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BUDGET:First Part, Second Part, Third Part, The Sponsors

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Introduction to Broadcasting ­ MCM 411
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LESSON 34
BUDGET
Producing any piece of broadcasting for radio or television requires money. Although it
depends on the size and quality of the production, money is needed in any case.
With advancements made so rapidly in the electronic media production and the
competitiveness in this field, it is no more a game of small money. The escalating cost on
various counts is making the radio, especially TV production a very costly affair.
There is little room left for an individual to think of producing a program which must last for at
least one quarter of the year, from its own resources. It is more a corporate business these
days. You need to set up a company to generate resources and take care of the financial side
of a production. Loans from banks are also available if you are a part of the corporate sector
for production purposes. However, banks will show hesitation in lending money to new
comers.
Before we discuss how one can generate money to accomplish a production assignment, it is
pertinent to examine areas in production which require funds.
We can divide costs in three categories:
First Part
A producer needs to get a script of a program, preferably by an authentic script writer. He
needs to pay, or settle terms of payment with the writer. Writers of different programs charge
in different manner. A playwright will demand according to its market demand which may be
massive. Getting a play written by a newcomer, or an ordinary writer will put the production at
risk to some extent. A lot of discussion takes place between the producer and his/ her team in
the selection of the playwright.
The producer will then be talking with the musicians who would provide background music
and sound effects. Obviously some money would be paid to book them.
In case of TV production, the next assignment is to arrange costumes for the performers. It
depends though on the nature of the drama, costumes involve a reasonable amount. And if
jewelry and shows or headgears are also involved in the production, the cost goes up
noticeably.
If the play is not to be recorded at one spot and involves shooting at different locales, the
transportation charges have to be taken into consideration. If the performers have to stay
overnight, simply add hotel charges on to it.
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Introduction to Broadcasting ­ MCM 411
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If the movement of the crew and the performers is frequent from one point to another, support
staff is required to help in logistics. You can also add some unseen expenditures like
entertainment, rehearsals and some damage to the equipment.
It is not necessary that all the articles required to complete a production must be bought at a
heavy cost. Most articles, like furniture, costumes, items of decoration and many other things
used in building a set are now available on rent. Many a production houses, besides making
their own presentations, also provide commonly used articles in production on rent to others.
Just as you may hire a transport for a couple of days, or a week ­ as the need be, on rent, a
number of other things are available in the same fashion. More you are involved in regular
productions, easier it becomes to hire things you need to accomplish your task.
As far as the talents are concerned they may also be engaged in the same way. If you are to
involve some actors and actresses in a number of your productions, you may sign a contract
with them instead of bargaining with them all the time they are booked for some production.
This is a very common practice in TV as well as film production and is very cost effective at
the same time.
Second Part
A complete shift with ENG staff including cameras, lights, props and the studio means that a
reasonable expenditure is likely to be made. If the indoor shoots need around a dozen shifts,
one can easily workout the amount multiplying manifold. The shifts arrangement must be
understood properly. Shifts are usually for eight hours each. This means if you have a
business for two hours, you would have to book a shift of eight hours. This means, you will
have to pay for the shift time and not for the time you want to consume. A seasoned director
would always book a shift when the director would have so much work to get maximum
benefit from booking a shift at some production house to shoot scenes for its production.
Also money is required to buy tapes DVs, or mini DVs, engage camerapersons, lighting
director and set designers. When we talk about sets, as you know, it means a lot of money
depending on the nature of sets required by the director to film the scenes according to the
demand of the story. All this means a lot of money.
Third Part
Having recorded a program or a drama does not mean end of the business. The most tedious
work is to start yet... to give final shape to the recordings..
Again, a studio equipped with post-production machines is required in the form of shifts.
Usually this part takes more time than the production because all details, dubbing and
changes have to take place at this stage for there is no room to correct anything once it is
through this stage.
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Introduction to Broadcasting ­ MCM 411
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Till now we have not included the cost of director which is usually very high for it all depends
on the director to give you a high quality product. More quality means more money.
These days it is hardly one person's job to go for production. Most productions are done at
corporate level- by setting up a production house, and with the help of sponsors.
The Sponsors
A very popular term with the producers of radio and TV dramas and other broadcast products.
This means that there is a financer available in the form of an individual (rare these days) or a
company usually manufacturers of popular industrial and luxury products show more interest
in offering sponsorship to showbiz programs like dramas, live music concerts, prize awarding
ceremonies and in some cases disc jockey programs.
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Table of Contents:
  1. BROADCASTING:Historical Facts about Radio, Wireless and Radio
  2. CLASSIFICATION OF PROGRAMS:NEWS, Language, Sensationalizing
  3. CURRENT AFFAIRS:Talk Shows, Discussions, Seminars, Live Shows
  4. OUTDOOR BROADCASTING I:VIP Movement, Suddenly Assigned Events
  5. OUTDOOR BROADCASTING II:Pakistan Day March Past, General Elections
  6. CURTAIN RAISER:Political, Financial, Sports, Academics
  7. RADIO FEATURE:Personality Features, Features on Events
  8. MUSICAL PROGRAMS:Classical Music, Light and Film Music, Folk Music
  9. RADIO DOCUMENTARY:Narrative, Dramatized, Imagination, Close to places
  10. DISC JOCKEY:Women in Focus, Daily/ Weekly Division, Making Titles
  11. VOICE IN BROADCASTING:Speech, Accent, Loudness, Stress
  12. NOISE:Physical, Medium itself, Problem at sender’s end, Semantics
  13. STUDIO:Drama Studio, Studios for Talk Shows/ Discussions, Music Studios,
  14. RADIO DRAMA I:Stage Dramas, Early Radio Dramas, Ethics, Classification
  15. RADIO DRAMA II:Selection of director, The Playwrights, Script, Voices
  16. ADVERTISEMENT – INCOME GENERATION:Similarities, More Analysis
  17. ADVERTISERS’ APPROACH:Dramatized, Dialogue based, News
  18. FM – A NEW GENERATION IN BROADCASTING:Low Cost, The Difference
  19. MICROPHONE TO TRANSMITTER:Amplifiers, Modulator, Transmitter
  20. WRITING SCRIPT FOR RADIO BROADCAST:NEWS Script, Interviews
  21. INTERACTIVE BROADCASTING:On-line, E-mails, Interview, Views in News
  22. REVISION:CURRENT AFFAIRS, RADIO FEATURE, MUSICAL PROGRAMS
  23. HISTORY OF TELEVISION:Early History, The Black & White Images, Color Television
  24. PAKISTAN TELEVISION (PTV):The Excitement, Timing, Live Broadcast
  25. BROADCASTING LAWS:Laws in the 19th century, Press Council of Pakistan
  26. REPLICAS OF RADIO BROADCAST:The Staff, News Reading, Programming
  27. NEW SCRIPT WRITING AND DIRECTION TECHNIQUES:TV Script
  28. SETS:Permanent Sets, Hot & Cover Sets, Special Sets, Economical
  29. CAMERA SHOTS – THE VISUAL LANGUAGE:Angle Shots, Movement shots
  30. LIGHTS IN VISUAL BROADCASTING:Light Temperature, Light and Distance
  31. INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR:NEWS and Interviews, Dramas and Music
  32. BROADCASTING AND MEDIA IMPERIALISM:The truth in the debate
  33. ENVIRONMENT OF TV BROADCAST:Optical Illusions, POV, Depth of Field
  34. BUDGET:First Part, Second Part, Third Part, The Sponsors
  35. COMPARISON AND CONTRAST OF DIFFERENT RADIO AND TV FORMATS:TV NEWS
  36. CURRENT AFFAIRS – FROM RADIO TO TV:Seminars, Interviews
  37. PRE-PRODUCTION:Brain Storming, Scripting a new program, Approval
  38. PRODUCTION & POST-PRODUCTION:Booking Shifts, Rehearsals
  39. TV ADVERTISEMENTS – MONEY WITH ENTERTAINMENT:Early Phase, Getting Spots
  40. ENIGMA OF MORE CHANNELS:The Investment, Fresh Ideas, Closure of channels
  41. ANCHORPERSON:Appearance and Confidence, Job Opportunities
  42. COMPARISON BETWEEN RADIO AND TV BROADCAST:The Difference, Script
  43. TERRESTRIAL TO SATELLITE TO CABLE TV:Cable Network, CD Channels
  44. CAREER IN BROADCASTING:Production, Direction, Lighting Director, Script Writer
  45. REVISION (LESSON 23 TO 44):Broadcasting Laws, PEMRA, Budget