What Content Distribution Costs and What Moves the Price

Why distribution is priced differently from camera work

Most people picture a broadcast bill as cameras and crew. Distribution is the part after the picture exists: getting a finished or live feed to the television network, news desk or streaming partner who needs it, in the format they accept, at the time they expect it. I manage that delivery at renyzo, and the first thing I tell producers is that this work is priced by what has to arrive, where, and how many times, rather than by hours on a shoot.

That distinction explains most surprises. A single programme sent to one broadcaster on a fixed schedule is a modest job. The same programme sent to four recipients, each wanting a different file standard or a different delivery window, is closer to four jobs sharing one source. We quote the work as it is, and the quotation sets out each recipient separately so nothing is hidden inside a lump sum.

The factors that move the price most

Four things account for most of the difference between one quotation and another. The first is the number of destinations. Every recipient adds checking, format preparation and a confirmation that the delivery landed. The second is whether the feed is live or finished. Live delivery needs an operator watching it throughout, while a finished file can be prepared, checked and sent in a planned slot.

The third is the standard each partner requires. Some news desks want a plain file with clear metadata; others specify codecs, frame rates and naming conventions that take time to meet. The fourth is turnaround. Work that must be on a desk within the hour needs people held ready, and that readiness is what you are paying for, more than the transfer itself.

• Number of recipients and how different their requirements are
• Live delivery against prepared files
• Codec, frame rate and metadata specifications
• How quickly the material must reach the desk

Live delivery and the cost of a backup path

For a live feed the largest single choice is whether to have a second route. A backup path means a separate connection and a second encoder, and someone watching both. It adds to the quotation, and for a bulletin or an event that cannot be repeated, it is usually the line I would keep. A feed that drops for thirty seconds during a live programme costs the producer far more than the cost of the spare route.

For recorded or scheduled material the calculation changes. If a file can be resent when something fails, a backup route is rarely worth paying for. We say so plainly in the quotation. The aim is to match the protection to what a failed delivery would actually cost you, not to add resilience to every job by habit.

Files, formats and the time spent preparing them

Preparation is the part clients tend to underestimate. A finished programme rarely goes out exactly as it came off the edit. It may need a different container, loudness adjusted to a broadcaster's rules, captions attached, or a slate and metadata added so the receiving desk can find and log it. Each of these is small, but together they take real time and care, and errors here are the usual cause of a rejected delivery.

If your material arrives already prepared to the recipient's specification, that time falls away and the price falls with it. Asking each partner for their delivery requirements in writing before the work begins is the cheapest step in the whole process. I would rather read a one-page specification at the start than redo a delivery at the end.

• Container and codec conversion
• Loudness and caption handling
• Naming, slates and metadata
• Checking the received file with the recipient

How a quotation is built and how payment works

You begin with an enquiry through the contact page, telling us what is being delivered, to whom, and by when. We reply with a written quotation that lists the recipients, the delivery method for each, and what is included, so you can compare it against your own plan. Nothing is bought through the site itself, and no work starts until the written confirmation is agreed.

After the work is confirmed we issue an invoice, paid by bank transfer. If plans change, cancellations and refunds follow the payment and refund policy, which sets out what applies and when. Prices are in pounds sterling. The detail that changes a figure is nearly always on the quotation line it affects, which is why we itemise rather than round to a single total.

What to settle before you ask for a figure

A little preparation on your side shortens the conversation and tightens the quotation. Know your recipients and, where you can, have their technical requirements to hand. Decide whether the delivery is live or can be scheduled, and what the latest acceptable arrival time is. Say whether a failed delivery could be repeated or would be lost for good, because that answer decides how much protection is sensible.

It also helps to tell us how often the delivery will recur. A regular schedule with stable recipients is easier to plan than a one-off with changing demands, and we can arrange our people and equipment around it. Bring those details and you will get a quotation that reflects your actual job rather than a cautious guess.