Why 5 Former Broadcast Workers Left Their Dream Jobs: Shocking Insights on Job Insecurity

Translation result

“I didn’t want to become another cog in that ‘super boss-to-minion’ hierarchy”

“This station had no future. Senior staff even told us to run while we were still young.”

Five people who worked at TV stations as employees of outsourced production companies or as temporary dispatch staff spoke candidly about why they ultimately left the industry.

– ‘Erai’, a dispatched AD who worked on current-affairs and public-affairs programs, said nonregular and regular employees even had different badge-lanyard colors. That culture of ranking made her feel insignificant.

– ‘Beast’, a producer who spent a decade at an outsourced production company in the current-affairs and public-affairs field, said he began preparing to leave after watching senior colleagues in their 50s pull all‑nighters and seeing production budgets frozen for ten years.

– ‘Rookie’, a dispatched AD from an outsourced producer, said working as a temp made him feel like a disposable battery that gets swapped out when a contract ends.

– ‘Dobby’, an AD at an outsourced production company, said she left a job she’d dreamed of since high school because the future felt uncertain and she was paid mostly in ‘passion’ rather than fair wages.

– ‘Jayu’, an AD at an outsourced variety-show production company, left because she couldn’t bear the idea that she’d still be an assistant director at 30.

“The work itself was fun,”

All of them agreed the work was enjoyable. They loved it when someone reposted their program on a blog, when commenters called it entertaining, or when their name flashed briefly on the end credits. Those small moments made it clear how much they loved broadcasting. Yet despite that passion, they left the industry and say they do not want to return.

Broadcast People — Part Two,
Why did these five former TV workers leave the station?

※ What is MediaToday’s series Broadcast People?

This series invites current and former TV workers to speak frankly about behind-the-scenes gossip and the stories everyone knows but few dare to tell. Workers in tough production environments often refer to themselves as “broadcast people” in a self-deprecating way. What are their working conditions like? Industry professionals from across the field gathered to share the hardships they faced and the changes they want to see. (A new episode will be posted weekly.)

[ Related article: Broadcast Workers Begin to Air Behind-the-Scenes Gossip (PD Edition) ]