What Does a Broadcast Engineer Do?
Broadcast engineers keep radio and TV stations on the air, maintaining the transmitters, antennas and studio links that carry the signal and testing the Emergency Alert System equipment. They split their time between studios and remote transmitter sites, and an off-air alarm can send them out at any hour. On-call weekends are common.
Also known as: Senior Broadcast Engineer
Other Job Titles for This Work
Workers in this occupation report titles such as Audio Engineer, Board Operator, Broadcast Maintenance Engineer, Broadcast Operations Engineer, Broadcast Technician, Control Operator, Production Engineer.
Broadcast Engineer Duties and Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of a broadcast engineer include:
- Maintain transmitters, antennas and studio-to-transmitter links, and restore the signal after outages.
- Respond to off-air alarms at any hour and drive to the transmitter site when needed.
- Test the Emergency Alert System equipment and keep the required logs up to date.
- Install and wire new studio consoles, codecs and audio-over-IP gear such as Livewire or Dante.
- Monitor signal strength, modulation and streams, and correct problems before listeners notice.
- Keep the station's public and technical records ready for FCC inspection.
- Troubleshoot automation systems, playout servers and remote broadcast connections.
- Coordinate tower climbers, electricians and HVAC contractors for work at transmitter sites.
- Plan equipment purchases and replacement schedules with the station manager.
- Train operators and producers on studio equipment and emergency procedures.
Required Skills and Qualifications
To succeed as a broadcast engineer, you will need the following skills and qualifications:
- RF and transmitter fundamentals
- Audio-over-IP networking with Livewire or Dante
- FCC rules for broadcast stations
- Emergency Alert System operation
- Soldering and electronics repair
- SBE certification (voluntary but respected)
- Willingness to be on call nights and weekends
- Calm fault-finding when the station is off the air
Education and Training
IT networking jobs have become a common way into broadcast engineering, since so much studio audio and video now travels over computer networks. An associate degree in electronics is the usual qualification. Certification from the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) is voluntary, and passing its exams gives an engineer a credential station managers respect.
Salary and Job Outlook
Typical pay: $40,320 - $83,520 per year, with a median of $59,570.
The range covers the middle half of earners nationwide. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Broadcast Technicians.
BLS projects employment of broadcast technicians, the group that includes broadcast engineers, to decline about 3 percent from 2025 to 2035, with roughly 1,600 openings a year. This is a small field. Engineering jobs often are tied to station ownership and budgets, but engineers always will be needed as transmitters age and as studios move audio and video onto IT networks.
Outlook source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035, Broadcast technicians.
Broadcast Engineer Pay Range
| Earners | Annual pay |
|---|---|
| Bottom 10% earn less than | $31,390 |
| Bottom 25% earn less than | $40,320 |
| Median (half earn more, half less) | $59,570 |
| Top 25% earn more than | $83,520 |
| Top 10% earn more than | $123,670 |
Highest-Paying States for Broadcast Engineers
The states with the highest median pay for this occupation are District of Columbia ($108,270), New Hampshire ($81,150), Pennsylvania ($80,470), New York ($78,840), Illinois ($74,210). Pay is lowest in Utah ($31,490), Mississippi ($27,750), West Virginia ($27,310).
Median pay in all 47 states with BLS data
| State | Median annual pay |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $47,290 |
| Arizona | $73,040 |
| Arkansas | $41,870 |
| California | $72,800 |
| Colorado | $74,040 |
| Connecticut | $58,930 |
| District of Columbia | $108,270 |
| Florida | $64,950 |
| Georgia | $47,340 |
| Hawaii | $49,200 |
| Idaho | $44,730 |
| Illinois | $74,210 |
| Indiana | $44,400 |
| Iowa | $46,820 |
| Kansas | $41,600 |
| Kentucky | $40,240 |
| Louisiana | $44,440 |
| Maine | $55,110 |
| Maryland | $64,030 |
| Massachusetts | $47,260 |
| Michigan | $47,730 |
| Minnesota | $46,790 |
| Mississippi | $27,750 |
| Missouri | $41,600 |
| Montana | $46,600 |
| Nebraska | $43,680 |
| Nevada | $73,070 |
| New Hampshire | $81,150 |
| New Mexico | $49,990 |
| New York | $78,840 |
| North Carolina | $47,780 |
| North Dakota | $48,090 |
| Ohio | $48,720 |
| Oklahoma | $44,530 |
| Oregon | $44,420 |
| Pennsylvania | $80,470 |
| Rhode Island | $49,580 |
| South Carolina | $46,860 |
| South Dakota | $32,150 |
| Tennessee | $47,340 |
| Texas | $49,440 |
| Utah | $31,490 |
| Virginia | $57,940 |
| Washington | $62,070 |
| West Virginia | $27,310 |
| Wisconsin | $62,400 |
| Wyoming | $39,380 |
What the Work Is Like
O*NET surveys people who work as broadcast technicians about their daily conditions. Of those surveyed:
- 98% use email every day
- 98% say being exact and accurate is very or extremely important
- 97% say teamwork is very or extremely important in their job
- 96% work indoors in a climate-controlled space every day
- 65% are on the phone every day
- 64% spend more than half the workday sitting
- 51% use their hands on tools, objects or controls for more than half the day
Education Workers Say the Job Needs
| Education level | Share of workers |
|---|---|
| Associate's degree | 43% |
| Some college | 27% |
| High school diploma or GED | 17% |
| Post-secondary certificate | 10% |
Tools and Software Broadcast Engineers Use
Tools and equipment
Software
Is This Job a Good Fit for You?
People who do well in this job tend to enjoy organized work with data, records and clear procedures as well as hands-on work with tools, machines or the outdoors.
Skills O*NET rates most important: Critical Thinking, Active Listening, Monitoring, Operations Monitoring, Writing, Complex Problem Solving.
Knowledge areas used most: Computers and Electronics, Telecommunications, Engineering and Technology, Communications and Media, English Language.
Preparation: O*NET places this occupation in Job Zone 3 of 5, which means medium preparation.
Related Careers
These jobs use similar skills, according to O*NET's related-occupation data:
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Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035.
- O*NET 30.1 Database, occupation 27-4012.00 (Broadcast Technicians). View on O*NET OnLine.
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The Job Explorer has modified some of the information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these changes.