---
title: "Broadcast Technician"
description: "Set up, operate, and maintain the electronic equipment used to acquire, edit, and transmit audio and video for radio or television programs. Control and…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/broadcast-technician"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Broadcast Technician

**Category:** Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media · **SOC code:** 27-4012 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 27-4012.00

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.

Also advertised as: Audio Engineer; Board Operator; Broadcast Engineer; Broadcast Maintenance Engineer; Broadcast Operations Engineer; Broadcast Operations Technician (Broadcast Ops Tech); Broadcast Systems Support Engineer; Control Operator.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $59,570 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $28.64/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $31,390 to $123,670, with the middle half between $40,320 and $83,520
- **Total US employment:** 21,110
- **Typical entry education:** Associate's
- **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -3.1% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 1,600 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 42/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 21,110 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $31,390 |
| 25th | $40,320 |
| 50th (median) | $59,570 |
| 75th | $83,520 |
| 90th | $123,670 |
| Mean (average) | $67,960 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DC | $108,270 | $98,516 | 290 |
| NH | $81,150 | $77,905 | 170 |
| PA | $80,470 | $82,472 | 950 |
| NY | $78,840 | $73,053 | 1,690 |
| IL | $74,210 | $74,241 | 690 |
| CO | $74,040 | $71,847 | 820 |
| NV | $73,070 | $73,085 | 280 |
| AZ | $73,040 | $72,549 | 530 |
| CA | $72,800 | $65,751 | 2,340 |
| FL | $64,950 | $62,806 | 1,130 |
| MD | $64,030 | $61,005 | 460 |
| WI | $62,400 | $66,316 | 410 |
| WA | $62,070 | $58,002 | 270 |
| CT | $58,930 | $56,877 | 700 |
| VA | $57,940 | $57,307 | 710 |

33 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 48 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/broadcast-technician/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/broadcast-technician.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 24,100 in the 2025–2035 base year to 23,300 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 800 jobs, or -3.1%. Declining: -3.1% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 1,600 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Associate's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Some preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Short-term on-the-job training.

## What the work involves

- Report equipment problems, ensure that repairs are made, and make emergency repairs to equipment when necessary and possible.
- Observe monitors and converse with station personnel to determine audio and video levels and to ascertain that programs are airing.
- Set up, operate, and maintain broadcast station computers and networks.
- Control audio equipment to regulate volume and sound quality during radio and television broadcasts.
- Monitor strength, clarity, and reliability of incoming and outgoing signals, and adjust equipment as necessary to maintain quality broadcasts.
- Preview scheduled programs to ensure that signals are functioning and programs are ready for transmission.
- Play and record broadcast programs, using automation systems.
- Install broadcast equipment, troubleshoot equipment problems, and perform maintenance or minor repairs, using hand tools.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Critical Thinking — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Evaluation — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Equipment Maintenance — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Troubleshooting — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Computers and Electronics — importance 5.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Communications and Media — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Telecommunications — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Engineering and Technology — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 4.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Near Vision — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Conventional (C), Realistic (R).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| C — Conventional | 5.14 |
| R — Realistic | 4.80 |
| I — Investigative | 2.99 |
| A — Artistic | 2.82 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.50 |
| S — Social | 2.13 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 91.6 |
| ISFJ | 77.5 |
| ESTJ | 74.9 |
| ISTP | 73.1 |
| INTJ | 68.7 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Audio and Video Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/audio-and-video-technician) — median $58,100
- [Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronic-engineering-technologist-and-technician) — median $78,190
- [Electrical and Electronics Repairer, Commercial and Industrial Equipment](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-repairer-commercial-and-industrial-equipment) — median $74,090
- [Robotics Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/robotics-technician) — median $73,900
- [Power Distributor and Dispatcher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/power-distributor-and-dispatcher) — median $106,730
- [Calibration Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/calibration-technologist-and-technician) — median $67,820
- [Sound Engineering Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/sound-engineering-technician) — median $73,130
- [Audiovisual Equipment Installer and Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/audiovisual-equipment-installer-and-repairer) — median $52,600
- [Lighting Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/lighting-technician) — median $68,060
- [Telecommunications Engineering Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/telecommunications-engineering-specialist) — median $134,050

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/broadcast-technician