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Enter into the world of media, where your knowledge and thirst for words pay. Ever since the advent of private satellite channels into our homes, there has been a constant requirement of personnel in the broadcast media.

The television industry can be divided into three basic types of organisations

1. Broadcast organisations: These, for instance Doordarshan and Zee TV, produce and air their own programmes. They are networks that require a whole range of professionals.

2. Non-broadcast organisations: Here, the firm is involved in buying and selling of programmes. For instance, Star TV. There`s not much employment in this sector.

3. Production houses: Firms that make television programmes and sell them to TV channels. These are only production units. They do not broadcast .

Unlike the cinema industry, a producer is the director here. You can be an in-house producer with a television channel where you are given a salary and made to produce weekly programmes for the channel. It is a very stressful job and requires constant interaction with different team players.

Who is a freelance producer?

They are independent producers who pitch for corporate films commissioned by business houses, or documentaries sanctioned by television channels.

Drawbacks: blocked payments, difficulty in getting work.

There are very few women doing television camera in our country. However, a good many Bollywood cinematographers are doing television camera. It is considered less stressful than cinematography because television production standards in India are not very stringent. Payment: Rs 15,000 - 30,000 p.m for inhouse cameraman.

There are three types of TV editors - online editors, off-line editors, and a non-linear editors.

1. On-line editors perform a very specialised job. They edit shot-sequences while a shoot is on. They are required where the shoot is being done with more than one camera. This is usually done when budgets and the scale of production is pretty high. Good money.

2. Off-line editors start work after the shoot has been done.

3. Non-linear editing is fast emerging as a hot career. Here, the producer shoots his film and transfers it to a computer. The non-linear editor then arranges it in the right sequence. Apart from knowledge of standard video editing, you`ll need to learn animation and special effects.

You should know basic software packages: 3D Studio, 3DS Max (windows), Adobe PhotoShop, After Effects, plus an editing software called Adobe premier and a host of PC-based special effects packages.

The presenter is the key USP in any media channel. With even the daily newsreaders requiring to do interactive quizzing and interviews online, it is becoming more of a criteria for newspersons to have a journalistic background and be aware of the developments.