Discovery Inc is said to be reassessing some of its production budgets after saving $300K per hour of content produced at home during the coronavirus lockdown.
The broadcaster began filming shows at the homes of talent from its Food Network, HGTV and DIY channels once lockdown began, saving $300,000 on average for every hour of content shot from home.
Discovery’s chief financial officer, Gunnar Wiedenfels told the Wall Street Journal the broadcaster could now look to reduce future production budgets. “I absolutely know that the learnings from these Covid-productions provide a different set of tools in our production management’s toolbox,” he said.
The network isn’t looking to work less with production companies, but is looking for ways to reduce costs, Wiedenfels added.
Discovery’s investment in new file-sharing and Cloud-based technology has also helped the company during lockdown, as its main US hub in Sterling, Va, was closed for deep cleaning due to a suspected case of Covid-19. “We played out 250 feeds through this Cloud-based setup,” Wiedenfels said.
