What Is a Master Control Supervisor and How to Become One

By ZipRecruiter Marketplace Research Team

As a master control supervisor, your responsibilities include ensuring master control personnel meet operation performance goals for a media company or broadcast station. You oversee operations of broadcast equipment, software, video or audio recorders, servers, control consoles, and more. You are expected to train and supervise control operators using developed training procedures to meet station and federal requirements. You are in charge of airing programs and commercial breaks following the broadcast log while watching for issues and correcting them quickly. Other duties include documenting equipment problems, ensuring compliance with broadcast regulations, keeping discrepancy logs and incident reports, and auditing these to find areas of improvement.

Qualifications needed to become a master control supervisor include a high school diploma or GED certificate, though employers prefer candidates with at least a technical degree or skills training. Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) certification, or similar voluntary certification, can make you more attractive as a job seeker. It is critical you have some experience in an automated control room environment as well as within a supervisory role. You should be able to manage and train employees and be comfortable using a variety of software programs such as automation systems, character generators, and more. You must have excellent communication skills and be able to both follow and give directions. It is also essential to have a very fast reaction time when working on live broadcast television, to quickly identify and solve problems.