What News Package Editing Costs and What Moves the Price
An honest look at how we price the editing of raw footage, voice-over and graphics into broadcast packages, and which choices on your side make a package cost more or less.
How we think about the price of an edit
When a producer asks what a finished package will cost, the honest answer starts with time in the edit suite. A package is priced on the editor's hours, the complexity of the material and the running time you need, not on a flat rate per minute of screen time. A ninety-second piece built from one clean interview can take far less effort than a ninety-second piece stitched from six sources.
That is why we quote in writing after an enquiry through the contact page, rather than publishing one figure that would be wrong for half the jobs. The quotation sets out what is included, what is assumed about the material, and what would change the figure. You then confirm, we edit, and an invoice follows, payable by bank transfer.
The full price list sits on the Prices page. This article explains the reasoning behind it, so that you can see why two packages that look similar on a running order can be priced differently.
What is normally included in a package edit
A standard edit covers the assembly of your footage into a finished story that fits an agreed broadcast running time. Our senior editor, Priya Nair, selects the strongest shots, builds the sequence, balances the audio and delivers the file in the format your playout needs. Voice-over recording and simple on-screen graphics, such as name captions and a locator, are part of the same job.
We also include one round of revisions. Most producers have a note or two once they see the first cut: a trim to the opening, a different closing shot, a correction to a caption. Handling those in a single pass keeps the schedule predictable for both sides.
What the quotation will state plainly is the running time, the number of source clips and the delivery format, because these three details shape the effort more than anything else.
- Shot selection and assembly to an agreed running time
- Voice-over recording and sound balancing
- Name captions, locators and simple graphics
- One round of revisions
- Delivery in your broadcaster's file format
Raw footage: the biggest driver of cost
The state of the incoming material moves the price more than any other factor. Footage that is logged, labelled and shot with clean audio lets an editor start cutting almost at once. Footage that arrives as hours of unlabelled clips, with wind noise on the interviews and no note of who is speaking, means time spent just finding the story before any editing begins.
Volume matters in the same way. Twenty minutes of well-chosen material cuts faster than three hours of everything the camera recorded. If your crew can send a short shot list, with the best takes marked, you shorten the job and the quotation reflects that.
Mixed sources add effort as well. Combining our own camera files with agency pictures, phone clips and archive material means matching frame rates, colour and sound levels so the piece looks like one story rather than a patchwork.
Graphics, voice-over and the extras that add time
Simple captions are part of the standard edit, but animated maps, data graphics, charts and branded opening sequences are separate work and priced as such. A map that shows where an incident happened can take longer to build than the whole cut of the story, so it is worth deciding early whether the piece truly needs it.
Voice-over follows a similar logic. A single recording of a finished script is quick. A script that changes after each viewing, or a voice-over that has to be re-recorded to match a late update, adds studio and editing time. We can record in our own studio, with Owen Griffiths looking after sound, or work from a voice track your reporter supplies.
Subtitles and alternative language versions are further additions. They are straightforward to quote once we know the languages and the running time.
- Animated maps and data graphics
- Branded titles and bumpers
- Re-recorded or revised voice-over
- Subtitles and extra language versions
Turnaround and how it affects the figure
Speed is part of what you are buying from a news video company, and it does change the price. A package booked a few days ahead can be fitted into the edit suite around other work. A package needed within hours means an editor is held free, other jobs are moved and the suite may run outside normal hours.
We say so openly in the quotation rather than hiding it in a single total, so you can judge whether the deadline is worth it for that particular story. Sometimes a producer finds that a slightly later slot costs noticeably less and still meets the bulletin.
Mid autumn tends to be busy for regional news, with weather events, local elections and seasonal stories all competing for edit time. Telling us your slot early gives us the best chance of offering a sensible schedule.
How to keep a package edit economical
Most of the savings are in preparation, and none of them lower the quality of the finished piece. Agree the running time before editing starts. Send a short brief with the angle of the story, the key quotes and any names that must be spelled exactly. Mark your preferred takes if you can, and tell us the delivery format up front.
Keep changes to one consolidated list. A single set of notes from one person is far quicker to action than comments arriving from several desks in turn. If a late change is unavoidable, flag it clearly and we will tell you what it adds.
None of this is about cutting corners. It is about giving the editor the clearest possible route from raw footage to a finished package, which is what keeps the cost fair and the delivery on time.
- Agree running time and format before editing begins
- Send a short brief with names and key quotes
- Mark preferred takes in the footage
- Gather revision notes into one list
The cost of a package edit comes down to the hours the story needs, and most of those hours are decided before the editor opens the first clip. Clean footage, a clear brief, a fixed running time and a single set of notes keep the price down. If you have a story in mind, send us the details through the contact page and we will reply with a written quotation.
Rhian Davies
Managing ProducerRhian has produced television news for over fifteen years and leads the editorial side of every commission.
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