What On-Site Support and Crew Training Cost, and What Moves the Price

Production Support and Training covers two things that look similar from the outside but are costed in different ways. On-site support means one of our people sits with your crew on a live day, in the gallery or on the floor, and deals with whatever the programme throws up. Training means we teach a crew who have inherited a studio how that studio actually works, from the vision mixer to the talkback routine.

Support is priced by the day, because the value is in having an experienced person present for the whole broadcast window. Training is priced by the session, because the work is mostly done before anyone goes on air. Keeping the two apart on a quotation makes it easier for you to see where the money goes, and to drop one half if you only need the other.

Both are quoted in pounds sterling, in writing, after we have talked through your studio and your schedule.

A support day starts before the programme does. We arrive early enough to walk the studio, check that cameras, intercom, monitors and playout are talking to each other, and confirm the rundown with whoever is producing. That preparation is part of the day rate, not an extra line.

During the broadcast we stay at the position that suits the problem: beside the director when cueing is tight, at the audio desk when a guest's microphone is misbehaving, or on the floor when a camera move needs adjusting. Afterwards we stay for a short debrief and leave you with notes on what to change before the next show.

Travel time within reasonable reach of Shrewsbury is included in the quoted figure. Anything further is shown separately so that nothing appears on the invoice that you were not told about.

• Pre-show check of the whole signal path
• Presence for the full broadcast window
• Written debrief notes after the show

Training cost follows three things: how many people are in the room, how many different roles they need to learn, and how long it takes to cover each one properly. Teaching two operators to run a single camera on an interview set is a short job. Bringing a six-person crew up to speed on a gallery, a lighting rig and a talkback routine is a longer one, and is quoted as a programme of sessions.

We also look at how far the studio departs from a standard layout. A room that was built by one person over several years, with equipment from different periods, takes more care to explain than a clean installation, because we have to find out why things were wired the way they were.

Where we can, we train on your own equipment in your own studio, so that nothing has to be translated later.

Several details move the figure in either direction. The length of the live day matters, since a two-hour bulletin and an all-evening show are different commitments. The number of cameras, microphones and guests affects how many of us need to be present. A programme with a well-kept rundown and a rehearsal beforehand tends to need less hands-on correction on the day.

Short notice can add to the cost when we have to move other work, and a repeat booking for the same studio is often simpler to plan because we already know the room. None of this is a formula applied behind the scenes; the quotation lists what we assumed so you can see which assumption to change.

If your situation changes before the day, tell us and we will reissue the quotation in writing.

• Length of the broadcast and rehearsal time
• Crew size and number of roles to cover
• Condition and age of the existing equipment
• Notice given before the booking

There is no online checkout, and nothing is bought from the site directly. You send an enquiry through the contact page describing the studio, the programme and the dates you have in mind. We reply with questions if anything is unclear, then send a written quotation or confirmation setting out what is included and the amount.

Once you accept it, we issue an invoice and you pay by bank transfer. Cancellations and refunds follow the payment and refund policy, which we suggest reading before you confirm a booking for a fixed live date.

This sequence is deliberately plain. It means you have the figure and the scope in writing before any work begins, and that the invoice matches the quotation you agreed.

Crews often ask which to book first. If the show is already scheduled and the team is nervous, a support day gets you through it and shows us where the gaps are. If you have time before the first broadcast, training usually pays back more, because the crew then run the room themselves.

Many studios do both in order: training in the weeks before launch, then a support day on the first live programme. That is not a package we push, only a sequence that tends to work. Quote each part separately and decide as you go.

From my own side as lighting designer, I join these jobs when the look of the set needs adjusting on the day, and I would rather be asked in advance than called halfway through a rehearsal.