Ranjan K Baruah
Broadcast engineering is the field of electrical engineering, and now to some extent computer engineering and information technology, which deals 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: Degree in Electronic Engineering, Degree in Telecommunications Engineering, Degree in Computer Engineering, Degree in Information Technology, Degree in Broadcast Technology, etc. It is not offered as a main discipline in undergraduate engineering courses. Candidates with 4 years 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 field across the world. India is the third largest television market in the world with many television channels, FM stations.
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, Remote broadcast engineer, etc.
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, so one must be prepared to work even in night time. One must have patience, good communication skills and other required skills to be successful as broadcast engineer. Some people might become experience without much 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 short listed for interviews. There are advertisements related to broadcast engineers. Knowledge of different Indian language is another added skill as one might get 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 government.
Source: The Sangai Express
