CHAPTER 8
BROADCAST MANAGEMENT
More than half of all Navy journalists are assigned
broadcasting duties. Now, it is almost impossible to
finish a career in the Navy as a journalist without being
assigned to a billet that requires you to understand the
basics of broadcasting. Earlier in your career, you were
taught how to speak and write correctly for broadcast
productions. Having already been trained at DINFOS or
at your first broadcast assignment, now you will gain a
deeper understanding of what you were taught and how
to use that knowledge. You must now be the teacher.
This chapter enables you to be an effective broadcast
manager by providing information on how to lead and
train a broadcast news, production and programming
department.
NBS DETACHMENT ADMINISTRATION
Learning Objective:
Identify the elements of
administering and managing a Navy Broadcasting
Service (NBS) detachment.
This chapter is not a compilation of Navy
Broadcasting Service (NBS) administration policies.
This information is covered in SECNAVINST
1700.10D series (including DoD Instruction 5120.20-R
and the annexes). So that you keep a current and reliable
source in the hands of your sailors, periodic changes will
be issued and you should pay close attention to including
these updates within the instruction.
Areas of concern to station managers that are
included in DoD 5120.20-R are as follows:
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Station establishment (ashore and afloat)
Program material policies and procedures
Cable and satellite service
Supply
Station security
Support agreements
Logistics
Personnel
The previous list is by no means complete in terms
of everything DoD 5120.20-R and its appendices and
annexes cover, but it does give you some idea of how
important it is to have an updated copy. DoD 5120.20-R
is the source of information on the rules and
regulations of broadcasting in the Navy. It is the bible
of NBS detachment operations. Every JO2 and JO1
should be familiar with this document. You may order
DoD 5120.20-R by ordering the accompanying
SECNAVINST 1700.10D. Every SECNAV/OPNAV
instruction has a stock number, and you may order an
instruction through normal supply channels.
STATION ORGANIZATION
The station organization of each NBS detachment
depends upon how many people you have to accomplish
the particular mission your detachment is assigned to
do. Therefore, it is unwise to try to describe the “typical”
NBS detachment organization. Some NBS detachments
are large and include a dozen journalists and half a dozen
interior communications electrician (IC) technicians.
Others might only have a half dozen sailors with mission
requirements that are the same as the larger manned
stations. The key here is flexibility. If the station yeoman
and supply clerk must be assigned to television board
shifts to free up an IC technician for repair work then
so be it. The important thing is to foster an idea of team
effort. Once a sailor is assigned to an NBS detachment,
nothing more should be made of his particular rating
other than it being a specialty needed for the successful
operation of the station. If there is a shortage of
technicians, then PMS checks that can be done safely
by nontechnicians should be completed by those trained
to do so. The scenarios are endless. Cross-training will
be looked at in more detail later in this chapter, but do
not overlook involving everyone in the operations of the
NBS detachment by exposing them to other aspects of
station business. This will help beat down the irritating
habit of outlet segregation by job description. As stated
above, team effort is a goal in itself. It is a goal that,
when met, may produce extraordinary results.
DEPARTMENTS
In general, an NBS detachment that has radio and
television stations will be broken into the three main
categories of engineering, radio and television. The
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