Do I need a diploma to get into TV?

I always get asked by friends who think Television Broadcasting sounds interesting and that it may be something they want to do. The question of do I need to go back to school and get a piece of paper saying I can do televsion to work in the industry? I always say no you do not need a diploma but 95% of the time it sure helps. There are a few of us who just know how to sell themselves and think on their feet and there are those of us who know the right people or the chance falls in their lap. But for most of us, the schooling is the way in the door because most employers will not even keep your resume without the education background. Even if you have post secondary education in another topic, it still shows the employer that you signed on for something and followed it through. The funny thing is it is not until the end of the long road of school that we finally see that you could of got the same job without going. I have friends who took english and history as their majors and now have a very successful career in the televsion industry so there are always different ourcomes for different people.
Depending on what aspect of the industry you want to enter can influence what schooling you need as well. If you go into the technical side of things , where you learn it is not as important as knowing how to do it and show someone a portfolio of your work. However if you want to be in production or marketing or sales or many other areas, going to school is vital. Personally I got a Bachelor of Arts before I really knew what I wanted to do and then I specialized and took a course in Broadcasting. The only thing I would say is if you know how to do something (use a camera, edit, write etc) and are good at it, you can get by without schooling but the path is very hard and most people give up.