What do you reckon the cheapest TV

[Greedo]

programme is to make.

I'll go for Come Dine with Me

Couple of cameras
Some cards with numbers on it
a few taxis home
and a guy to pay to do the voice overs

Not much to it.

 

[tyred]

Last of the Summer Wine. Three old codgers wandering around the countryside before going downhill in an old bathtub while some old battle axe grinds the gears in her Triumph Herald.

 

[trustysteed]

the regional news.

some still photos of regional landmarks, a handheld camera, and some footage of an old lady's cat stuck (conveniently placed) up a tree.

 

[trustysteed]

Dad's Army

A camera and some footage of some elderly men in a shed pointing at map drawings.

 

[Theseus]

Dad's Army

A camera and some footage of some elderly men in a shed pointing at map drawings.

The scene where they are escorting the U boat crew was done in the road outside our house. It took all day to shoot that. Mind you it probably didn't help that they were invited into the garden for a cup of tea.

As for the OP, probably those programs that give you the best bits from Youtube. No fees to pay for the materal and just need someone to record the links in front of a static camera.

 

[Over The Hill]

Various "Go and look at a house and don't buy it" shows.

It just seems to be some idiots looking at houses that are on the market. Talking about them for a bit, then deciding not to buy the house/move abroad/to the country etc.

Punters are free, houses are free to nose round. Just some third rate estate agent celeb type to "find" the houses and a bloke with a hand held camera.

 

[Ghost Donkey]

the regional news.

some still photos of regional landmarks, a handheld camera, and some footage of an old lady's cat stuck (conveniently placed) up a tree.

Regional news costs a fortune. For the ITV regions it is still part of the license agreement. Once that has gone I expect them to stop making it ASAP.

In order to film that cat up a tree you have a permanently contracted satellite uplink truck and engineer, plus £25 a minute satellite time. They have the truck on contract so they'll use it evenon a slow or no news day. You need a deadicated camera person and sound and lighting person to go with sat truck, crews for pre filmed "features" which are basically non-breaking news items such as pre-planned events or stories which can be breadcast on any day and require no live or quick turn around pictures. Add to that the use of a broadcast facility, studios and crews, eqiupment used and consumables such as tapes. You have the weather forcast to think about and even if it is made in house youneed to pay for a weather information provider and a way of interpreting the information. Sport is not cheap either. From secondary rights and to basically record it from another broadcaster and mask their dogs to having a facility at a football ground with a video line between sites. You have tape libraries and stock shots to manage and the cost of journalism and other news production staff.

A friend who worked in London for ITN did some regional news to cover another sat truck engineer's holiday. He got a page to go to Wolverhampton quick to cover the West Midlands first organic banana tree or something similar. It was a few years ago so the memory is a little shady. Very expesive to cover. Costs are coming down with high speed data lines starting to cover the use of more expensive video lines for some uses.

In some ways it's a massive acheivement they can make it look so cheap and shoddy

 

[trustysteed]

You need a deadicated camera person

you mean he passed away with boredom?

 

[Ghost Donkey]

you mean he passed away with boredom?

D'oh

 

[dellzeqq]

daytime slots cost about £22k a half hour and up. And then again you get repeats....Daytime slots in the States can cost a lot less.

The trick is organisation. And some people happen to be more organised than others.

That's my girl......

 

[Twenty Inch]

Anything with "100 Best..." in the title.

List TV. Cheap, insulting, patronising padding.

 

[John the Monkey]

Charlie Brooker on what TV costs;


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw-5IqwsHzY

 

[Paulus]

Any program that people have to send in video clips of their families/pets doing not very funny things on holiday or in the garden.

 

[walker]

Location, Location, er, forgot the last bit.
(programme makers sitting around a desk must of taken them weeks to think of that one on a budget of £50)

 

[dellzeqq]

Any program that people have to send in video clips of their families/pets doing not very funny things on holiday or in the garden.

cheap, certainly, but if it's on anywhere near prime time the presenter will be charging (I speculate) £45,000 an hour. And if it's on ITV4 at some unearthly hour the slot price will be derisory.