14 education & business


Broadcasting plans to boost media technology skills


In the era of 24-hour news and digital media, it is rather surprising to learn that the broadcast industry is suffering from a dearth of skilled employees with the right technical training and knowledge to move the sector forward, writes Alison Dewar of The Business Magazine


opportunities available, and added: “When I started out, I always knew that I wanted to work for the BBC and developed my career from there, but many students don’t seem to realise what a big employer the media industry is and the high level of graduate employment it offers.


“Our employment rate for technical students on our media technology courses has been 100% over the past two years and those students are being snapped up, so there are huge career opportunities to be had.


“What we want to do is bring new students on board and enable them to see that working in the broadcast sector can set them on the road to success.”


Student Jay Battley recording and live streaming the Green Party's annual conference


Aiming to help reverse that trend is Southampton Solent University, which has recently created a new post of broadcast business development manager within its School of Media Arts and Technology.


Taking on the challenge is Sean Lancastle, a senior lecturer at the university, whose industry pedigree includes the BBC and GCap Media, and who has an MSc in education, technology and society.


He explains: “Across the broadcast industry there is a serious shortage of technically skilled people. The technology itself is changing, moving away from traditional methods of making TV, to one which is based much more around computer architecture.


“At the same time, around 80% of technical staff are over 50 and as they leave, it’s creating a demographic time bomb which needs to be addressed.”


Lancastle and his team believe that can be achieved in two ways – firstly by offering bespoke training courses to individuals who already work within the broadcast sector, helping them to upgrade and expand their skills; and secondly, by attracting more young people to study technical courses which will set them on the road to a career in broadcasting.


Solent is one of just a handful of universities offering such high-level technical training – and the only one in the south of England outside London – and Lancastle is keen to reach out to organisations nationwide which


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provide technical facilities for the industry, such as outside broadcast units, audio visual companies and event organisers.


Recently he worked with leading outside broadcast provider NEP Visions, based in Bracknell, designing a bespoke training solution which looked at how internet IP technology is being used for broadcast.


It is just one example of the type of training the team can provide and Lancastle hopes it will lead to more organisations exploring partnership opportunities with the university.


“We want to work with the industry and look at what we can do to provide alternative methods of education and training, helping to solve the skills crisis,” he continued. “In the past, the industry has looked to universities to provide the solution, but we can’t do that on our own.


“We need the industry’s help to attract and recruit students who, in an ideal world, will then take the training and education they have learnt with us, back into the industry.”


Last year, Lancastle represented UK universities at a summit in Geneva hosted by the European Broadcast Union, and says it was interesting to hear how many smaller companies struggle to attract technology graduates in the face of competition from giants such as the BBC, Amazon and Google.


He finds it “genuinely surprising” just how few 16 and 17-year-olds are aware of the career


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – NOVEMBER 2015


Although at an early stage, Lancastle is also looking at a number of new ideas, including the introduction of higher apprenticeships or accelerated degrees and extended work placements to give students a first-hand insight into the sector.


Working in the outside broadcast industry can give students access to a whole raft of opportunities. In September, 15 media technology and television production students were given the task of recording and live streaming the Green Party’s annual conference in Bournemouth, using the university’s top-of-the-range outside broadcast vehicle.


Lancastle says providing such facilities to organisations and companies is just one more way in which the university can build links with the region’s business community, while at the same time giving students valuable experience and allowing them to develop their skills.


Details: Sean Lancastle sean.lancastle@solent.ac.uk www.solent.ac.uk


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