Career Explorer Arts, media and sport
Changing shape
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.
Changing faster than most: more resilient than 20% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is moderate (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it high), and US jobs are projected to change by -3.1% by 2035, expected to shrink. The work leans on creative vision and physical dexterity.
AI can do many of the tasks, and hiring is expected to grow slower than average or to shrink. The job is likely to change, so build the human parts of it.
- Median pay (2025)
- $59,570
- Job growth to 2035
- -3.1%
- Openings a year
- 1,600
- People doing it (2025)
- 24,100
- Usual route in
- Associate's degree, then short on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Operate communications equipment or systems
- Maintain electronic, computer, or other technical equipment
- Determine operational methods or procedures
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Monitor equipment operation
- Maintain operational records
- Operate audiovisual or related equipment
What the work looks like
- Play and record broadcast programs, using automation systems.
- Report equipment problems, ensure that repairs are made, and make emergency repairs to equipment when necessary and possible.
- Set up, operate, and maintain broadcast station computers and networks.
- Observe monitors and converse with station personnel to determine audio and video levels and to ascertain that programs are airing.
- Monitor strength, clarity, and reliability of incoming and outgoing signals, and adjust equipment as necessary to maintain quality broadcasts.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as technology including artificial intelligence (AI) allow technicians to perform more activities onsite and in remote locations.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Audio and video techniciansGrows with AI, Index 45, +3.9%
- Agricultural techniciansGrows with AI, Index 66, +5.4%
- Life, physical, and social science technicians, all otherGrows with AI, Index 37, +4.4%
- Cartographers and photogrammetristsGrows with AI, Index 32, +7.4%
Also known as: Board Operator, Broadcast Engineer, Broadcast Maintenance Engineer, Control Operator, Audio Engineer, Broadcast Operations Engineer, Broadcast Operations Technician (Broadcast Ops Tech), Broadcast Systems Support Engineer.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.