What Is TV Production?

TV production is the process of developing a television show from its early writing stage through acquiring talent and a crew, securing a set or location, shooting, editing, and preparing it for broadcast. Different types of shows have different production methods, each geared toward efficiently creating the final product and delivering it to an audience.

Many types of shows are shot live in a studio, including newscasts, talk shows and variety shows. These can be relatively cheap to produce in that they have a fixed location, use the same set for each show and only use one to three cameras.

Other shows are taped in a studio to be shown later, such as sitcoms, talk shows and infomercials. The production process is similar to live studio broadcasts, and sometimes involves a live audience as well.

A number of TV shows, mainly fictional dramas and comedies, are produced like films--in sets or on location, some involving a large cast and crew. A week is usually needed to tape each episode, followed by editing and post-production before airing.

Many types of sporting events are televised every day; producing them usually involves a director and key personnel on site and cameras, crew and play-by-play announcers in the field, usually for live broadcast. Producing these can get expensive depending on the travel involved and the size of the crew needed for the event.

Most of what airs on TV is produced on a national level through networks, cable channels and studios that create programming for their own outlets or syndicate it for others. But some, primarily news and educational programs, are still produced locally.