So you want to work in television but are unsure of the variety of jobs available. Getting a job at a TV production company could be seen as the most obvious, fun or creative career path but have you ever considered what it would be like to work for a TV channel? What sorts of roles actually exist? And how to get that all important foot in the door?
On 26 September, RTS Futures will offer you an insight into all of these questions at their Breaking into Broadcasting event. At the event you will hear from speakers who work across a range of different disciplines such as scheduling, marketing, acquisitions, commissioning and finance. Ahead of the event we’ve asked each of our expert panellists to give you a taster of what they will be discussing by breaking down their jobs and sharing their top tips for ‘cracking it’ in each of their specialisms.
Jack Oliver
Acquisitions Manager, Sky
An Acquisitions Manager sources, tracks and acquires films, series and individual shows for a broadcaster. As a curator they are responsible for deciding what the audience want to watch and then negotiating and brokering deals to ensure the broadcaster buys the best content for their channels.
Working in Acquisitions is editorial, it's business and it’s fostering great relationships. You must develop an understanding of what will work in the schedule; be able to spot a programme that will have an impact with your audience; maintain relationships with institutions and suppliers; be business minded and be a good communicator.
To get into Acquisitions it is important to have a passion for content, it is accessible from any other part of the TV and film business as transferable skills lend themselves well.
Paul Fagan
Director of Business Affairs, Acquisitions, Business and Legal Affairs, Channel 5
Working in the Business Affairs department, you will be responsible for negotiating and drafting various acquisition agreements for the broadcaster. These could be with distributors, producers, movie studios and/or other rights owners. Contracts have grown increasingly more complex in recent years as the industry and content consumption patterns have evolved and the range of rights, new functionalities, platforms and devices have grown exponentially.
The role requires a sound comprehension of intellectual property rights and the mechanics for exploitation so sophisticated negotiating and drafting skills are essential.
A legal or paralegal qualification together with some level of relevant experience in the audio-visual sector is required as is a passion for film and/or television.
Kiran Nataraja
Channel Manager, Channel 4
As a Channel Manager or Scheduler, you are responsible for producing the most creatively interesting and competitive schedules for your channels. You are working to ensure that programmes are launched in the best slots to maximise their performance and audience share. To do this it is essential you are across what the competitors are doing, as well as ensuring the schedules are complementary across the broadcaster's portfolio.
To be a Scheduler, you have to be passionate about TV and audiences. You need to watch a lot of content and have opinions about it. You should have an insatiable appetite for understanding audience behaviour and have a strong grasp of audience research and data. You need to be able to work to demanding deadlines and deal with high pressure situations. Excellent communication skills, diplomacy and resilience are vital, as you are often required to have challenging conversations about slot decisions.
Scheduling Assistant roles would be the first step on the ladder and will help develop the skills you need to progress in scheduling and channel management. Other routes into scheduling can be through having an audience research background or through working in media planning or presentation.
Rob Shead
Marketing Manager, ITV2
A Marketing Manager is responsible for developing, driving and implementing marketing campaigns to support not only a broadcaster’s biggest shows but launching new and exciting formats. A normal campaign would involve working with our internal creative team on the air promos and our social team on the social campaign for each show, with larger campaigns including a variety of media channels (e.g. outdoor, digital, radio and experiential events) which makes this an exciting and varied job.
The role necessitates great relationship management as it requires you to work with a wide range of stakeholders, from commissioners and producers, to creatives and media agencies. But it’s also essential to have a strong creative eye and a real passion for the channel and the shows.
Marketing experience is the key thing needed to join ITV’s marketing team – but the team consists of a wide range of marketing backgrounds – from music marketing all the way through to charity marketing.
Want to know more? You can catch RTS Futures' fantastic panel at the Breaking into Broadcasting event at Channel 4 on Tuesday 26 September. To book your ticket visit: https://www.rts.org.uk/event/rts-futures-breaking-broadcasting
RTS Futures
RTS Futures aims to help graduates and those in the early stages of their career to progress and learn about different areas of television.
