We spend a great deal of time, as an industry, discussing the implications of new technologies and the changing nature of viewing, but much less on the different skills that these changes require within our organisations. Yet without the expertise to design, build, operate and support the new systems that deliver these changes, we may be in trouble. I am focusing specifically on the technology side here, as that’s my area, but the implications are similar in other disciplines.

This blog takes a look at how our skill base has evolved over the past five years and how it is likely to evolve further over the next five. Recruiting, retaining and developing our people is key not just to our organisational success but that of the wider industry.

The first thing to note is that the technologies and products we have historically used to build broadcast systems have been highly specialised and industry specific. It is unsurprising, then, that our skills (and people) were similarly aligned. This has always presented a challenge in bringing new people in, as the industry is relatively small and often concentrated in a few broadcast hubs in each country.

Perhaps the biggest single change in the past five years has been the growth of on-demand and OTT based services such as the BBC iPlayer and Netflix. The people who have built these platforms, based around software and internet technologies, typically existed within a different organisational domain than the ‘traditional’ broadcast engineering division. They were recruited differently, operate differently and often had a fundamentally different culture. That culture is built around modern software development, with a media specific flavour. Those teams may feel they have more in common (and share their thinking/learning) with Facebook, Twitter and Uber than with some of their peers within a broadcaster.

Now as we move increasingly towards a more converged form of television and media consumption, where the lines between OTT and linear TV blur from a viewer’s perspective, and the technologies such as IP and IT that provide the foundation for online delivery move into the traditional linear domain, we need to change our skills mix again. The technology experts within the linear broadcast domain need to learn about IP, software based systems and how such platforms are designed and built. But they bring a wealth of knowledge about video, audio and very high availability system design that we must retain and incorporate increasingly into the OTT side of our organisation.

Our future success depends upon how we bring those skills and teams together, foster knowledge transfer and sharing, and attract new talent to join an industry that now offers both cutting edge software engineering opportunities and the traditional pull of television and media. We also need to do this while competing with a much large group of organisations who are also looking for the same talent. Not only because software skills are in demand in every industry – so we compete with banks, retailers and enterprises of all sizes for those key people – but also because video is becoming a critical medium for other industries too – so our traditional skills are in broader demand.

There are already some good pan-industry initiatives in place to help develop the skills we need for the future, but we all need to implement strategies at an organisational level too. And for anyone thinking about a technology career in broadcast and media, there has never been a better time to join – so many exciting opportunities exist for the future.

Steve Plunkett, CTO