Being On Work Experience At ITV Content Services – Part 2

Meet Hayley who joined the team on a work experience placement in 2017.

I’m Hayley, I’m the Supervisor for the Late & Live team at ITV Content Delivery. I oversee the day-to-day coordination of the team, which primarily includes the capturing of all of ITV’s live content for the ITV Hub and other catch-up platforms. With the nature of live TV, each day is different and the team works around the clock capturing a variety of programmes – ranging from Good Morning Britain, Britain’s Got Talent, and (when there isn’t a global pandemic) live sporting events such as the The French Open and Tour de France. Our role is time critical and we aim to capture and deliver content as quickly as possible. We have worked on high profile shows such as Love Island, where our team have played a vital role in ensuring each episode was delivered to the ITV Hub promptly and without issue, to meet the high demand of millions of viewers.

As content is shown live on ITV’s linear broadcast channels throughout the day and night, we have to be on hand to capture the programmes as they happen, which means that our office is manned almost 24 hours a day. This allows the Late & Live team to add further value to the department by performing other operational duties, meaning that targets are exceeded and deadlines are never missed.

My journey in ITV Content Delivery started back in 2017, when I joined the ITV Talent Pool as part of the Insight Programme. I was passionate about TV but hadn’t yet found an opportunity to gain valuable practical experience in this sector. With the Insight Programme, I was able to view up and coming opportunities at ITV. Once I saw the application for work experience at ITV Content Delivery I knew it was a great fit for my background. I was currently working in a card distribution head office, dealing with barcodes and data handling. The work experience opportunity highlighted working with unique product numbers and handling important material such as archive assets, which I felt I could apply my current experience to.

I spent two weeks with the ITV Content Delivery team, where I moved around the department and learnt about all of the content services they provided. I shadowed the digitisation of legacy tapes such as DigiBeta, SP, D2 and UMatic. I observed the speedy process of how file deliveries were handled with specific requirements for various customers around the world, and I had an introduction to the machine room, learning how the team ingested tapes in the Flexicarts and how they processed film. I found the machine room (and the technical jargon which went with it) quite daunting at first but I soon became more comfortable after asking questions to try and gain a better understanding of the processes. My highlight of the two weeks was timecode capturing as I felt I was able to get involved with a valuable process and had made a personal contribution to the department.

Overall, the work experience was invaluable; I left feeling inspired, particularly by the team’s passion and knowledge for each of their different roles.

I have worked in ITV Content Delivery now since January 2018, where I began my role as a Late & Live Coordinator. Without the work experience opportunity I had been given, I might not have fully understood the work that goes on at ITV Content Delivery, and I wouldn’t have known for sure how much I would love to work there. It also gave me the opportunity to make a really good impression with the team, which ultimately has led me to being able to begin my career at ITV.

In the last two years, I have been promoted to Senior and then to Supervisor in January this year. When I joined the ITV Content Delivery team, I would never have imagined I’d have the responsibility of looking after my own team in such a short space of time. Initially, when I began my role in the Late and Live team, I had no prior experience editing content so it was all very new using applications such as Adobe Premiere. However, with the support of my colleagues and management I soon gained confidence in these areas and eventually I began teaching others. I had only been in my role as Late and Live coordinator for a year when the opportunity arose for a Senior position, at first I felt it was a lot of pressure to look after a team and ensure everything runs smoothly operationally but I knew I would have the support of management who would provide all the training I needed for this transition. Now as team supervisor, I still find it challenging but it’s also hugely rewarding seeing the success of the team and how they are integral to the wider department.

I would highly recommend taking on a work experience opportunity, you never know what potential you have unless you go for it, even if it is out of your comfort zone – you may surprise yourself!