With the start of the new year 2024, the Society of Broadcast Engineers, the association for broadcast and multimedia technology professionals, celebrates its 60th anniversary. Officially founded on 4th April 1964, the SBE has grown from its humble beginnings when about 100 broadcast engineers gathered for a meeting at the NAB Convention in Chicago to provide a leading role in broadcast and multimedia education, certification, professional networking, frequency coordination and advocacy for technical professional working at radio and TV station, production facilities and more.

SBE 60 Years

The Society's roots stretch back to 1961 when the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) and American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) passed a joint resolution calling for a "merger or consolidation into one organization." The two groups did finally join forces in 1963 forming what is known today as the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).

The new organization was perceived by some as not addressing the needs of broadcast engineers. Because of the interest shown in response to an editorial in Broadcast Engineering magazine, written by eventual first SBE President John Battison, the organizational meeting held in 1964 formed an organization devoted to the needs and interests of broadcast engineers that now is celebrating its 60th anniversary.

With members around the world, local SBE chapters provide services to members through meetings, technical seminars, certification examinations and fellowship.

Throughout 2024, the SBE will mark the event in its bi-monthly newsletter, The Signal, on the SBE website, in social media posts, and with in-person events at the 2024 NAB Show. A special SBE Certification project will also be announced shortly to commemorate the Diamond anniversary. The celebration will continue at the 2024 SBE National Meeting, which will be held in the fall.

The Society of Broadcast Engineers is the professional organization of television and radio engineers and those in related fields. The SBE has more than 4,500 members in 115 chapters across the United States and in Hong Kong and Eastern Europe. There are also members in more than 25 other countries. Most chapters meet monthly and offer educational programs and an opportunity to network with other broadcast technical professionals. The SBE offers the preeminent technical broadcast certification program in the U.S. and an expansive list of educational programs for broadcast engineers, operators, technicians, and broadcast IT professionals.

The SBE provides education and training programs to expand technical skills, and its certification program is a standard-bearer for professional competency in broadcast and communications engineering. SBE offers a forum for the exchange of ideas and the sharing of information allowing engineers to keep pace with the rapidly changing broadcast industry. SBE’s frequency coordination program facilitates the use by broadcast engineers of radio spectrum for program and electronic news production. The SBE also advocates before Federal agencies and the United States Congress on technical regulatory issues that affect broadcast engineers.

For more information about the SBE, contact James Ragsdale, executive director, at jragsdale@sbe.org or 317-846-9000, or visit the SBE website - https://sbe.org/