[SBE] New tools and skills (was: Industry retirement situation)

[Chris Tarr]

Being a younger guy (under 40) in Engineering, I'll repeat what I
mentioned in a Radio Guide article a while back...

I look at audio delivery as streams - be it RF, IP, HD, whatever.

With the 6 stations I oversee, I am responsible for multiple streams.
Obviously, we have 6 transmitters on the air.  Additionally, all 6
stations stream (rather successfully) on the internet.  Three of the
stations are running HD with HD2 programming.  Plus we have
title/artist information on 5 of the 6 stations.

That's 14 different audio streams, plus data support.  The President
of our company, smartly, requires that we treat all of these equal
whenever possible, and have the same level of quality control on them
all.

I am more than an RF Engineer.  I am a Media Engineer.  On a daily
basis I troubleshoot RF, IP, Digital Radio, Content delivery systems,
and more.

I spend a lot of time learning new technologies in addition to leaning
on mentors like Clay for their encyclopedic knowledge of all things
RF.  The future of RF training rests on guys like me learning from
guys like him - then passing it down.

The reality is, though, that there is more data than RF in my day to
day life, and I think it will continue in that direction for some time
to come.

As for me, I enjoy the challenge.


On Sat, Mar 15, 2008 at 2:22 PM,  <chscherer at everestkc.net> wrote:

> If you narrowly focus on broadcast in the classic sense - a terrestrial transmitter - then yes, the audience and ad pool are declining. Broadcasters who view themselves as media outlets and embrace the other forms of media - IPTV, podcasts, streaming, Wimax, etc. - have a better chance of remaining successful. Younger audiences embrace these technologies. Unless you are close to retirement, you should too.

>

>  Terry Baun, Barry Thomas and I have referred to the modern broadcast engineer as a media engineer. That title includes the new technologies that are part of the modern media landscape.

>

>  Yes, we are driving on the rails we are given, but communication with the top is still key. Be an active participant in planning the budget. Help management understand the ramifications of the choices being made. Man the engines as you're told, but also provide advice for the future. Be a part of the 1-year, 5-year, 10-year (if there is one) and longer plans. Doing so makes the engineer a part of planning the solution.

>

>  Also, I know that every situation is different. Some managers are honest and open. Some are simply concerned with making their numbers and getting their bonus at the expense of sacrificing others. There isn't a single, easy approach. That's where interpersonal skills come in to play.

>

>

>  ----- Original Message -----

>  From: Barry Mishkind <barry at oldradio.com>

>  > For many of the reasons you cite, including the press for Internet

>  > advertising, ad agencies have already said that the money pool

>  > available for radio is going to be flat, or slightly lower - at

>  > least on a national level.

>  >

>  > That makes getting enough budget for technical matters difficult,

>  > much less adding signals, digital channels, etc.  Wortse, after

>  > having made major investments already in IBOC, far too many

>  > companies - even those not crippled by the cash flow and current stock price

>  > issues - have decided to burn the furniture, rather than invest in

>  > more gear/people.

>  >

>  > The really sad part is that while we can see these issues, the

>  > tech folks have relatively little leverage to do much. Sort of like a

>  > train engineer, we can only drive on the tracks we are given.

>  > Until the content problem is solved - a way to involve young people in

>  > the air product - we will see more erosion in listeners/sales. The

>  > challenge for engineers to avoid being red-lined.

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