several institutes in India. Students must be from science stream to study courses related to broadcast engineering.
Due to the growth in the entertainment industry, broadcast engineering is becoming a lucrative career option.
Broadcast engineers may have varying titles depending on their level of expertise and field specialty. Some widely used titles include broadcast design engineer, broadcast integration engineer, broadcast systems engineer, broadcast IT engineer, broadcast IT systems engineer, broadcast network engineer, broadcast maintenance engineer, video broadcast engineer, TV studio broadcast engineer, outside broadcast engineer and remote broadcast engineer.
Apart from having technical qualification, the aspirant must be hard working and ready to work in different situations and time. As most of the channels are 24×7, one must be prepared to work even in night shift. Initially there might be more struggle and challenges but with experience one may earn more name and fame. One must have patience, good communication skills and other required skills to be successful as broadcast engineer. Some people might gain experience without a formal engineering degree but as the field is challenging it is preferable to have formal engineering degree to become a broadcast engineer.
One must prepare an attractive CV and post it in different job sites to get shortlisted for interviews. There are advertisements related to broadcast engineers. Knowledge of different Indian languages is another added skill as one might get the opportunity in different parts of the country. Like private channels or media houses, government also engages broadcast engineers in Prasar Bharati as it is one of the largest networks in India managed by the government. There are limited private channels in the North East. We have seen private TV channels and FM stations in a few states in the region. More channels will bring more opportunity for new and experienced individuals associated with broadcast engineering. There are individuals from the North East who are working as broadcast engineers with leading channels.
(The author is a career mentor, skill trainer and motivational speaker and can be reached at [email protected] or 8473943734 for any career related queries)