Jobs / Design, media, and writing / 27-2012.05

Media Technical Directors/Managers

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

US jobs
143,120 (SOC 27-2012 group, "Producers and Directors")
Median wage
$90,360 a year
Job family
Design, media, and writing

Can agents do the work of media technical directors/managers?

We read the evidence at the level of the job family, Design, media, and writing:

  • Task levelPartialOnly adjacent evidence. OSWorld-Verified includes tasks in image, slide, and document apps, and the best agent passes 90.2% of all its computer tasks. No task-level benchmark in our collection scores the quality of design or writing work.
  • Project levelNot yetOn the Remote Labor Index, which includes graphic design, video, 3D, audio, and web projects from freelance platforms, the best agent completed 15.8% of projects to a standard a client would accept. GDPval deliverables score higher (84.9% wins or ties against professionals, reported by OpenAI), but those tasks are one-shot and fully specified.

Benchmarks for the job family

These cover work in design, media, and writing, not always this occupation's tasks.

Typical tasks

From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.

  • 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.
  • Supervise and assign duties to workers engaged in technical control and production of radio and television programs.
  • 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.
  • Test equipment to ensure proper operation.
  • Train workers in use of equipment, such as switchers, cameras, monitors, microphones, and lights.
  • Act as liaisons between engineering and production departments.
  • Collaborate with promotions directors to produce on-air station promotions.
  • Confer with operations directors to formulate and maintain fair and attainable technical policies for programs.
  • Schedule use of studio and editing facilities for producers and engineering and maintenance staff.
  • 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.
Other job titles for this occupation (17)

Broadcast Director · News Technical Director · Newscast Director · Operations Director · Production Director · Production Manager · Studio Director · Technical Director · News Director · Operations Manager · Production Superintendent · Production Supervisor · Radio Station Manager · Radio Television Technical Director · Record Producer · Remote Operations Producer · Test Editing Director