Members’ Area

1.      Does it have to be live?

Before starting to plan a broadcast ask yourself if the programme has to be filmed live. It should meet one of two aims by being filmed live: either to produce the best content or give your station the best experience. Even events don’t have to be filmed live. Sometimes filming as live or doing a highlights video edited during the event can be more effective and much easier.

2.      What are the main aims of the production?

You need to decide what you want to achieve with your live broadcast. Are you producing a single standalone programme? A live special of a normally VOD series? A weekly or monthly live series? Or covering an event? Are you trying to reach a different audience and if so will the timing of the broadcast be suitable for this audience? Or are you trying to extend your stations capabilities and give your members a new and exciting experience?

3.      What are the requirements?

If you are covering an event are there any requirements from the organisers? For example if it is a Students’ Union elections results or hustings are there any regulations on fairness and impartiality you need to stick to? If it is a debate or Question Time style programme have you got plans in place to prevent any controversial or potentially liable content from being broadcast?

4.      Plan everything.

A live broadcast doesn’t stand much chance of happening if it doesn’t exist on paper beforehand. Make sure you conduct site visits for any venues you are unfamiliar with as you’ll need to plan your camera and gallery positions, where you can get power and internet access from etc.

5.      Communications is vital.

There is nothing worse in a live broadcast than a presenter being left on air without anything to say or not knowing how long they have to talk for. Communications is the most important part of an outside broadcast. The director needs to be able to communicate with everyone so they all know when you go live, when you cut to a VT, when the studio is due back on or how long they need to keep filling time for.

6.      Rehearse.

If your live broadcast is part of a weekly live series with a regular team then the chances are you won’t need to rehearse each individual show in full. However it will be helpful to rehearse any new features or individual links that are different. If you are producing a one off show or event coverage, or have new crew, rehearsals are vital.

7.      Try out your technical setup before the transmission day.

Even if you can’t access your venue you should setup as much of your equipment as possible anywhere you can find to check that.

8.      Test streaming from the venue.

If you are broadcasting from a new venue make sure that you can live stream from the venue. Check your stream using the same network socket that you will use for the right broadcast to make sure you are assigned the right IP address, the socket is on the right VLN and there are no port restrictions or access restrictions that will stop you from connecting to your streaming server.

9.      Choose the right guests and do your research.

Make sure that you choose guests who are able to talk about the relevant topic for a long time. This means you can fill any gaps caused by delays or technical problems with conversation rather than having to use up all of you VT or go off air. DO your research and be aware of any topics they may not want to, or may not be allowed to talk about.

10.   Relax and enjoy it.

Live broadcasting is one of the most stressful things a student TV station can attempt but being stressed and worried about it will only make it harder. Enjoy the experience, learn from your mistakes and make the next show better.