Tom Glover is currently a Broadcast Engineer for Discovery Inc, responsible for the day to day technical output ~130 channels across the UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia. These channels include familiar UK favorites like Quest, DMAX, Discovery Channel, Really, Food Network, Animal Planet and TLC.
He’s been in the industry for over 8 years and has seen the transition from Traditional Linear Broadcast to a more hybrid mix of IP, VOD, Cloud Playout, and Large Scale Automation.
Outside of Broadcasting Tom can be found out hiking, playing tennis, exploring National Trust Houses, chilling in the cinema, tinkering with electronics projects or even at Swanley Park volunteering with the Swanley New Barn Railway as a driver, signaller or maintaining 7 3/4” trains.
Employment History
Discovery Inc – September 2012 to Present
March 2019 to Present - New Media Technologist, Cloud Automation
- Supporting Feature and Bugfix Upgrades to Hardware and Software in the Cloud Playout System
- Assisted with the expansion from 118 discreet channel to 170 across two sites, including new language and compliance requirements
- Lead several AWS EC2, Aurora and S3 Projects across the team.
- Lead several investigations into on-air outages, improved Kibana based monitoring systems to provide visibility and tracking of common issues
- Created several scripts to work around issues and in some cases provide quick temporary solutions to urgent business requirements
- S3 asset search tool, to help local operation and engineering teams manage 4 million+ media files (C#/WPF/.Net4.6)
- S3 Reconciliation between two Media Asset Management (MAM) Systems (C#/WPF/.Net4.6)
- MAM API integration for bulk system changes and checks. (C#/Console/ASP.net Core/.Net Core 2.0+/3.0)
March 2018 to March 2019 - Broadcast Cloud Support Specialist (Secondment)
- Supporting Migrations between Legacy Playout Systems and Cloud Playout Systems in multiple AWS Regions
- Supporting new media workflows (Restore/Transcode/Upload) to enable to Cloud Playout Systems
- Supporting Feature and Bugfix Upgrades to Hardware and Software in the Cloud Playout System
- Migration of the Cloud Playout Database from Standalone DB to AWS Aurora
- Supporting and Advising on new alarming, monitoring, documentation to support the new IP infrastructure and delivery from Cloud to On-prem
- AWS EC2 Instances - G, M, R Series
- AWS Aurora - MySQL Compatible
- AWS S3 Storage
August 2014 to March 2018 - Broadcast Support Engineer
November 2013 to January 2014 and March 2014 to August 2014 - Broadcast Support Engineer (On-Shift Secondment)
- Responsible for day to day support of:
- 118 Automated and Live Transmission Streams (Video, Audio, A/D and Subtitles)
- 8 Ingest Suites
- 3 Live Control Suites
- And several associated systems including an 8+PB Archive System, Automation Systems, Asset Management, V/O Booths, Subtitling, Compliance Recording and Automated Continuity Graphics Systems.
September 2012 to August 2014 - Technical Operator (Engineering)
Olympic Broadcasting Services - July 2012 to September 2012
- Broadcast Cable Installation and Removal
- Utility Broadcast Engineer to Weightlifting at the Excel.
Showstars – June 2012 to September 2012
Local Crew – Steel Hand – Lighting Assistant
All England Lawn Tennis Club (Wimbledon) - June 2011
- Assistant Vision Engineer in the Main Press Interview Room
- Assistant Vision Engineer for Court Number 2 and the BBC Wimbledon Studios
Waitrose – September 2008 to September 2012 – Part Time
Checkouts - Customer Service - Wines - Car Park
Keep Me Promotions - 2007, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 – Part Time
Screen and Transfer Printing (2012) - Warehouse Operations - Forklift Operator – Also built a custom Order Dispatch and Warehouse Management System (PHP/HTML/CSS/JS)
Education and Skills
Ravensbourne – FdSc Broadcast Technology - 2010 to 2012 - Distinction
- FDB105 Operational Skills (A-)
- FDB104 Broadcast Technology (A)
Coopers Technology College – 2003 to 2010
- 3 A Levels – ICT (B), Systems and Control (C), Physics (D)
- 12 GCSE’s – Including English (B, C), Maths (A), Science (A, A)
Completed Backstage Academy’s 2 day Rigging Course – 17th to 18th March 2012
- Lifting Principles – Truss Theory – Bridles – Slinging – Choke and Baskets – PPE Inspection and Regulations, Guidance, Standards and Working at Height
Skills
- Windows, Mac and Linux: Including Server Versions, Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Creative Suites and AutoCAD
- An Understanding of the following Languages:
- Mid to High Understanding:
- HTML
- CSS
- Python
- C# Preferred
- .Net Environment Core and Framework
- PHP 5 (7 - low)
- MySQL / MSSQL Language and Basic Management
- Low To Mid Understanding:
- JavaScript
- Python
- Oracle SQL
- Mid to High Understanding:
- OSI Networking and Cisco/Juniper Fundamentals
- An understanding of electrical signals and systems, with an ability to troubleshoot, visualise and resolve complex control and signal systems, including but not limited to HD-SDI Video, SMPTE 2202, RS232/422, GPIO, FC/IP/10base2 Networks.
- A practical understanding of the Broadcast Chain from Capture to Transmission including Asset Management, Archival and Automation
- A practical understanding of Compressed IP Broadcast and Cloud Playout Technologies, including AWS EC2, S3, RDS.
- A practical understanding of Lighting Design and the Fundamentals of Safe Rigging