Broadcasting and Poverty

If you have read any of my other posts, you would know that I really, really, really love electronics, audio, and radio/television.  In addition to my Electrical Engineering degree, I also have a minor in Broadcast Communications.  This is not a mistake.  I thoroughly enjoyed being an engineer for my High School radio station.  I also totally ate up working with Brigham Young University's KBYU television while in college.

Right out of college I investigated working with KBYU, but ended up taking a job with General Dynamics in Southern California.  This would be the first of three attempts to work in the broadcasting industry and at KBYU.  Reason for not pursuing this time, amount offered.  I really had a hard time believing that KBYU would offer me so little -- not enough to survive, meet my living expenses.  Strike one!

I had a great four years working for General Dynamics on their F-16 projects.  However, I had an opportunity to move back to my old stomping grounds and work for, then, networking leader Novell.  (My experiences at General Dynamics will have to be savored in a future post.)

During my tenure at Novell, I again investigated working in the broadcasting industry, again with BYU Broadcasting.  This time a position to engineer and program BYU Radio.  The powers that be were very interested in me, but at what turned out to be the final interview, they asked me what I needed to make, and I gave them a very low-ball figure.  The conference room of six men all laughed at me, indicating that only their upper management made that kind of money.  Strike two!

After my time at Novell, I worked for a few other high tech companies doing mostly computer programming/software engineering.  I had read that BYU Broadcasting (what they call the conglomerate of KBYU TV, BYU TV, BYU TV International, BYU Radio, and Classical 89 FM) was looking for a CTO.  I made some inquiries and ended up chatting with the General Manager of BYU Broadcasting, the head honcho himself.

Not to belabor the point, but I ended up also talking to the gentleman who ended up getting the position.  The gist of the matter was that you need to start out at KBYU in a very low paying job and basically work your way up, or you need significant broadcasting experience (i.e. start out with a low paying job and work your way up).  Now the CTO position pays a respectable salary, almost as much as an average programming position.  I have to assume that the General Manager also makes decent money, but you are talking about the highest, executive level, people making about as much as a typical software developer.  (The executives at a typical software house make from the several hundred-thousands to millions a year!)  The average salary for the workers at BYU Broadcasting is much, much lower.

So strike three as you would say it!   I went back to my programming.  However, I discovered that BYU Broadcasting was re-vamping all of their websites, I checked out to see if they were hiring and discovered that they were.  I just happened to be in-between jobs at the time.  The contract paid roughly half of what a comparable contract would pay, but oh well.    I had some fun doing websites and programming an application for the iPhone.  Would I call this a strike four, not necessarily.

So now BYU Broadcasting has this awesomely great new broadcasting facility, currently the best in the world!  Also with a fabulous Hi-def TV production truck to go with it.

Having toured KSL Channel 5's facilities in Salt Lake City, and having been acquainted with BYU Broadcasting's facilities in the Fine Arts Center on BYU Campus and out in the old Billings building (tomb) in south Provo, this building is simply amazing and 25 years over due.

Having been familiar with the coming to be of the Fine Arts Museum on BYU campus, I was acquainted with the way that BYU does fund raising for these types of projects.  The building will not be built until all the money has been raised.  Fund raising for the museum took roughly five years.  I suspect the same was true for the BYU Broadcasting building.  It is nice to know that there are good people (philanthropists) in the world today that will help in these endeavors.

So I guess that a broadcasting career is not in the cards for me in this lifetime.  I suspect that a person cannot expect to have everything that they want in this earth life.

Till next time,
Bill