Prep time for your Broadcast. How long does it take?

[andrewzarian]

I was wondering if you guys could share how long it takes you to prep for your show. Depending on the show I am hosting it can take anywhere from 15 min to 2 hours of research and show note prep.

So how long does it take you guys?

[MyTakeRadio]

I usually take 90 minutes to two hours with sound checks, notes etc. Some weeks I gradually prep notes and those weeks its about an hour.

[Wheelze]

It depends on the topic of that week's show. If I know that the given topic might involve or invoke some reaction, I'll sometimes researching or gathering, writing material a few days in advance. And take some time each day to gather my thoughts or any thoughts that I think I would have for that show. And during other shows, if I just want to say something, get something off my mind, I'll just go for it. No writing, no waiting.

[ChaseShumway]

I spend a few hours during the week putting together our rundown and assembling the links to articles, videos, pictures, etc.

The real prep time is the night of the show. We have a dedicated recording spot, but we can't leave the gear set up there, so I arrive two hours before our live stream to assemble our studio. That gives me time to check that everything is working, troubleshoot anything that's not and make any final notes on the rundown before showtime. I usually squeeze in a beer too!

[Podnutter]

About 30 min depending on the topic.

[Dahalabit]

1 hour generally

[techzentv]

For me it depends on which show it is. 2 of our shows are batched so they do not count. For our live shows, one of them I put links in my show notes as news happens through the week and then spend about an hour or slightly more expanding on the notes. I also have 2 co-hosts that will help by adding in their links and notes as well. Another show varies depending on what we are talking about. The other live show has very little notes. It is a fan cast for American Idol so the notes consist of what I thought of the performers. Then the live show is other people telling me their opinions pre-results show and post results show.

[andrewzarian]

Do you guys think too much Prep is a bad thing?

[AndrewSeabrook]

Do you guys think too much Prep is a bad thing?

I suppose the answer to your question here is no...but with practice and experience your prep time will reduce. Having now gone "live" with our basketball season the six months of prep has been invaluable, but there are still things that come up that either I haven't foreseen, or that don't work. Prep starts for me three or four days before the games when I get access to the team lists for the weekend. I can then make any team graphics that I want to overlay during the broadcast. I also get access to the league analysis of the previous weeks games for the commentators use. Setup before the event then takes me about 2 hours. So it is critical that before I transport gear to the venue it is all boxed and arranged where I can logically and quickly get to it in order to make the setup as quick as possible. (Make certain that you have plenty of Gaffa tape to secure cables safely!) Pre-game once all cameras and other equipment is connected, all checks on the setup need to be run and taking the cue from Tom Sinclair, the stream established with the CDN early. This allows the stream to stablise.

Now the commentators need to do their pre-game. The big issue for us is pronunciation of surnames! One of the things I am going to establish shortly is an "official" pre-game meeting where the commentators, the court announcer and Team Managers from each team get together to clarify the names and how to say them. I have found that I have to write out some name phonetically for some of the commentators. On top of that the final team list needs to be acquired and a feed to the game stats established for the commentary team. The commentators also need to spend a bit of time reviewing the game previews, and should also have done homework on the stats for each team, familiarizing themselves with the key players and their performance in the few games leading up.

Is there more? YES.... but I am learning as I go. The bottom line is that the more prepared you are the more able you are to cope when things go wrong.