Finding a traditional educational path to a degree in Broadcast Engineering is very difficult. While many universities and colleges throughout the United States offer broadcast technology coursework, these programs typically only qualify their students to work as production technicians, directors, or in other technology operator positions. The detailed electronics and computer science requirements necessary to be an effective broadcast engineer are typically not taught in these courses. The Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) has recognized this educational deficit and has begun offering continuing education coursework directly related to the field. These courses are online and on a “pay as you go” basis (“SBE Certified Schools”). Typically, colleges and universities will not recognize these con-ed courses as transferrable credits into a degree program, making them unappealing to degree-seeking individuals. Because of this, the SBE has worked out certification programs with six technical and trade schools in the United States and two technical colleges in Canada. These eight schools do offer Associate Degrees and/or certifications for broadcast engineers (“SBE Certified Schools”). After an exhaustive Internet search for broadcast engineering programs at a 4-year university in the United States, none were identified at the time of this writing.
Through this research process, I have sought to detail the knowledge base and skillsets necessary for broadcast engineers in the digital age. Engineers working in the media industry must be able to design, install, and maintain the UHF, VHF, FM, or AM transmitter used at their site. They must also be capable of operating and installing any microwave equipment in use at their facility. Video server and non-linear editing installation and operation is also a must. These individuals must have the technical training to support electronic news, sports, and field productions. Each of these tasks is part of the essential duties of the broadcast engineer. With the advancement from analog delivery of content to digital transmissions, broadcast engineers must now have a deep understanding of transcoding (encoding and decoding) and compression systems. The engineers in all media-related fields are tasked with the installation, maintenance, and management of all audio and video equipment used in their facility, both digital and analog, new and old (“Broadcasting/Video Production” par 3). The engineer is the first and last stop for all technology-related issues. Unlike other positions within the media industry, engineers must find a solution to each technical issue. They cannot pass this assignment on to another department or group of technicians; they are the last line of defense to all technology concerns.
A program in broadcast engineering should include the following coursework and should be fluid enough that new technical knowledge and skills can be added from semester to semester. The broadcast engineer is responsible for safety inside and outside of the facility. As such, a course in Safety and First Aid is a must. Another core class would deal with the history of Broadcasting. Students must know the theory and reasons for how broadcasting is done today by a strong understanding of how this field began and the changes that have taken place throughout its history. Electronics troubleshooting and repair coursework is another must. A broadcast engineer would have a hard time keeping up with their job duties without the ability to troubleshoot a piece of equipment to the component level (“Broadcasting/Video Production” par 5). Last, but certainly not least, broadcast engineering coursework must be heavy in computer science and information technology. Broadcast engineers in the digital age must have a strong understanding of how audio and video are converted into data packets and transmitted over a network. This network could be a local area network, a wide area network, or the Internet. Today’s broadcast engineer needs to understand how this process works and how to troubleshoot issues such as latency and jitter. Of most importance, broadcast engineering students need to know how to troubleshoot problems and find solutions as this is going to be their primary daily job duty.
This research does not identify any program with coursework that encompasses all the aforementioned knowledge bases and skill sets. All broadcasting programs that were looked at through this research seem to be very good programs and most now include some coursework in computer science. However, the research conducted for this paper did not uncover any courses directly related to how information technology is used in a broadcast facility. A course covering networking of video and audio over IP should be added to any current broadcast engineering program, as the requirements to transfer data over a network are not compatible with the quality of service and port scanning features needed to transfer audio and video over IP. For instance, latency is a crippling factor for audio and video over IP and must be dealt with in Layer 3 of the network switch topology. A typical data network switch, no matter how robust and great it is at moving files over a network, will often fail miserably at moving audio and video in the form of packetized streams over a network. Standard IT practices today, unfortunately, do not take latency and order of delivery into consideration. As such, this specific topic would typically not be covered in a standard networking course.
Another important knowledge base needed for future broadcast engineers is learning programming for streaming apps. One example is the programming language, BrightScript, which is used for the creation of Roku apps. Since there are many android-based streaming devices on the market today, Java-based scripting should also be included (“BrightScript Language Reference”). This is just a starter list of the types of courses needed to compete in the digital age of broadcasting. My goal as an educator is to use the experience and training I have from working in the field over the last two decades to design and implement a state-of-the-art, university-level program in broadcast engineering. This program will strive to meet the needs of technicians and engineers looking to find employment in both traditional broadcasting facilities and other emerging media technology organizations.
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