education & business 13


Broadcasting its success stories to the nation


From fundraising spectacular Children in Need and the mud-fest that can be Glastonbury, to the excitement of the Olympic Torch Relay and the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic – every year, students at Southampton Solent University play an important role in bringing live TV and radio coverage of events like these to the nation, writes Alison Dewar of The Business Magazine


2014 sees the university celebrate 20 years of its Entertainment Technology courses, providing a mix of academic learning and live practical experience that leads to an almost 100% employment rate for its sought-after graduates.


What began as a single course taught in one room with borrowed and donated equipment has grown into a portfolio of courses with state- of-the-art broadcast audio, video and studio facilities.


These include sound recording, dubbing and Foley facilities, post-production and preview facilities and a 3D digital cinema, ensuring students have access to the latest equipment which is essential to their future careers.


Sean Lancastle, academic leader for the Entertainment Technology courses, explains: “We have around 100 students a year and many of our alumni are working right across the entertainment industry with high-profile production companies and broadcasters including Sky, BBC and Channel 4.


“We’re also now seeing past graduates coming back to recruit the next generation of technological talent for their organisations, which is something we are very proud of.“


Lancastle says two major developments in the media world have helped shape the future of the industry.


The first was the switch away from companies training and employing their own technical experts, and the second was the arrival of digital technology.


“As the industry turned towards employing freelances instead of salaried staff, there was no longer the incentive for companies to offer training,“ he said. “Responsibility for learning the necessary skills passed to the individuals


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – JUNE 2014


Filming at Children in Need (left) and OutsideBroadcast truck filming departure of QE2


and film. And at the same time, the huge growth in the UK’s live events and summer music festival programme has led to new opportunities in more niche areas such as noise monitoring and music production.


themselves and at the same time, there was a huge period of change as we went from analogue to digital technology.


“Over time, as the older generation has come up to retirement, a real skills gap has been created. Our students are benefitting from that because there is a shortage of suitably qualified technical people and they have the skills that are in demand, which is why we have such a good graduate employment rate.“


Most importantly, students are given the opportunity to gain real-life work experience with high-profile broadcasters such as the BBC, and Lancastle says this is a real plus on their CV.


Among the events the university provides support for is the BBC’s annual Children in Need appeal, where the broadcaster works with third-year students and takes advantage of the university’s impressive outside broadcast facilities. And during London 2012, it was the students’ expertise which enabled news coverage of the sailing events at Weymouth to go out across the nation.


This year the university is launching four new courses, including a BSc(Hons) Live Sound Technology and BSc(Hons) Television Production Technology, all designed to meet the needs of the broadcast and sound industries of the future.


Lancastle makes the point that all courses are “employability focused“ ensuring there should be jobs available at the end of the course as students graduate.


While many enrol to follow a career in the music and sound industry, they also gain wider skills across the broadcast arena, including TV, radio


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A spin-off from Entertainment Technology is Solent Acoustics, which supports research and consultancy, specialising in issues such as sound monitoring and building acoustics. The team behind it is working with the Institute of Acoustics and has just achieved an Acoustics MSc validation, enabling a Masters course to start this year and undergraduate courses in 2015.


Someone with first-hand experience of a successful career as a result of his studies at Solent is John Wardropper, who is now working in satellite news gathering operations at leading communications infrastructure and media services company Arqiva, based in Winchester.


Having graduated from a BSc Media Technology course, specialising in broadcast systems engineering and film and video technology, he joined Arqiva in 2008, first on paid work experience and then as a freelance trainee, before being offered a full time job.


“Originally I wanted to do audio but when I started learning about video and broadcasting I found that for me, those were the two most exciting disciplines,“ he said. “A highlight was working at Glastonbury, which was a real eye- opener and fuelled my passion for working in the industry.


“I’d certainly recommend the courses. You engage with so many different disciplines which give you a lot of insight into the industry and enable you to make an informed decision about what you want to do with your career.“


Details: www.solent.ac.uk


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