Broadcast Engineering is the field of Electrical Engineering, and now to some extent computer engineering, which deals with radio and television broadcasting. Audio Engineering and RF Engineering are also essential parts of broadcast Engineering, being their own subsets of electrical Engineering.

It involves both the studio end and the transmitter end (the entire air chain), as well as remote broadcasts. Every station has a broadcast engineer, through one may now serve an entire station group in a city, or be a contract engineer who essentially freelances his services to several stations (often in small media markets) as needed.

Duties of a broadcast engineer include maintaining broadcast automation systems for the studio and automatic transmission systems for the transmitter plant. Occasionally, a station’s Engineering must deal with complaints of RF interference, particularly after a station has made changes to its transmission facilities.

The nature of the work will vary according to location and type of media, but tasks typically involve designing and setting up audio and video circuits; manufacturing and repairing multimedia hardware, software and other broadcast Technology systems, utilizing knowledge of analogue and digital systems; installing, testing and maintaining technical facilities, setting up and monitoring audio and visual links with a variety of different units, maintaining specialist equipment for video and film production, broadcast and satellite transmission and interactive media; analyzing and rectifying technical faults; identifying and implementing alternative ways of meeting requirements to cover equipment failures, with minimum loss of service; investigating new techniques and equipment; custom-making electronic systems for programmes, setting up and operating links for outside broadcasts; interpreting instructions and requests from others working on programmes, communicating effectively with own team and other project members, networking and establishing and maintaining industry contacts.