Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media · Holland code ECR

Media Technical Directors/Managers

Coordinate activities of technical departments, such as taping, editing, engineering, and maintenance, to produce radio or television programs.

Also called: News Technical Director, Production Director, Production Manager, Technical Director, Broadcast Director, Newscast Director, Operations Director, Studio Director.

O*NET 27-2012.05

At a glance

US median annual pay: $90,360; Middle half earn $62,670 to $134,800. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 92% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +5% · Faster than average; 167,000 jobs in 2024, projected 175,200. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Producers and directors".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Direct technical aspects of newscasts and other productions, checking and switching between video sources and taking responsibility for the on-air product, including camera shots and graphics.
Switch between video sources in a studio or on multi-camera remotes, using equipment such as switchers, video slide projectors, and video effects generators.
Observe pictures through monitors and direct camera and video staff concerning shading and composition.
Follow instructions from production managers and directors during productions, such as commands for camera cuts, effects, graphics, and takes.
Supervise and assign duties to workers engaged in technical control and production of radio and television programs.
Set up and execute video transitions and special effects, such as fades, dissolves, cuts, keys, and supers, using computers to manipulate pictures as necessary.
Monitor broadcasts to ensure that programs conform to station or network policies and regulations.
Operate equipment to produce programs or broadcast live programs from remote locations.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Monitoring4.0 / 5
Critical Thinking3.9 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.6 / 5
Writing3.4 / 5

Knowledge areas

Communications and Media4.8 / 5
Computers and Electronics4.3 / 5
English Language4.1 / 5
Telecommunications3.8 / 5
Engineering and Technology3.6 / 5
Administration and Management3.3 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic49
Investigative30
Artistic41
Social27
Enterprising70
Conventional58

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

performance production manager · DE Veranstaltungsproduktionsleiter/Veranstaltungsproduktionsleiterin · FR directeur de production de spectacles/directrice de production de spectacles
technical director · DE Technischer Leiter für Bühne, Film und Fernsehen/Technische Leiterin für Bühne, Film und Fernsehen · FR directeur technique/directrice technique
video and motion picture director · DE Film- und Fernsehregisseur/Film- und Fernsehregisseurin · FR réalisateur de films cinématographiques et vidéos/réalisatrice de films cinématographiques et vidéos
post-production supervisor · DE Postproduktionsleiter/Postproduktionsleiterin · FR chargé de postproduction/chargée de postproduction
producer · DE Produzent/Produzentin · FR producteur/productrice
video and motion picture producer · DE Film- und Fernsehproduzent/Film- und Fernsehproduzentin · FR producteur cinéma et vidéo/productrice cinéma et vidéo

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Leisure and sports managers and proprietors (1224)60,500 employed
Arts officers, producers and directors (3416)113,500 employed
Betting shop and gambling establishment managers (1256)8,700 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.94. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (27-2012).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test