JOB ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES IN TELEVISION

Broadcast Television is going through an extraordinary time of change and challenge. It is still one of the most popular forms of entertainment and information, with the average British viewer still watching twenty hours or more per week. But the rapid growth of the internet and interactive media is competing strongly for audiences and revenues.

TV, like the rest of the creative media industry, is characterised by a much higher proportion of freelance and short-term contract working than the economy as a whole. Production areas are likely to have anything up to six in ten people in that category. There are fewer freelancers in cable and satellite broadcasting, and some skills areas, for example broadcast technology, IT and journalism. Just under two thirds of the TV industry (62%) is based in London, but there are creative clusters in cities around the UK. The north west is the second largest centre of activity, with 8% of the workforce, but there are both broadcasting and production companies in Glasgow, Cardiff, Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool, amongst others.

Due to the high amount of jobs in the industry a lot of work is freelance, also people tend to specialise in one area to differentiate themselves from others. A lot of TV freelance work requires people to have very flexible working patterns.

Unlike film TV can be split into just 2 categories rather than 5. Those are creative and non-creative

Task In pairs, decide which jobs fit into which category for TV job roles. Attach them to the board by the corresponding category.

Also there are many independent production companies you can go to directly:

What are some examples of different career paths in the media industry?

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