Occupations · Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media
Broadcast Technicians
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.
O*NET 30.3 Database (USDOL/ETA) · occupation code 27-4012.00
What it pays
A single “average salary” hides the spread. This is the whole distribution — the gap between the bottom and top bar is usually the number that matters.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 · national, cross-industry · annual wage
These are national figures, identical for every reader. The report recuts them for your metro area and ranks it among all of them.
Get yours →Pay over time
Median up 92% between 2003 and 2024, before inflation. The band shows the 10th to 90th percentile.
BLS OEWS, one release per year. Before May 2011 only national estimates were published, so geography detail starts there.
Where the jobs are
| Metro area | Median wage | Employed |
|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | $97,100 | 1,840 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $75,940 | 1,340 |
| Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | $62,630 | 750 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $76,400 | 640 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $48,840 | 560 |
BLS OEWS May 2024, metropolitan estimates · the 5 areas with the most people in this occupation
Your metro area, and where it ranks
LockedAll metropolitan areas BLS publishes for this occupation, with your own city's median and its rank among them.
Open in your report →Typical education to enter: Associate's degree · BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
What people in this job actually do
Ordered by how important the work is rated.
- Report equipment problems, ensure that repairs are made, and make emergency repairs to equipment when necessary and possible.
- Monitor and log transmitter readings.
- Maintain programming logs as required by station management and the Federal Communications Commission.
- Monitor strength, clarity, and reliability of incoming and outgoing signals, and adjust equipment as necessary to maintain quality broadcasts.
- Observe monitors and converse with station personnel to determine audio and video levels and to ascertain that programs are airing.
- Preview scheduled programs to ensure that signals are functioning and programs are ready for transmission.
- Play and record broadcast programs, using automation systems.
- Set up, operate, and maintain broadcast station computers and networks.
- Record sound onto tape or film for radio or television, checking its quality and making adjustments where necessary.
- Schedule programming or read television programming logs to determine which programs are to be recorded or aired.
- Select sources from which programming will be received or through which programming will be transmitted.
- Install broadcast equipment, troubleshoot equipment problems, and perform maintenance or minor repairs, using hand tools.
O*NET 30.3 task ratings, importance scale
Skills that matter most
Importance, rated 1 to 5.
O*NET 30.3 skills, importance scale
Software and tools
A dot marks what O*NET flags as in demand.
O*NET 30.3 software skills · hot-technology flag
What your tools are worth
Occupation-based, not posting-based: how much employment, pay and projected growth sit behind each tool. It is not a count of job ads.
| Tool | Value | Spread across occupations |
|---|---|---|
| UNIX | 83 | 52 → 89 occupations since 2015 |
| Linux | 80 | 55 → 122 occupations since 2015 |
| Adobe After Effects | 73 | 41 occupations; absent from the 2015 catalogue |
What your tools are worth
LockedThe same score for every tool in this occupation, plus the ones you ticked and the ones you did not.
Open in your report →What this work is actually like
Conditions rated against the average across all occupations — only what makes this job different is listed.
O*NET 30.3 Job Zones
Working conditions that stand out
O*NET 30.3 work context, frequency scale · observed 2019-08
How people actually get in
Share of workers by the education they hold.
O*NET 30.2 education, training and experience · observed 2019-08
What kind of person the work suits
Occupational interest profile, rated 1 to 7.
O*NET 30.2 occupational interests (RIASEC)
Tasks O*NET flags as emerging
- Develop budgets.
O*NET 30.3 emerging tasks
What you take with you
Skills rated for how well they transfer into other occupations.
O*NET 30.3 transferable skills, importance scale
Knowledge the work draws on
Abilities it leans on
O*NET 30.3 abilities and knowledge, importance scale
How this job is advertised
The same work is posted under many titles — this is what to search for.
O*NET 30.3 job titles reported for this occupation
Get this as a personal report
The same sourced evidence, recut for the closest published view of your city, state or industry, as a dated PDF.
Free page vs. the $29 report
The page above is a public national reference, identical for every reader — and we deliberately give away a lot of it. The report does three things this page cannot: it answers the question you type in your own words, using only figures that appear in the report with their sources; it ranks your city among all 445 metros instead of the twelve shown here; and it places your level on the employer pay ladder. Choose $49 for the wider comparison of industries, places and next moves, $99 to add named employers and the international purchasing-power index.
What changed since 2015
Comparing O*NET release 20.1 (2015-10-01) with 30.3 (2026-05-01). Signs, not colour alone, carry the meaning. 1 entries that were only relabelled between releases are left out.
Now listed 15
No longer listed 8
Diff across the O*NET releases held here in full since October 2015, following occupations through merges and retirements. O*NET re-surveys occupations on a rolling cycle, so “no change” can also mean “not re-surveyed”.
Related jobs
O*NET 30.3 related occupations
Also called
O*NET 30.3 alternative titles
The same work in Europe
| ESCO occupation | ISCO | Match |
|---|---|---|
| broadcast technician | 3521.2 | exact |
| radio technician | 7422.4 | close |
| video technician | 3521.1.13 | close |
| audio-visual technician | 3521.1 | broader |
Official ESCO ↔ O*NET crosswalk (ESCO Secretariat with USDOL/ETA)
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