The Society of Broadcast Engineers has teamed up with the Advanced Television Systems Committee to create a new Specialist level of SBE certification assessing proficiency in the ATSC 3.0 standard. The announcement was made at the ATSC's annual meeting in Washington D.C.
The ATSC 3.0 system, aka Next Gen TV, has been approved for deployment in the U.S., and the technology is already in use in South Korea, as demonstrated at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
[Read: 2018 NAB Show Marks Next Gen TV’s Arrival]
ATSC President Mark Richer explained in the release that the effort is part of the committee’s work “to support deployment of ATSC 3.0.”
“As broadcast engineering diversified beyond legacy technology, the SBE Certification Program also diversified by adding certifications for computer networking and IT, and then a series of specific Specialist Certifications for television transmission, AM directional arrays, and digital radio. With the industry preparing to implement ATSC 3.0, broadcast engineers must be proficient in the next-generation television technology,” SBE President Jim Leifer, CPBE, said in a press release announcing the initiative.
Once developed, the exam will consist of a 50 multiple-choice questions and one essay, as per the Specialist format. Also, in order to become certified as a Specialist, applicants must first be designated as CBT, CBRE/CBTE, CSRE/CSTE or CPBE — the core certifications of the SBE.
The SBE Certification Program was created in 1975 to provide standards of competence for the industry.
