SBE Certifications: 30 Years Old

The SBE is marking 30 years of certification.

In an announcement about the anniversary, the society recalled the beginnings of the program: "During a Society of Broadcast Engineers Board of Directors meeting on November 13, 1975, a decision was made to commence a Program of Certification for broadcast engineers. The result of this action has become one of the foundations of the SBE and benchmark for the entire broadcast industry.

"The SBE originally petitioned the FCC to create more stringent licensing requirements for broadcast engineers and operators. When the FCC decided to take the opposite action, the SBE stepped in and created the Program of Certification," the society wrote in its summary.

"The concept was first discussed in 1973. The Program was introduced during a session called, 'A New Broadcast License Certification Program,' at the NAB convention in 1975."

Jim Bernier, chairman of the National Certification Committee, said there are now more than 5,600 active SBE certifications.

(Radio World)