Who is that masked man who spends countless hours at the transmitter site and never comes out of the shop? Armed with a pen pocket protector, english words come out of his mouth but he seems to speak another language. What the heck does this person do all day?

It took a number of years for the chief engineer to develop the erroneous “Elmer” image and this image has been very hard to shake. Lack of understanding of the technical side of the station by management led to a lack of communication with the chief engineer. This lack of communication led to a misconception about the skills of the chief engineer. After all, if you don’t get to know someone, your mind has to fill in all the blanks about the person. The image you create may be entirely wrong. It might be good to take a careful look at your chief engineer and get to know him, you may be ignoring an extremely valuable asset to your station.

The perceived necessity for a full time engineer is cyclical in many radio markets. One year he is critical to the station and a few years later, he’s a burden to the bottom line. The perception may vary, but the need is always there and one thing is for sure, it’s the ‘90s and the chief engineer is a necessary person in your station. A good chief engineer keeps your facility running smooth.  He keeps your technical expenses in line, and insures that you're are competitive with both sound and signal. He can also ensure that you stay on track with the technical revolution that is sweeping across the broadcast industry. A good chief engineer is an invaluable resource.

So what does this mysterious person do all day long? Twenty years ago the responsibilities of the chief engineer were solely hardware based: tape decks, microphones, cart machines, turntables, mixing consoles, transmitters, and antennas. The chief engineer would do installation, maintenance and some training. Another important  aspect was keeping the station within FCC guidelines.

Turntables, cart machines and tape decks are slowly disappearing from the broadcast world. They are being replaced with cd players, mini-disc players, and hard disk storage. All of these systems are computer and microprocessor based. We’re are talking about complex digital devices. Your chief engineer is learning and absorbing this new technology on almost a daily basis. He’s your technical guy and you’re depending upon him.

The sales department needs a computer at each desk, who installs the computers,  who trains the sales staff? Now you want to hook them all together into a Novell network. Who installs the network, who becomes your network administrator? You want new software for the sales team, who installs it, who trains your staff? Are you starting to get the picture? Because of the growing computerization of the entire broadcast industry, you are becoming more and more dependent on your chief engineer for his knowledge and skills. The chief engineer’s responsibilities have grown tremendously. He is not only dealing with broadcast equipment, he’s dealing with computer hardware/software and people (your staff!) The new responsibilities just keep on coming but the beepers and 4 AM telephone calls have not stopped!

The chief engineer’s job description has changed and will continue to evolve. His areas of responsibility have grown tremendously. Like any other position in your facility, you need to right person for the job. Now is a good time to see if you’ve got the right person in place. If you do, now’s the time to review how much you are paying your chief engineer. Many chief engineers are leaving the broadcast industry for greener pastures in allied technical fields. Your chief engineer is an essential member of your staff. The worst time to find out you have a great chief engineer is when he walks out the door! Get to know the person who used to wear the pen pocket protector. Don’t take your chief engineer for granted, include him on your management and planning meetings. Sit down with him and put together a technical plan for the next few years that will keep your facility competitive.