Costs of Producing Educational Satellite Programs

Dr. Albert Powell, Colorado State University

This document is meant to serve as a planning reference for those who want to produce educational satellite programs. Costs vary, so this document's goal is not to quote costs, but rather to inform you about the kinds of expenses you should anticipate. Because there is great variability in production requirements, the equipment used and the conditions and needs for each program, your plans should always be developed and reviewed by a professional satellite program Producer before you finalize your budget! (If you think you have just been warned, you are absolutely right.)

The costs of producing a satellite program fall into three categories. Scan down the page or use the link provided to jump to each topic.

Costs incurred before the event.

Costs incurred during the event.

Costs incurred after the event.

Many of the costs involved in producing a satellite program will become evident in another way if you review my related document, the Satellite Conference Planning Timeline. Using that document as a planning guide, you will find that many cost items can be identified as they appear in the planning timeline. A more comprehensive reference about most aspects of satellite programs is found in my Handbook for Satellite Operators and Meeting Facilitators.

Costs Incurred Before the Event

One assumption is firm: NO ONE wants to watch a satellite program which has only "talking heads", meaning speakers with no visual reinforcement. In fact, talking heads alone are less effective than lecture with visuals used to reinforce concepts. Since you need visual reinforcement for the event, we can safely presume that there will be videotape and graphics (perhaps Powerpoint or similar graphics) used at regular intervals in the program.

This helps us identify the following cost items:

Video pre-production (this can be thousands of dollars and may require a year or more in planning)
Graphics pre-production (considerable expense and lead time may be required)
Training aids such as publications, videotape and other items which will be used at each site. (Considerable time for planning and publication may be needed.)
Pre-conference training for the site facilitators who will host the program at each site. (This may involve not only training materials, but travel expense.)
Registration expenses, if registration is required for receiving sites.
People! See below for more details...

Here are some of the people involved (and we all know that people cost money). In many cases, more than one role will be held by one person. For instance, it's not unusual for the Instructional Designer and Producer to be the same person.

Instructional Designer: this person designs the overall event to achieve its educational objectives. All other costs proceed from the educational objectives and the designer's decisions about how to achieve those objectives!
Producer: this person coordinates the satellite event, and should be involved from the start to insure that all the planning comes together in the event you want.
Publication Author
Publication Editor
Graphic Artist (for publications and for presentation graphics)
Video crew, staffed as needed to produce the video segments.
World Wide Web Programmer, if you will use the Web to provide a home site for this conference, distribute information, take registrations, receive evaluations or perform other functions.

Think about these items and people, and add to them as needed for your specific situation.

Costs Incurred During the Event

This is the category which most of us think about, forgetting the pre-conference and post-conference expenses. However, once the pre-conference work has been done and all the needed support materials (video, graphics and print) are in production, you must deal with this most complex category. Here are the items which are involved in the direct production of satellite programs:

Studio expenses! See below for more details...
Travel & per diem for speakers
Satellite uplink
Satellite transponder time
Telephone cost for call-in Q&A
Fax machines needed for fax-in questions/comments/evaluations

The studio arrangements are your Producer's job. If the Producer really understands what you need, the they will make the appropriate studio arrangements. Because the studio itself is a major cost factor, here is a list of studio items that doesn't get into excessive detail. In many cases, I recommend that the Producer ask for a package price so that they don't get tied up in figuring out every item on this list. if the cost for the needed studio equipment is too high, you may have to back up and re-design your satellite program.

Control room
Studio room
Cameras
Tape decks for recording and playback
Computers for presentation graphics
Character generator (for titles and words on screen)
Digital effects (if needed for fancy moves with video from the cameras)
Teleprompter
Audio equipment: microphones and monitoring equipment
There's more, but let your Producer sort it out for you...

The following items can create costs at your downlink or receiving sites. They require no explanation, but you should identify them where present.

Downlink rental (if required): paid to the downlink provider.
Cable fees: for a cable company to downlink the program and/or install a cable drop at your viewing location.
Viewing/meeting rooms.
Food and beverages.
Rental equipment: TV monitor, video projector, VCR, PA system.
Telephone charges: installation, line charges.
Publicity cost: local advertising.
Staffing: site coordinator, downlink operator, registration person.
Duplicating print materials: handbooks, worksheets, etc.
Conference supplies: name tags, folders, signs, office supplies.
Local program expenses: speaker fees, travel, materials, equipment.
Other: What's different about your event?

Costs Incurred After the Event

These costs are usually small in relation to pre-event and event costs. They will usually include some or all of the following:

Evaluation costs: mailing, data processing, computation.
Phone charges for call-in questions
Printing and distributing reports on the event.
Traveling to meetings to make presentations about your HIGHLY successful satellite program!

Time Zones

Don't forget that the US is blessed with a number of time zones. This means that for many programs, you must deal with 8 am / 5 pm work hours, and meal times. For national programs, the most convenient times are often around mid-day, because that's in the middle of the work day. However, it also means that you will probably step on some time zone's lunch hour. In many cases, the time zone affected can just move lunch an hour and go on with life. In other cases, you may need to budget for lunch at those locations.

If you have a long enough program that you find you're dealing with more than one meal, your program is probably TOO long. People can only watch a satellite program for so long. Unless your event has a lot of break-outs for local activities and work, you should re-design your program and shorten it.

Back to the Satellite Training and Reference page.
Copyright 1997, Dr. Albert E. Powell, Jr.
Please request permission to re-use or reproduce this document.